While Mother Nature does its best in Western Canada to alleviate soil compaction through the freeze and thaw cycle, researchers suspect nature has a hard time keeping up with the pressure (figuratively and literally) of modern agricultural technology. Bigger, heavier equipment travelling over fields, particularly when soil conditions are wet, is believed to cause soil […] Read more
Farmers assess the effects of soil compaction
How some producers recognize and manage the issue
A glimpse into bright, young farming operations
From potatoes to cranberries, eggs to pork, beef to veal and millions of seeds — this is what these farmers do
Canada’s Outstanding Young Farmers will experience the hospitality of Quebec in late November as regional nominees and alumni gather in Laval for the national awards competition. Along with the seven OYF regional nominee farm families, about 200 alumni and guests from the program will attend the 43rd national awards event that runs Nov. 23-26. Nominees […] Read more
Applying management to pasture weed control
Maintaining a healthy forage stand is best defence against weeds
Peter Tokar and Jacques Saquet are two Manitoba livestock producers who have applied changes in management practices to help control some particularly difficult pasture weed infestations. Tokar, who owns a mixed farm — primarily a beef cow-calf operation — near Swan River in west-central Manitoba, deals with patches of burdock on his pastures. Saquet, who […] Read more
Survey shows farmers ready for biologicals
Companies like Corteva Agriscience are helping producers find a fit for natural products
Research, demonstration projects and greater investment from crop protection companies have readied Canadian farmers to learn more about biological inputs and their potential to improve crop production without harming the environment, according to a survey by Corteva Agriscience. “The survey is a pretty solid indicator that the market is ready for biologicals,” says Kirsten Ratzlaff, […] Read more
Crop marketing gets personal
Analyzing a world of data to develop a custom-made marketing program
The longstanding western Canadian marketing consultants FarmLink Marketing Solutions has launched a new grain marketing platform for small- and medium-sized farming operations that sets a new standard for the sometimes difficult decisions on when to sell crops. Welcome to GrainFox. Launched in late winter, it is designed to analyze tons of external marketing information, along […] Read more
Go ahead, ask the ‘Pro’ a question
AgvisorPro is a platform for the transfer of information for individual farmers and “communities”
If you have questions related to anything agriculture, or even something related to personal well-being, an expert on AgvisorPro can likely provide an answer. In this era of the internet that might sound like no big deal, but the agriculture information service launched in 2019, accessed through your smartphone, has evolved into such an extensive […] Read more
Corteva’s OnDeck offers crop rotation flexibility
A wheat and barley in-crop herbicide with no cropping restrictions for peas, lentils or canola the following year
Wheat and barley producers in Western Canada in the Brown and Dark Brown soil zones will have a new tool for broadleaf weed control this growing season with a unique combination of actives that doesn’t have cropping restrictions the following year. Following recent product registration by the Pest Management Regulatory Agency, Corteva Agriscience is releasing […] Read more
Weed control timing is important: sooner is better than later
If weeds get the upper hand, a percentage of yield loss can’t be recovered
Willem van Staveren says you can’t beat early weed control. In fact, every year on the family-run southern Saskatchewan farm, the Van Staverens plan for a post-harvest herbicide application to help control winter annual and perennial weeds in preparation for the following growing season. “It is important for us to make the late fall herbicide […] Read more
How to manage without lambda-cyhalothrin in 2023
Alternatives to control most insect pests exist but attention to label recommendations, product rates and timing is important
As of mid-February, if western Canadian farmers want to control common crop insect pests such as grasshoppers and flea beetles in 2023, they should plan to do it without the use of popular lambda-cyhalothrin products such as Matador and Silencer. Those products and others based on the lambda-cy active ingredient aren’t banned, but Health Canada’s […] Read more
Farmers discuss how lambda-cyhalothrin regulation changes will affect them in 2023
Concerns include the loss of another crop protection tool, lack of science-based reasons for excluding feed crops from the label and costs and availability of alternative insecticides
Western Canadian farmers are hoping that common sense prevails in Ottawa before a potentially serious outbreak of insect crop pests play havoc with grain, oilseed and pulse crops across the Prairies this growing season. News that a cost-effective insecticide that controls a wide range of pests like grasshoppers and flea beetles won’t be available to […] Read more
Cyber-Savvy Farmer
