October 2009 Blog Posts (8)

Pure profit: $830,000 in two weeks selling seed potatoes

Warning: Real potato farmers should stop reading here. This might ruin your week.

A San Francisco-based company just cleared $830,000 US in two weeks by selling seed potatoes. The potatoes are virtual but the money is very, very real.

Zynga is a developer of apps for Facebook and the iPhone. One of their biggest hits is... get this... a game about farming. Farmville lets users own and manage a virtual farm. Apparently it's very addictive. At least, the 20 million users who… Continue

Added by Andrew Douglas on October 30, 2009 at 5:34pm — 2 Comments

Interest in farming is a great communications opportunity

The world’s food needs are under the microscope and we hear near-daily pleas from groups such as the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization for greater investment in feeding hungry people. So why are development agencies such as USC Canada dedicating scarce resources to hackneyed anti-corporate promotions such as this latest poll?

That’s what I’m pondering in this week’s… Continue

Added by Owen Roberts on October 23, 2009 at 5:51pm — 1 Comment

In defense of farmers

I sent the following editorial to the Owen Sound Sun Times, which published it this past week:

I've started noticing a bit of a trend in popular media -- the bashing of farmers, especially those who grow crops we all depend on.

These horrible people -- or so the theme goes -- are ruining the environment by producing large volumes of corn and soybeans and they're making us fat to boot.

There are two sides to every story and the farmer's is rarely heard or included in… Continue

Added by Lilian Schaer on October 23, 2009 at 10:01am — No Comments

I guess nightshade doesn't get frost bite

The sight of nightshade's purplish/black berries in a "food grade" soybean crop is every producer's worst nightmare. They stain the seed and dramatically reduce the value of the crop. In theory, you would kill uncontrolled nightshade prior to harvest with either a herbicide (i.e. Reglone, glyphosate) or mother nature (i.e. a frost), the berries would drop to the ground, never go through the combine and the seed would be left unstained. Unfortunately this is a theory, and reality shows us… Continue

Added by Mike Cowbrough on October 20, 2009 at 2:09pm — 3 Comments

Canadian Farm Land Values Increased 2.9% during first half of 2009.

Farm Credit Canada’s semi-annual land value survey for the period Jan. 1 to June 30, 2009,

By Farms.com Editors

The average value of Canadian farmland increased 2.9 per cent during the first six months of 2009, following increases of 5.6 and 5.8 per cent in the previous two reporting periods.

Farmland values increased in most provinces. New Brunswick experienced the highest increase at 5.6 per cent, followed by Manitoba, with an increase of 5.5 per cent.

Two provinces… Continue

Added by Frank Borszcz on October 20, 2009 at 12:09pm — No Comments

Finding Efficiency Through Trade Policy Change

“Give me a level playing field and we can compete with the world’s best”

I heard this quote last September 22nd at a meeting for hog farmers set up by Ontario Pork. It was one statement that I classed as optimism in a room that was overwhelmingly negative. I can completely understand why negativity abounded at this meeting, every farmer in that room faces a very uncertain future but I want to focus on the positive.

While our farm at home is one of the many hog farms that faces… Continue

Added by Stewart Skinner on October 7, 2009 at 10:05am — 1 Comment

Shaun Haney: How Ontario and the West are Different.

I have posted this commentary by our friend Shaun Haney of Alberta, he dropped in to the Farms.com office for a visit a couple of weeks ago on his trip to Ontario.

How Ontario and the West are Different.

By Shaun Haney, Realagriculture.com

I recently traveled to Ontario to attend some meetings that pertained to my seed business. I had a great time and was hosted by some great companies and people. The real treat was getting to spend some time with local… Continue

Added by Joe Dales on October 4, 2009 at 3:38pm — 2 Comments

Field Bindweed Control in the Fall

Field bindweed is an aggressive perennial weed that reduces crop yield and slows harvesting speed especially in soybeans and cereals. Eradication is impossible, but minimizing its impact in field crops is possible with a management strategy that includes a fall application of glyphosate at 1.5 L/ac (360 g/L concentration).

The photo below was taken in late May of 2004 and compares field bindweed populations in the… Continue

Added by Mike Cowbrough on October 1, 2009 at 5:20pm — 3 Comments