Wheat & Chaff

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

Soft ocean freight rates, which hit 25-year lows in early February, are helping cut into Canada’s grain freight disadvantage with some of its competitors, according to industry participants. The Baltic Dry Index, which is used as a guide for global shipping rates, is sitting at 715 points, up from a 25-year low of 647 points […] Read more

An online service allowing Canada’s farmers to quickly look up treatment data for any treatable crop pest problem has brought a substantial chunk of its offerings out from behind the pay wall. Guelph-based The Savvy Farmer Inc. has announced the launch of Savvy Farmer lite, a free version of its Savvy Farmer software. The “lite” […] Read more