Potatoes Archives - Page 24 of 39

Bayer’s wheat breeding station at Pike Lake, Sask., southwest of Saskatoon. (Cropscience.bayer.com)

Canada clears Bayer’s Monsanto play, with conditions

By Grainews Staff, GFM Network News May 31, 2018

Canada’s Competition Bureau says it’s “actively reviewing” BASF’s suitability as a buyer of the crop seed and chemical assets Bayer has to sell to get the bureau’s blessing to buy Monsanto. The Competition Bureau said Wednesday it has an agreement with Bayer to deal with “concerns that the proposed transaction would have significantly harmed competition […] Read more

Seed potatoes loaded for planting. (File photo by Ralph Pearce)

Crops, Potatoes, Weather

Prairie potato planting slightly behind schedule

By GFM Network News April 30, 2018

CNS Canada — After a delayed start due to the long winter and spring flooding, western Canadian potato growers are out in the fields. “We’re probably only a couple of days behind… we had farmers out on the fields last week and I think quite a few more will be moving along this week,” said […] Read more

Wireworms are the larval stage of the click beetle.

Crops, Features

Wireworm populations on the rise

Wireworms are a growing concern for the potato industry. Creative controls are needed 

By Julienne Isaacs March 20, 2018

Wireworm populations appear to be on the rise in Western Canada. Wireworm, which is the larval stage of the adult click beetle, affects many crops, including cereals and pulses, but they are particularly damaging to potatoes. Holes created by wireworms can render tubers unmarketable and serve as points of entry for potato pathogens. This pest has […] Read more

Crops, Machinery, Reuters

Walmart patents hint at future where its drones tend the farms

By GFM Network News March 15, 2018

New York/Chicago | Reuters — Walmart’s patent filings hint that it may see a future where farmers use its drones to not only spot crop problems but selectively apply chemicals or even disperse pollen to bring shoppers the freshest and cheapest food possible. The world’s largest retailer applied for six patents last year on drones […] Read more

Small numbers of potato psyllids were found in Alberta between 2015 and 2017. The insect was found in Saskatchewan and Manitoba in 2016.

Crops, Features, Potatoes

Zebra chip pathogen found in Alberta

This colour-changing disease is making  its way to western Canadian potato fields

By Julienne Isaacs March 8, 2018

Zebra chip” is a fun, jaunty name for a potato disease that has nobody in the industry laughing. The disease, which causes harmless but unsightly stripes in potato chips, costs producers millions of dollars annually in New Zealand and the United States. Now the zebra chip pathogen has been found for the first time in […] Read more

The Colorado potato beetle is considered a major economic pest of potato.

Crops, Features, Potatoes

Beetle-resistant potato varieties

Potato growers could soon be growing Colorado potato beetle-resistant plants

By Julienne Isaacs March 8, 2018

New potato varieties that are naturally resistant to Colorado potato beetle could be on the market in five years, according to Helen Tai, a potato breeder at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s Potato Research Centre in Fredericton. Tai is the lead on the breeding project, which has been underway for 30 years, she says, since AAFC […] Read more

Sea surface temperature anomalies (in degrees Celsius) over the equatorial Pacific for the week centred on Feb. 21. (CPC.ncep.noaa.gov)

Crops, Weather

Spring outlook cooler for Prairies, warmer for Ontario

By Grainews Staff, GFM Network News February 27, 2018

Growers in parts of Ontario may get an early start on planting this spring, while Prairie fields may see lingering snow and later-than-average last frosts. WeatherFarm’s spring forecast, powered by U.S.-based DTN Progressive Farmer, projects a cold start to the spring as likely for the western half of Canada, reversing the milder conditions shown over […] Read more

The Svalbard Global Seed Vault, built in Norway in 2008, is the world’s largest secure seed storage site. (Matthias Heyde photo courtesy Government of Norway via Flickr)

Crops, Reuters, Weather

Norway to upgrade ‘doomsday’ seed vault

By Reuters, GFM Network News February 23, 2018

Oslo | Reuters — Norway plans to spend 100 million Norwegian crowns (C$16.1 million) to upgrade a doomsday seed vault on an Arctic island built 10 years ago to protect the world’s food supplies, the government said on Friday. The Svalbard Global Seed Vault is meant as a natural deep freeze to back up the […] Read more

Southern Ontario’s farmland prices have jumped, despite stagnant crop prices. (John Greig photo)

Crops, Markets

Southern Ontario median farmland price jumps in 2017

By GFM Network News February 22, 2018

The threat of interest rate increases hasn’t dampened the prices southern Ontario farmers are paying for land. The annual Valco study of land values showed an increase in value of 9.76 per cent for farmland sold in 2017 over 2016. This increase is the largest since 2013. The median price for land in the surveyed […] Read more

Crops, Potatoes

Simplot to supersize Portage la Prairie fry plant

By Grainews Staff, GFM Network News February 15, 2018

U.S. agrifood giant J.R. Simplot plans to bulk up its potato processing footprint in southern Manitoba with a $460 million plant expansion. The company and the provincial government on Wednesday announced construction will begin this spring on a 280,000-square foot expansion at its 180,000-square foot french fry processing plant at Portage la Prairie. The expansion, […] Read more

Daily Network News

Iran says Strait of Hormuz open as Trump sees deal ‘soon’ to end war

Agriculture groups welcome seed, fertilizer approval bill

AAFC projects tighter canola stocks for 2026-27

Potatoes