Variety is the spice of life, and a shakeup in crop rotation may add bite to the farm bottom line. This is the premise of recent research on crop rotation and its impact on profits and the environment. Through analysis of 20 years of Saskatchewan farmland insurance data on rotational choices in correlation with soil organic carbon (SOC) levels, researchers Devin Serfas and Richard Gray found clear benefits in certain rotations.
Most farms evolve on their own, but the five farm families in the Bow Island area that make up Quattro Ventures chose to grow together to take advantage of collaborative opportunities, economies of scale and shared vision. They chose a unique business model that has merged their farm operations.
For our latest farm family portrait, GrainsWest visited the van de Ligts whose farm was established as a dairy operation in 1960 near the north-central hamlet of Jarvie. Fred and Rita began farming in 1974. Their sons and their wives, Donald and Maya, with Mitchell and Kayla, represent the farm’s third generation.
A formative experience, Tyler McCann spent almost a decade in the federal government, primarily as an advisor to then Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada Minister Gerry Ritz. McCann and his wife Gillian MacDougall grew up on cattle and dairy farms respectively, and upon McCann’s exit from government in 2017, they established a herd of 60 purebred Simmental cattle on 200 acres in western Quebec.
For years the North American beer industry has contended with a gradual downturn. Since 2019, beer sales have dropped 11 per cent. According to Beer Canada, 2025 domestic beer sales were down 2.4 per cent compared to 2024. For imported beer, the decline was noticeably steeper, as Canadians drank 8.6 per cent less such beers in 2025 versus a year prior.
Initiated in July 2025, the V6 Odyssey port terminal project is billed as “Canada’s first low-carbon, enhanced efficiency fertilizers and commercial phosphate fertilizer terminal.” Situated on the Saint Lawrence River south of Ottawa, it’s a joint venture between V6 Agronomy and the Port of Johnstown. As it receives Prairie commodities such as durum wheat, lentils, potash and sulphur via CN Rail, it will send matchback railcars of phosphate and specialty fertilizers to the West.
On July 22 of last year, Western Crop Innovations (WCI) held its inaugural field day at its farm facility near Lacombe. Overcast but bright, drizzle was the order of the day, and guests were dressed appropriately in multicoloured rubber boots and raincoats. Curious about the organization, which launched April 1, 2024, this event drew about 150 farmers and assorted ag industry representatives. As chair and area farmer Kevin Bender welcomed the assembled guests in the shelter of the farm’s spacious service garage, the event felt like a birthday celebration, albeit a damp one.
A newer, faster and more accurate approach may detect morphological changes associated with DON contamination in Fusarium-damaged wheat kernels. New research from the Crop Development Centre at the University of Saskatchewan indicates existing test methods can be improved.
The federal government knows it is impeding the significant growth of one of the foundational pieces of this country’s economy—its own Advisory Council on Economic Growth said so nine years ago.
In early February, the federal Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA) rejected an emergency use application submitted by the Alberta and Saskatchewan governments to make strychnine available for use against gophers.
