Corn acreage is on the rise across the Prairies, but this year, Goss’s wilt has hit some areas hard. Goss’s wilt is a bacterial infection, relatively new to Western Canada. It was first confirmed in Manitoba in 2009, officially found in Alberta in 2013, and in west-central Saskatchewan in 2018. Sherri Roberts, a crops extension […] Read more
Goss’s Wilt comes to corn on the Prairies
Four ways to cope with corn crops hit with Goss's wilt bacterium
New corn varieties for 2020
Planning to plant corn? There are a lot of new options for the 2020 growing season
Corn growers are spoiled for choice this winter, with 27 new hybrids and one new conventional variety (from Thunder Seed) coming to market for 2020. Lots of new varieties on offer include the YieldGuard Corn Borer trait developed by Monsanto, or offer some level of resistance to Goss’s wilt. Here is the list. Corteva: Pioneer […] Read more
Editor’s Column: Paying for seed breeding
Well that wasn’t much fun. If you finished your 2019 harvest in good time with little broken equipment and a low level of frustration, congratulations! But you probably shouldn’t tell anyone. This was not a great harvest on our farm. After a dry summer in southeast Saskatchewan, suddenly it would not stop raining. We (thankfully) […] Read more
PHOTOS: Agritechnica draws international crowds
Farmers from around the world gather in Germany to see the latest ag machinery and tech
Over the winter, we’ll be running detailed coverage of the newest machinery and ag technology on display at Agritechnica this past November in Hanover, Germany. Consider these photos an early preview.
Corteva’s Climate Positive Challenge program
Sending a message may be more important than what the program can actually buy
In a political climate where a 16-year old European environmental activist can drive thousands of people to protest in Edmonton, it is important that farmers not only continue to act as good stewards of the land and soil — it’s also important that the general public see that farmers are looking after the environment. Corteva […] Read more
New soybean varieties for 2020
While you’re bringing in your 2019 soybean crop, start planning for next year
[UPDATED: Nov. 15, 2019] For most Prairie farmers, the 2019 growing season was a year that put their seed genetics to the test. It’s hard to make a choice about next year’s varieties without knowing what’s coming up in the weather forecast, but this is a good time to start studying your options. There are […] Read more
Fighting blackleg Down Under
Australia's battle to hold back blackleg has had its share of success
Speakers at Syngenta’s launch of Saltro, a new seed treatment, explained that Australian farmers have a different, more conservative approach to blackleg. In 1973, said Steve Marcroft from Marcroft Grains Pathology in Australia, “blackleg completely destroyed the crop.” For 15 years after that, there was very little canola grown in Australia. In the late 1980s, […] Read more
PHOTOS: Editor’s Column: The harvest season that didn’t end
This is the third issue in a row where I’ve written the Editor’s Column thinking, “I’m sure all of the readers will be finished harvest by the time they get this issue in the mail.” And I’m starting to think it might not be true. This morning an article from the CBC popped up on […] Read more
Editor’s Column: The never-ending harvest of 2019
When we put together the last issue of Grainews, I assumed our harvest (and everyone else’s) would be finished by the time we got to our October issue. That is not how things have turned out. Like many farmers across the Prairies, we’ve had weather challenges this season. It rains, we wait for the fields […] Read more
There’s a new phos in town
TIMAC Agro is bringing a new type of phosphorus to Western Canada
When TIMAC Agro International’s Top Phos product was listed as a finalist in Ag in Motion’s Innovation Program, in the plant and soil science category, many western Canadian farmers were not familiar with the company. TIMAC Agro may be new to Canada, but it’s not a new company. “We are in 131 countries,” said TIMAC […] Read more
Cyber-Savvy Farmer
