Ag News

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency is reporting the presence of AI in three non-commercial poultry flocks in Saskatchewan last week, in the RM of Indian Head, the RM of Colonsay, and the RM of Lipton.

To date, one case has been found in a commercial poultry operation in Manitoba in the RM of Wallace.

Previous occurrences have been found in Ontario and Nova Scotia.

Most poultry and egg production operations already have biosecurity measures in place, but producers who maintain small flocks, should look at enhancing their on-farm biosecurity measures.

 Alliance will remain a 'standalone' brand under Canterra ownership.

The lone remaining shareholder in a pedigreed seed company formed by a group of independent grain handling companies in Western Canada is selling that business to another Prairie seed firm.

Canterra Seeds announced May 1 it has acquired Alliance Seed for an undisclosed amount, and will continue to operate Alliance as “a standalone brand under Canterra Seeds’ umbrella, with key staff transitioning to maintain continuity and customer relationships.”

SASKATOON — Canada has far fewer green peas than the government is reporting, says an analyst.

“Purely from a price perspective, markets believe the Canadian harvest was smaller than estimated by Statistics Canada,” Stat Publishing noted in a recent article.

Using crop insurance data, a “strong argument” can be made that growers planted 358,000 acres of green peas last year, well below Statistics Canada’s 463,000-acre estimate.

Stat believes the area has been over-reported since 2021.

Root rots are the number one disease issue for pulse crops, significantly impacting pea and lentil fields across the Prairies.  Studies show that the disease which thrives in warm, wet conditions can cause a yield loss of anywhere from 60 to 84 percent.

Last year, the Saskatchewan Ministry of Agriculture conducted a pulse disease survey, which focused on the root rot disease complex.

Alberta

The St. Mary River Irrigation District (SMRID) is notifying irrigators that they are now accepting water orders.

For the 2025 irrigation season, water allocation will remain at 12 inches at the farm gate based on the recent Irrigation Water Supply Forecast from Alberta Agriculture and Irrigation.

Crews have started flushing lines and are charging the system for water startup, expected to be available across the entire district by May 5th to 9th.

In the last issue we discussed warm and cold clouds, and we learned that most of our local precipitation is produced in cold clouds, which means that most of it starts off as snow, even in the summer.

This week we are going to look at the different types of precipitation we experience and examine how each type forms.

Next on our list of precipitation types is sleet or ice pellets.

This form of precipitation is created when raindrops freeze in the air before they reach the ground.

Charlie Mayer, a prominent figure in Canadian agriculture and politics, has passed away at the age of 89. Born in Saskatoon in 1936, Mayer attended the University of Saskatchewan before purchasing a farm in Manitoba in 1965. He grew grain, potatoes, and raised Simmental cattle, becoming active in the Manitoba Beef Growers Association. Mayer played a key role in opposing the introduction of supply management to the beef industry.

The Canadian cattle industry is experiencing unprecedented profitability, with cattle prices reaching all-time highs. Despite this positive outlook, there are significant concerns about the ongoing trade war with the United States and its impact on the industry's stability.

Over the years, certain areas in Canada have seen an increase in wild pig populations. Wayne Lees from Squeal on Pigs Manitoba highlights the difficulty in tracking these animals, especially on foot. "In our experience, finding the pigs is the single hardest thing that we have to do. Our situation in Canada is very, very much different than the US under cold climate conditions. We don't have the large numbers of wild pigs that they experience in warmer climates.

WINNIPEG — Wheat growers in North Dakota have altered how they use fungicides to control fusarium head blight.

Many farmers now apply fungicides later, after flowers first appear on wheat heads, to cut the risk of fusarium damaged kernels (FDK) and reduce levels of deoxynivalenol (DON) in cereals.

Western Canadian farmers should make a similar switch, says a plant pathologist with Agriculture Canada in Alberta.

Right now, some agronomists and grower groups say the ideal fungicide timing starts when 75 per cent of wheat heads are fully emerged.