Today is World Water Day!
World Water Day is about taking action to tackle the global water crisis.
Across the prairies, several projects are also happening to protect and support our access to a good, clean water source now and into the future.
In Manitoba ... Manitoba Habitat Conservancy has approved $11.6 million in funding to help achieve a diverse array of on-the-ground water and land conservation initiatives focused on preserving wetlands, waterways, and other habitats.
Lacombe's FCDC is being re-launched
The Province is investing $3.2 million in the development of the Western Crop Innovations (WCI).
WCI will carry on the work of the Field Crop Development Centre at Lacombe starting April 1st.
Current programming is under review and where necessary will be transitioned ... FCDC which has been around since 1973 is known for its barley breeding program.
Agriculture and Irrigation Minister RJ Sigurdson says it's an exciting time for crop research in Alberta.
CN Rail pleased with grain movement
CN Rail has seen solid grain movement over the last couple of weeks.
CN's Assistant Vice-President of Grain David Przednowek says they've moved over 525 thousand tonnes of grain per week.
"We expect that demand is going to remain quite steady here into early April, then we'll see what the market brings us. What the impact of starting to shift gears and think about spring seeding will do as well as the impact of road bands."
Farmers evaluating weed management options
Weed management throughout the growing season is a key concern for farmers.
Bayer Canada held a weed management webinar this week.
Kate Hadley, a Market Development Agronomist with Bayer says weed resistance is growing across the prairies with 60 per cent of herbicide-resistant wild oats now showing resistance to Group 1 herbicides.
Spring snow storm expected
It may be the first day of Spring according to the calendar, but snow is in the forecast for several areas across the prairies.
Environment Canada has issued a weather warning for much of Alberta with 10 to 30 cm of snow expected by Friday morning with higher amounts of snow possible over the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains.
Drew Lerner with World Weather Inc says snow is also moving into Saskatchewan today.
AITC-M is sharing the story of agriculture
This month is Canadian Agricultural Literacy Month.
Yesterday, marked Agriculture Awareness Day, Agriculture in the Classroom Manitoba (AITC-M) is a key player in bringing awareness to the agriculture industry.
AITC-M is a non-profit charitable organization with a mandate to connect students with agriculture through innovative curriculum-based programs and resources.
Agriculture Minister Ron Kostyshyn says the Province partners with AITC-M to deliver programming to 7,400 Manitoba students about the importance of agriculture,
Spraying in adverse conditions
Finding the best time to spray to get the most coverage and action can be a challenge for farmers.
One of the biggest challenges for farmers when spraying is the wind.
Dr Tom Wolf, a research scientist and co-owner of Agrimetrix says we're fighting wind all the time and there's really not much we can do.
He says they went back into their data for spray drift to look at what happens to the droplets when the wind takes them away.
Prairie Cattle Marketing Update
The Prairie Cattle Marketing Report covers data from Manitoba Agriculture, Saskatchewan's Ministry of Agriculture and CanFax with all prices reported in per hundred weights.
The last report out of Manitoba showed feeder steer prices ranged from an average of $459.70 for the 401 to 500-pound weights to $291.25 for the 901 + category
Feeder heifer prices ranged from an average of $398.80 for the 401 to 500 pounds to $252.50 for the 901 + category
Saskatchewan finalizes funding for the Global Institute for Food Security
The Global Institute for Food Security has renewed a five-year funding agreement with the Province.
The research and development agri-science hub was founded in 2012 as is located at the University of Saskatchewan.
The $15 million dollars in funding will support ongoing operations like crop breeding through sequencing, bioinformatics, data analytic services or technology development that facilitates commercialization of new products.
Fertilizer update was a key focus during Cropportunities
With Spring seeding approaching farmers are finalizing their seeding plans and lining up crop inputs like fertilizer.
Matthew Krutzfeldt, the senior fertilizer merchant with Federated Co-op says buying fertilizer in the spring can prove costly because it's harder to bring product up through NOLA as it won't get here in time.