There is a lot going on with the insect population inside your canola field and, believe it or not, it's not all bad. The truth is that some of those little guys can be doing you a huge favour. Beneficial insect populations within your canola can oftentimes keep insect pests at levels that don't require... Read More
Category: Western Canada
After sitting through the morning session at the BASF Ag Media Summit something really struck me. Crop protection, trait developers and plant breeding companies are doing a great job of leveraging their assets and intellectual capital through collaboration to bring products to the market faster to benefit farmers and consumers. Companies like BASF and Monsanto... Read More
There is a growing concern from farmers and the industry to herbicide resistance. Whether its giant ragweed or kochia, hebicide resistance is a challenge for farmers. Currently, there is 8 different herbicide groups with confirmed resistance. According to Michael Schaad, Eastern Business Manager, BASF Canada, Glyphosate resistance was first found in the mid 90's and... Read More
Lentils are a relatively small acreage but still requires some of the technology that other crops are fortunate enough to participate in. Clearfield Lentils has been a unique partnership between Saskatchewan Pulse Growers, BASF and University of Saskatchewan's Crop Development Center. With the introduction of Clearfield lentils in 2007, farmers are quickly adopting this solution... Read More
The in-crop spraying season is just around the corner for a number of growers in Western Canada. Spraying at the proper time allows your crop to use nutrients and moisture without having to compete against various weeds, as well as allows your crop to metabolize herbicides more readily. What I want to focus on now... Read More
We've talked before about the damage the pea leaf weevil can do, but the current economics of peas add a sense of urgency to producers scouting and control strategies. With pea prices being as strong as they are currently, the economic threshold for spraying for the pest is lower than it ordinarily would be. Taking... Read More
We don't have top many agriculture celebrities. There are people you recognize because you see them on tv, at meetings or on YouTube but in actual fact there is not a TMZ like service following around farmers or industry people (thank goodness for that). Recently I travelled down to North Carolina to visit the Syngenta... Read More
Last week the Saskatchewan provincial government shuffled the cabinet. Whenever this happens farmers peer in with anticipation of a trade up or a trade down in the quality of the Agriculture Minister. This week at the Saskatchewan Stock Growers AGM I had the chance to listen to the very first address of the new Saskatchewan... Read More
In this episode of the Canola School, Canola Council of Canada agronomist, Troy Prosofsky discusses the issue of reseeding. Less than ideal plant stands are not good for yield but neither is late planting. It is a very difficult decision whether to reseed. When you do decide to reseed your canola you have even more... Read More
In the last month a lot of new generic herbicides and fungicides have been registered, bringing the number to well over 300. This can become very confusing for both farmers and dealers who struggle to stay abreast of the fancy brand names and what’s in them. No-doubt, some of you might be questioning the need... Read More