Jeff Melchior

1 week ago | producer.com | Jeff Melchior

Glacier FarmMedia – Three new cases of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) have been discovered in Saskatchewan, and one has been confirmed in Manitoba. This comes after a few months reprieve from the disease. The most recent case was confirmed May 2 in the Rural Municipality of Lipton No. 217 in Saskatchewan on a non-commercial poultry operation, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency said.

1 week ago | manitobacooperator.ca | Jeff Melchior

Jay Derkach may not get flea beetles on his farm every year, but when he does, it’s a mess. One year, they were so thick he had to use the windshield wipers on his tractor to scrape them off while seeding. Conditions this spring are shaping up similarly to that infamous year, but the canola grower from Manitoba’s Parkland region isn’t seeing the same early pressure just yet. “They’re not in the yard; they’re not on my windshield,” he said. “(We’ve had) moderate wind and a moderate winter.

2 weeks ago | manitobacooperator.ca | Jeff Melchior

A soil advocacy organization wants a few minutes of time from western Canadian farmers. The Soil Health Network is looking for bites on their recently launched producer survey. The survey asks questions about the soil health plans and priorities being chased on farms in Western Canada. The survey cane be completed over desktop browser or on a mobile device and should take the farmer two to five minutes, the network has said, depending on how in depth the producer wants to get in their answers.

2 weeks ago | manitobacooperator.ca | Jeff Melchior

Canada’s interprovincial trade barriers have been catapulted into the spotlight as trade relations with the United States and China have soured. For agriculture, that has meant new attention on regulatory hurdles that, thanks to easy and lucrative access to the U.S. market, have lingered quietly for decades — save for some short-lived fame during big supply chain disruptions.

2 weeks ago | manitobacooperator.ca | Jeff Melchior

Organic crop farmers may be missing out on a valuable source of data by not sampling and testing their soil for nutrients. Long a staple of conventional farming operations, soil testing hasn’t caught on to the same degree among organic producers, said a research technician with the University of Manitoba. Although conventional crop producers may have a different use for the outcomes, organic producers can also benefit. “The sampling is the same.