If Canada thistle is a headache in an annual cropping system, it's a migraine in perennial crops, where control strategies tend to be expensive and rumours about what works and what doesn't spread as quickly as the weed itself. Canada thistle is not only a prolific seed producer, it also proliferates through its creeping root... Read More
Category: Crops
I'm likely one of the few women who are positively giddy for November. Because November is Movember and I'm a huge fan of fantastic iterations of facial hair. The whole awareness campaign behind Movember is just icing on the cake (moustache?). I've encouraged the boy half of RealAgriculture.com to participate, but he hasn't agreed. Could... Read More
It's that time of year again, when a student's thoughts turn to looking fashionable while still staying warm (hahahahaha, as if) and, more importantly, the students from the University of Guelph's Crop 4240 class launch their weed identification and control videos. This is the second year that instructor Francois Tardif and lab lead Mike Cowbrough... Read More
Canola seedlings faces a host of enemies before they even see the light of day — seeds can get bashed around in the air seeder, plowed down too deep, hit by root rots or burned by seed-placed fertilizer. There are ways and means of minimizing the impact of each of these threats to your eventual... Read More
If Manitoba farmers weren't concerned enough about the arrival of clubroot in two canola fields this summer, perhaps the latest confirmation of clubroot galls found in a North Dakota canola field will serve as a wake up call. Of course, this also serves as a giant red flag for American canola growers as well. The... Read More
Modernizing Canada's varietal registration system needed to happen — the removal of kernel visual distinguishability and the CWB's monopoly in recent years has changed crop variety development in Canada. The registration system needs to evolve with it in order to stay current and competitive. Read More: Upov 91, Gerry Rits and Canada's variety registration system... Read More
Farmers who banked on moving crop in September are running into road blocks left and right, even on the eve of November. A bumper crop across most crop kinds in all three Prairie Provinces is taxing Western Canada's railway service and elevators are at or near capacity, even with huge piles of grain being stored... Read More
The 2013 growing season was one of the most productive on record for Western Canada. There were big crops of everything from peas, to canola, to cereals. Durum and hard red spring wheat crops were huge on many farms. While this is good news for farmers (as long as they can get the crop moved),... Read More
It's time to get down, get your hands dirty and take stock of, well, what you feed your stock. As discussed in the last Beef Research School, rangelands serve several purposes beyond just growing grass, and their health is a measure of five key components — species mix, nutrient cycling, site stability, water management and... Read More
Whether it's a brand new crop type or just a new-to-your-farm variety, setting up a basic head to head comparison or small-scale trial can help minimize the risk of going all-in. On-farm trials or variety comparisons are especially helpful when trying to choose a corn variety, as hybrid production can vary so widely between growing... Read More