FEATURE
Machinery
Six flax agronomy tips
Pull-type combines
Lisa Guenther has the latest yield-boosting recommendations 9
Grainews looks back at combine evolution 30
Volume 44 · number 02 JANUARY 23, 2018 · $4.25 Practical production tips for the prairie farmer www.grainews.ca
Farmer Panel
Most hoping for rain in the forecast With low soil moisture reserves most Prairie farmers are hoping for snow and rain early this year By Lee Hart
I
t would be a hard sell to convince Robert Semeniuk of Smoky Lake, Alta., that 2017 was a very dry growing season. He is the only participant in the January 2018 Farmer Panel who, on his northeast Alberta farm, had to fight with too much moisture from seeding through to harvest. In many other regions across Western Canada it was a very consistent and contrary report on the past year — for most it was just too dry. Other than corners like northeast Alberta, circumstances varied slightly across Western Canada, but a common report from producers: they were impressed with crop yields considering the lack of moisture during the growing season. Some did experience timely rainfalls, which helped to carry the crop, others had to rely on ground moisture reserves from previously wet years. Other than odd-man-out Semeniuk many are counting on good wet snow this winter, or early spring rains to restore soil moisture for the 2018 crop.
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None of the panel members report plans for major changes for their 2018 crop rotations, although the caution flag is up on what to do with pulse crops this coming season. If the market signals don’t improve acres could be reduced. While there is a concern about some markets, and generally a concern about which way the weather might swing, there was also a consensus that it is early yet supporting the adage “no one has ever lost a crop in January.” Here is what January Farm Panel members had to say about 2017 and their plans for 2018 growing seasons.
Dustin Williams, Souris, Man. When contacted in mid-December, Dustin Williams was actually out travelling on a “summer only” road in southwest Manitoba. That was just an indication of how dry it was, with at that point no sign of winter in his part of the country. See hoping for rain on Page 5
photo: Thinkstock
Fa r m L i f e
Johnson Livestock: a family business This Angus operation is run by a farm family with four young daughters 37
CONTENTS 3 | COLUMNS 19 | CATTLEMEN’S CORNER 33