There’s a robust corn research project in the works in Manitoba looking at not just the agronomic impact of corn in rotation, but the economics of adding the crop being used for food, feed and — sometimes — fuel. If you check out the CropConnect agenda (here), you’ll find a list of names associated with... Read More
Category: Crop Production
A joint federal-provincial funding announcement has pledged $250,000 in research funding and $969,000 for equipment for a Manitoba lab aimed at identifying and addressing problems caused by canola diseases and pests. Research funding is provided under Growing Forward 2 - Growing Actions and will be used to take samples from across the province to determine... Read More
These aren't your daddy's corn hybrids. If you think modern corn hybrids are leaps and bounds more productive than what you were planting 15 or years ago, you're right. But thinking so and knowing so (and how) are two different things, and for that you need research. Tony Vyn, of Purdue University, has looked at... Read More
Sometimes it’s the little things that go unnoticed that actually have a big impact. Who hasn’t been waylaid by one tiny little part that breaks or goes missing? Big-picture considerations are important too, but the devil, as they say, is in the details. When it comes to spraying, details can easily be overlooked. When’s the... Read More
Consistent droplet size and canopy penetration are two key points of getting the most out of your spray application (assuming you're after leaf coverage, of course). Sending spray droplets where you actually want them to go is much harder than it sounds — part of the reason for that is air movement and turbulence as... Read More
Peter Johnson will be the first to tell you he’s not retiring — he’s just retiring from his role as cereal specialist with the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. So while we won’t be completely rid of Wheat Pete, as he’s known, his departure from the ministry still deserves a send-off befitting... Read More
North Americans can and do choose to spend 30% or more on organic or market-differentiated food because we can. We're an incredibly wealthy society, by and large, and are only required to spend about 8% of our income on food. So does that give us the right to condemn those who can't afford to pay... Read More
Plant disease is a somewhat different beast than other crop pests, in that your best offense is a solid defense. It’s rare that any fungicide available to you has any curative effect — the best you can do is slow down development of a disease, once established. Under the heading of ‘better to have it... Read More
The Ontario Federation of Agriculture (OFA) has published its full comment on the Ontario government's pollinator health proposal — a proposal that singles out neonicotinoid seed treatments of corn and soybean crops as a key factor in pollinator health risks. OFA's response includes four key points, including: the need for and content of a pollinator... Read More
Cigi’s (Canadian International Grains Institute) applied research work into optimizing the nutritional quality of pulse flours got a significant funding boost today with the Government of Canada committing nearly $1 million for a four-year project. Cigi’s Advancing Pulse Flour Processing and Applications project will receive $959,918 from the Canadian Agricultural Adaptation Program (CAAP). The project... Read More