Canadian-based Endless Sky is looking to become an industrial-scale producer of hemp flower and hemp CBD extracts, controlling the process from seed to shelf, ultimately providing "natural health products free of solvents, pesticides or heavy metals." "We started in 2018. We initially were in indoor growing, cultivating cannabis," says CEO Travis George, adding that the... Read More
Category: Crop Production
Spring, summer, or fall — when do you think is the best time to test for clubroot? Visual symptoms on the plant show up later in the season, yes, but that's not when soil spore load is highest, explains Kim Kenward of 20/20 Seed Labs, in this episode of the Canola School. "Soil testing is... Read More
It's been 21 years since the hemp industry started in earnest in Canada, and within the last year, there has been a significant shift in research institutions taking a larger interest in the crop. Which is good, because the agronomic knowledge base for this multi-use crop is still quite limited. Jeff Kostiuk, with Hemp Genetics... Read More
While pulse market challenges haven't been grabbing headlines as much lately, there are longer standing issues with chickpea, pea, and lentil movement than say, canola's recent run-in with China. Murad Al-Katib, CEO of AGT Foods, says that there are reasons to be optimistic on pulse markets heading in to 2020, even in the face of... Read More
Something weird is happening to our Exploding Spray Myths team. Every time Jason Deveau and Tom Wolf get close to a sensitive downwind area, or drive fast to make up for lost time, their sprayer shuts down. It's almost as if the sprayer is enforcing best management practices! Little do they know... On this all-new... Read More
The good news is tar spot — a new corn leaf disease — has yet to be found in Ontario cornfields. The bad news is it's only a matter of time before the yield robber is confirmed in the province, says Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs plant pathologist Albert Tenuta. On this... Read More
If this harvest season keeps up, Wheat Pete's Word host Peter Johnson is going to have to change his name to Corn Bjorn. Because, yes, that's nearly all he talks about in this week's edition, but we promise it's still interesting stuff, even if wheat hardly gets a mention. From what to do with high-fine... Read More
Citing the need to review new research, Health Canada is delaying the final decision on outdoor uses of all three neonicotinoid insecticides, thiamethoxam, clothianidin, and imidacloprid. While neonics originally came under scrutiny for their apparent risk to honeybees and other pollinator species, Health Canada's review findings, announced in early 2019, found only certain instances where... Read More
Less than a week after being re-appointed to lead Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Marie-Claude Bibeau headed to Regina, Sask., to meet with grain, oilseed, and beef producer groups at the 49th annual Canadian Western Agribition. "Farmers in western Canada have acquired a reputation for excellence around the world. In this year which is ending with... Read More
When you send soil samples for testing, what do you ask for? If you're following Ross McKenzie's advice, there's likely some real value in testing more than just nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, and sulphur (N, P, K, and S). The former Alberta Agriculture soil scientist says it's not too late to test soil this year, as... Read More