This Week On Realag

Rain, and even some snow, has slowed seeding progress on the prairies, but nobody’s complaining. Cool temperatures, meanwhile, are hampering planting in Ontario and creating some nutrient issues, as we hear from Whete Pete. There are new reports of Bayer and BASF considering bids for Monsanto, soybean markets soared thanks to the USDA and barbecue... Read More

Earls is saying “we made a mistake.” Dry conditions are helping seeding operations across much of the west, and StatsCan wants farmers to take some time away from seeding or tagging calves to participate in the Census of Ag. Also Ontario’s Ag Hall of Fame has a new home, Manitoba has a new ag minister... Read More

Seeding activity is beginning in more areas, Earls — the place you go (or went) for nice steak – has upset many in the ag community, there’s a herbicide controversy in the canola industry, and Ontario farmers are figuring out where to go with their case for having access to neonic seed treatments. The ag... Read More

Dryness is becoming a serious concern on the western side of the Prairies, as seeding is getting underway. Meanwhile, cold and wet conditions have hampered progress in Ontario. Meteorologist Drew Lerner of World Weather Inc is one of the people we hear from on this week’s podcast. Also, Ontario farmers have lost their court case... Read More

Farmland values across Canada continue to climb. Some very early seeding is beginning in the West, although there are concerns about dryness. Canada and the EU continue to work on their trade deal, and a popular reality TV veterinarian is showing how farmers care for their animals. We hear from FCC economist JP Gervais, trade minister... Read More

From the Canada Pension Plan buying a stake in Viterra to the SaskParty easily winning the provincial election earlier this week to the big question mark hanging over Monsanto’s new Xtend soybean seed heading into planting season, here’s this week’s podcast recapping what’s happened in Canadian agriculture. We hear from Saskatchewan Ag Minister Lyle Stewart... Read More

John Deere has acquired majority ownership of well-known sprayer company, the Ag Women’s Network has been re-launched, and China has chosen to postpone tighter rules for canola coming from Canada. The USDA also had a surprise for the corn market in its first acreage report for 2016 and A&W has gone patriotic with its ketchup.... Read More

It’s hard to believe, but we’re into the final week of March already. This week’s TWORA podcast includes part of a conversation with Agriculture Minister Lawrence MacAulay on what’s in the federal Liberals’ first budget for agriculture. We also hear from economist David Kohl on the importance of having a healthy amount of working capital on... Read More

A shortage of workers is limiting Canada’s economic potential, especially in agriculture. Annual farm cash receipt losses to Canadian producers due to job vacancies are $1.5 billion, according to a report released this week. Postmedia columnist Andrew Coyne was the opening keynote speaker at the “Growing the AgriWorkforce Summit” in Winnipeg and he joins us... Read More

With a mild end to winter, how early is too early for seeding wheat? Wheat Pete’s making waves with his recommendation for southern Alberta. Meanwhile, Canadian cattle producers appear to be sitting out on rebuilding their herds when we look at what’s happening in the U.S., and speaking of the Americans and the current political... Read More

Satellites are helping us understand and predict what happens in the field, Ontario’s ag minister is defending cuts to the province’s ag budget and farm groups pushing for better rail service aren’t very happy with what’s in the long-awaited transportation act review. It’s also Canadian Agriculture Literacy Week, with Agriculture in the Classroom delivering programming to... Read More

We’re seeing an early spring in many areas…what does it mean for winter wheat? The Chinese government looks to be putting up an obstacle to Canadian canola exports, and seed is going to be a major factor in determining how many pulse acres get planted on the prairies. As well, federal ag minister Lawrence MacAulay... Read More

It’s been a week of two weather extremes, with parts of the east getting record snowfall this week and a whole lot of brown in the west. We’ve learned people really, really like model farms, as we heard from the pair behind the world’s largest toy farm at the National Farm Machinery Show in Louisville, and a Saskatchewan... Read More

From Louisville, Kentucky to Winnipeg, Manitoba, we were on the road again this week (so yes, TWORA is a day late.) We look back on CropConnect ’16 in Winterpeg, find out what separates the top 25 percent of farmers versus the bottom 25 percent in terms of financial success, as well as what farmers on the prairies can... Read More

The proposed sale of Syngenta, new StatsCan stocks estimates, the signing of the TPP, the launch of Xtend soybeans — here’s a trip through this week’s Canadian ag news with Kelvin Heppner: Poll: Do you look forward to driverless tractors?

It’s the week of FarmTech in Edmonton. We head to the Northlands to hear some highlights from Debra Murphy, as well as to KAP’s meeting in Winnipeg for a panel of farm leaders from the Canadian Federation of Agriculture and prairie general farm groups discussing the need to “maintain social license” — here’s this week’s... Read More

We’re talking about everything from the state of the US and Canadian economies to SaskCanola’s effort to share how many farmers view modern ag technology through the “License to Farm” film. After spending most of the week at Ag Days in Brandon, Kelvin Heppner host of this week’s news podcast and is joined by a... Read More

It’s the year of pulses in more ways than one. We’re covering all the Crop Week and CropSphere events in Saskatoon this week, including the buzz about lentils and peas, the unveiling of Versatile’s retro look and the premiere of a short film on maintaining ag’s social license. A new report shows greenhouse gas emissions... Read More

Happy New Year! We’re talking about 500 bushel/acre corn, a wheat breeding breakthrough and much more on this week’s news podcast:

A special(?) holiday edition of TWORA: ‘Twas the week before Christmas, and all through the land RealAggies (or Agros?) were thinking about the year we’ve had Not our regular podcast this week, not the same TWORA, We’re looking back on 15 — officially, the year of our soil So as the stockings are hung by... Read More