Black beetles on canola buds.

Want better insect surveys? Here’s how you can help

Provincial entomologists are looking to widen their insect survey networks

Every year provincial entomologists hit the fields, setting pheromone-baited traps and monitoring insect activity. Your help with these projects could improve the information available in your region. Alberta Alberta Agriculture and Forestry insect management specialist Scott Meers relies on growers. “We have large areas to cover, so when we get input from growers and agronomists […] Read more

Barley at sunset

Where to find your provincial crop protection guides

Spring is in the air. That means its time to get your new provincial crop protection guide for all the latest information on registered herbicides, fungicides and insecticides. Here’s how: In Manitoba: For an online copy, Google “Manitoba” and “Guide to Crop Protection” and Google will direct you to a “Guides and Publications” page with many […] Read more


(Bruce Fritz photo courtesy ARS/USDA)

Sunflowers down, but not out in Western Canada

CNS Canada — Canadian sunflower plantings will be down in 2017, but perhaps not by as much as the official government estimate. Statistics Canada forecast the country’s sunflower area at only 50,000 acres in its planting intentions report. That would be down from 70,000 the previous year and the second-lowest acreage base of the past […] Read more

grain bins and barley field

Would your farm pass the stress test?

When you pencil out 
your farm budgets, 
calculate some “what if” 
scenarios as well

New provincial guidelines for estimating 2017 crop production costs are being released across the Prairies. These guidelines can help producers predict their operating costs, breakeven yields and profitability. Producers should also be doing a “stress test” to see how much deviation from those predictions the farm can actually bear without losing money, is the advice […] Read more


Wilde Ag Ventures has introduced a pressure gauge with a special face calibrated to easily provide air flow readings for aeration bins.

Specialty gauge for aeration bins

Special gauge face allows for easy airflow readings at a glance

A few people using aeration bins may be content just to confirm some airflow is coming out the top, but getting an adequate volume of air moving through the grain is critical to ensure efficient drying. Determining how many cubic feet of air per minute (CFM) is actually moving through any bin, though, depends on […] Read more

A high clearance sprayer on a field in a prairie landscape

Spraying your fungicide in “the zone”

With Bayer’s new “Zone Spray,” farmers can skip the fungicide in some parts of the field

If Warren Bills has his way, farmers will have a better way to forecast sclerotinia than the old wet boots and weather test. “We believe there is a better way to manage the risk of that disease and the returns growers get when they spray,” Bills told agronomists and industry at Bayer’s Ag Summit in […] Read more


Wilting of a group of sunflowers due to root to root infections

Sclerotinia a triple threat for Manitoba sunflowers

Minimize chances of sclerotinia infection in your sunflower field next season

Sclerotinia affects a variety of crops, from canola to pulses to soybean. For Manitoba sunflower growers, the disease is a triple threat, with the potential to strike plants at the base, mid-stem or head. In 2016, it was present in 94 per cent of Manitoba sunflower fields. Dr. Khalid Rashid, research scientist at Agriculture and […] Read more

(Bruce Fritz photo courtesy ARS/USDA)

Sunflowers fight for acres in crowded Manitoba fields

CNS Canada — Better prices have created some optimism for sunflower growers in Western Canada — a feeling that may be needed to help the crop maintain acres in the face of so much competition. “I think in Manitoba we’re going to be battling for acres compared to some of those competitive crops,” said Darcelle […] Read more


Agriculture Canada researcher Bob Blackshaw, right, with Univeristy of Alberta master’s student Mat Vercaigne talk to producers during a field day in Lethbridge on “forgotten” herbicides that can help manage resistance.

Old, new products deliver multi-modes of action

The challenge is to hit weeds with two or more active ingredients to reduce resistance

Old chemistry, new formulations, multiple modes of action — these are all elements farmers can include in their weed control toolbox heading into 2017, say weed researchers and crop protection specialists. One of the most important elements these days for either preventing or managing herbicide resistance in weeds is to approach control with multiple modes […] Read more

(Bruce Fritz photo courtesy ARS/USDA)

Manitoba sunflowers ready for harvest

CNS Canada — Most sunflower fields in southern Manitoba are ready for harvest, but the province first needs to see some drier weather. A handful of fields have seen some harvest activity already, “but the bulk is still to come,” said Ben Friesen, purchasing manager with Scoular Canada at Winkler, Man. “If the sun shines, […] Read more