This Manitoba farmer says quinoa has been an agronomic bonus for his farm
Quinoa is no longer just for health nuts. Most Canadian consumers are familiar with the ancient grain, and it’s increasingly used as a value-added ingredient in boxed cereals and baked goods due to its high protein and fibre content. And though its low acreage still puts it in the “niche” category of production in western […] Read more
This is the story of Mark and Bobbie Bratrud, near Weyburn, Sask.
Every farm has its own story. No two farms (or farmers) are exactly alike. Everyone got started in a different way, and every farm has a different combination of family and hired staff who make the decisions and keep things running. But, in general, even after you consider all of the details, farmers are more […] Read more
Wireworms are a growing concern for the potato industry. Creative controls are needed
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
Although there’s a perception that dust is past, tillage erosion is on the rise in Manitoba
It seemed like the beginning of the end of the world: friends and neighbours dying of “dust pneumonia” and massive dust storms sweeping the land. These are some of the recollections of people who were alive in the “Dirty 30s,” recorded for an oral history project by Daryl Ritchison, interim director of the North Dakota […] Read more
This colour-changing disease is making its way to western Canadian potato fields
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
Potato growers could soon be growing Colorado potato beetle-resistant plants
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
This new higher-yielding, six-row barley variety is on the road to certification
A new six-row hulled spring feed and forage barley variety should soon be in farmers’ fields. SR14501 — which will gain a trade name prior to commercialization — was developed by Alberta’s Field Crop Development Centre in response to producers’ requests for a barley with good lodging resistance, says barley breeder Joseph Nyachiro. “It is […] Read more
A new test offers another way to test soil quality improvements
It can be called “fractal hierarchical aggregation” or just “fractal aggregation.” Whatever the moniker, the new method of soil health testing promises to offer an important way to assess soil quality and land stewardship, says Guillermo Hernandez, an assistant professor at the University of Alberta. Hernandez is the lead researcher on a suite of projects […] Read more
Nematodes are tiny pests with big impacts: parasitic cyst nematodes are quickly becoming a major economic concern for soybean, corn, sugar beet and potato producers. Soybean cyst nematode (SCN) made its grand entrance in the U.S. in the 1950s, and since then has become soybean producers’ top pest, causing significant yield losses annually. In Canada, […] Read more
A new test offers a way to measure improvements from controlled traffic farming
It can be called “fractal hierarchical aggregation” or just “fractal aggregation.” Whatever the moniker, the new method of soil health testing promises to offer producers an important metric for assessing soil quality and land stewardship, says Guillermo Hernandez, an assistant professor at the University of Alberta. This spring he published a research paper demonstrating that […] Read more
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