Ag News

Despite a late start to seeding, harvest operations are starting to get underway in the Prairies.

Precipitation which delayed seeding activity this spring was welcome in some of the drier areas, while some areas of Manitoba were impacted by too much rain.

The extreme heat with highs into the 30s is now impacting crop potential in some areas of Alberta and Saskatchewan reducing yield and quality expectations.

Getting this year's hay crop cut in top condition has been a challenge across the prairies.

The heat over the last couple of weeks is resulting in a decline not just in crops, but in hay quality as well.

Hay conditions have been slowly declining since we started seeing the higher temperatures with many days hitting well into the 30's.

The WADO Field Day & Bus Tour took place last week Thursday in and around the Melita area to check out the crop trial test plots.

This was the first time during the annual WADO Field Day where a touring bus was used to help with travel to the different locations.  With the heatwave the air-conditioned touring bus was a welcome relief.

Applied Research Specialist with Manitoba Agriculture, Scott Chalmers, says the hot and humid weather is certainly contributing to the healthy growth across the board when it comes to crops.

Manitoba's agriculture sector will have access to key tools to help advance the industry in the growing world of digital technology

EMILI - the Enterprise Machine Intelligence and Learning Initiative - will receive over $2 million in Federal/Provincial funding to advance Digital Agriculture Opportunities.

Premier Wab Kinew says he sees this investment as being key to helping the province, the ag industry and farmers adapt to new challenges and opportunities in the ever-changing digital world.

The Canadian Charolais Youth Association is holding its National Show and Conference this week in Swift Current. 

Darwin Rosso, a director with the Canadian Charolais Association says it's great to see the youth involvement.

"It's very important to see the participation of the youth because they're the future of our breed down the road"

The event kicked off on Wednesday, with 92 youth members from Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta.

Rosso says there are a lot of activities for the participants with a lot of educational components.

The Grain Growers of Canada executive director Kyle Larkin has been on the road this week driving from Winnipeg to Calgary as part of the GGC's Summer Tour.

The tour kicked off on Monday, when he visited Doug Martin's farm at East Selkirk, Manitoba with MP Kevin Lamoureux.

"We discussed a number of issues, including the Capital Gains Tax increase, the carbon tax, potential rail strike. You know, there's a lot of issues out there right now impacting grain farmers and we're just here to raise awareness of them over the summer."

This week's crop report shows the recent heat has really helped to advance the crop.

Dennis Lange, Manitoba's soybean specialist and puts together the weekly crop report and says fall rye is now in the late dough to dry down stage, with harvest potentially beginning in about ten days. Winter wheat is at the hard dough stage with some dry down starting to occur. 

He says when you look at corn, soybean and dry bean crops things have really started to pick up with the heat.

On Tuesday, the Canadian Grain Commission revoked the grain dealer licence of LSM Grain Ltd. in Saskatoon.

Grain farmers in Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Alberta may be owed money by this company for grain deliveries.

According to the company's website they handle Organic and Conventional cereals, pulses and oilseeds.

Grain farmers who may be affected could be eligible for compensation through the CGC's Safeguards for Grain Farmers Program. 

The Canadian Grain Commission has finished reviewing producer compensation claims for unpaid deliveries to  Zeghers Seed Inc. (operating as Zeghers Canada).

The company held a grain dealer licence and a primary elevator licence for an elevator located in Holland, Manitoba.

 Producers who were not paid for  grain delivered to Zeghers Seed Inc. will be fully compensated for their eligible claims through the Canadian Grain Commission’s Safeguards for Grain Farmers Program.

The Nature Conservancy of Canada has announced two new projects in Southwest Saskatchewan as part of their effort to protect native Prairie grasslands.

The two parcels of land total 962 acres (389 hectares) in the Rural Municipality of Arlington, located in the eastern part of the Cypress Hills area.

Mike Burak, NCC's natural area manager for southwest Saskatchewan says the land is located northwest of Shaunavon.