Wheat & Chaff

Sweet, seed and field corn growers now have a new weapon to fight insect pests. Syngenta Canada Inc. has registered Voliam Xpress, a new pre-mix insecticide that delivers multiple modes of action for control of a number of yield-robbing lepidopteran pests in corn. “The multiple modes of action delivered in Voliam Xpress mean that corn […] Read more

It’s sad but true. Sometimes even those eyes in the back of your head aren’t enough to keep kids safe on the farm. You’re standing right beside them, watching, and then in what seems to be slow motion, they fall, they cut a hand or much worse. And you were supervising! Supervision alone cannot prevent […] Read more

Record-breaking temperatures during the third week of March had many eastern Canadian farmers in the fields. That’s the news from Peter Johnson, cereals specialist with the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. Much of the winter wheat crop has emerged from dormancy in fairly good shape, however, the warm weather has also imparted […] Read more

Garry Nerbas, a farmer near Langenberg, has been fixing up this old “van” he bought from a neighbour. Garry says, “It’s about 70 years old. These “vans” were primarily used the 40s — until 1955 or ’56 when they built roads.” Nerbas says many farmers used “vans” or “cabooses” like this to get around on […] Read more

Cereal, corn, soybean and pulse growers have a new active fungicide ingredient to throw at key leaf diseases. The crop protection wing of DuPont Canada has picked up federal approval for registration of Acapela, whose new active ingredient, picoxystrobin, comes from the Group 11 (strobilurin) class of fungicides. The product’s approval from Health Canada’s Pest Management Regulatory Agency covers […] Read more

So you’ve decided to hire your 20-something nephew and his pal to help you get the crop in and work around the yard. You might even put an ad in the local paper or tweet for more help. You know you can’t just send them out on your equipment without training. But where to start? […] Read more

Farmers in the prime durum-growing area of southern Saskatchewan are expected to seed more of the crop this spring, but competition from canola may sway some last-minute plantings, according to an elevator manager in southern Saskatchewan. While there may be some apprehension over the changes to the marketing system for durum in Western Canada with the end of the Canadian Wheat Board […] Read more

Syngenta Canada Inc. has decreased the price of its canola fungicide, Astound, by $2.00 per acre. The new suggested retail price is $22.16 per acre. In addition, Astound also qualifies for a further savings through the Syngenta Partner Program. Astound is the only canola fungicide with two modes of action (Group 9 and Group 12), […] Read more

Warmer-than-normal temperatures in Ontario are reported to have helped the winter wheat crop in the province break dormancy earlier than usual. “There is certainly some wheat green-up with growth dependent on the region of the province,” says Peter Johnson, a cereals specialist for the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture. However, while the crop has come out of dormancy earlier […] Read more

Wheat and barley growers whose money stayed in the Western Grains Research Foundation’s checkoff fund during 2011 can expect a relatively larger tax credit for their buck. Prairie farmers — other than Alberta barley growers, who pay into a different checkoff fund — will see their WGRF checkoff money eligible for federal Scientific Research and Experimental Development […] Read more