(Dave Bedard photo)

CP cuts raise worry over potential slowdown

CNS Canada –– Canadian Pacific Railway’s decision to cut 1,000 jobs has caught the attention of two Prairie farm leaders. Norm Hall, president of Agricultural Producers Association of Saskatchewan, worries the move is short-sighted and may catch up with the railway in months and years to come, when commodity prices catch fire again. “You dump […] Read more


(CN.ca)

CN’s 2015 grain handle down, grain revenue up

Canadian National Railway’s (CN) fourth-quarter and full-year ledgers show lower traffic, but increased revenue, from its grain and fertilizer business in 2015, en route to record full-year earnings. Montreal-based CN on Tuesday reported overall net income of $3.538 billion on $12.611 billion in total revenues for 2015, up from $3.167 billion on $12.134 billion for […] Read more

Pea root rot.

Researching root rot control in peas

Evaluating the benefits of seed treatments, soil amendments and soil tests

There’s still a lot to learn when it comes to managing root rot, especially aphanomyces. When are seed treatments most effective? Do soil amendments help? And can soil testing help farmers pick the best pea fields? Fortunately, research is underway to answer those very questions. Dr. Syama Chatterton, an Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) researcher […] Read more


Manage root rot before seeding

Saskatchewan plant disease specialist recommends good agronomy to reduce root rot

Lentil and pea growers struggling with root rot need to manage the disease before the seed is in the ground, according to Saskatchewan Agriculture’s plant disease specialist. Fusarium, pythium, and rhizoctonia are root rot pathogens long familiar to farmers. But aphanomyces is a relatively new problem, only detected in Saskatchewan in 2012. “It probably was […] Read more




Farmers check out pea plots during the Western Applied Research Corporation’s annual field day at Scott, Sask. Weed control is a perennial problem for pea producers.

Managing Group-2 resistant weeds in pulse crops across Western Canada

Cleavers, mustard, kochia and sow thistle are among the weeds getting harder 
to control, but there are methods, starting with good agronomy

Group 2 resistance is something that is really a big problem across Western Canada,” says Dr. Chris Willenborg, a researcher at the University of Saskatchewan’s plant sciences department. Willenborg has worked on several research projects that inform weed resistance in pulses. The bad news is that resistance is spreading. And the more farmers rely solely […] Read more


Red lentils. (Pulse Canada photo)

India’s pulses under stress, need well-timed rain

CNS Canada –– India, the world’s largest producer of pulses, needs moisture before crops hit the reproductive cycle at the end of January, or existing losses will become amplified, a weather analyst says. The driest areas in India are important pulse-producing regions in northeastern Andhra Pradesh and neighbouring Uttar Pradesh, said Drew Lerner of World […] Read more

CPG, whose COO and owner Kelly Beaulieu is shown here in a file photo, will get over half a million dollars in public funds for the company’s expansion.

Puree processor gets GF2 funds for expansion

A Portage la Prairie food processor that converts culled vegetables into nutritional purees has received $582,000 from the federal-provincial Growing Value program to increase its capacity. Canadian Prairie Garden Puree Products has acquired new equipment and modified its existing operation in order to cook more types of fruits, vegetables and pulse crops like chickpeas, navy […] Read more