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
Spraying your fungicide in “the zone”
With Bayer’s new “Zone Spray,” farmers can skip the fungicide in some parts of the field
Growing 180 bushels of barley
Barley 180 wants to know what it will take to top up Alberta barley yields
A trip to New Zealand inspired a quest in Alberta for higher barley yields. New Zealand farmers can produce barley crops topping 200 bushels per acre. Granted, New Zealand has some climatic advantages over Western Canada. But Steve Larocque, owner of Beyond Agronomy, saw no reason that Alberta barley growers couldn’t aim higher. Together with […] Read more
Grain transportation mostly smooth in January
CN hopper car demand up, while CP car demand down from previous year
Grain movement has been relatively smooth for much of January, according to the latest numbers from the Ag Transport Coalition. Canadian National (CN) has supplied over 90 per cent of hopper cars order between January 8th and 21st, according the Coalition’s reports for grain weeks 24 and 25. Canadian Pacific (CP) filled 73 per cent […] Read more
Reporter’s Notebook: The post-trauma trauma in rural areas
Dealing with PTSD is more difficult in rural areas. Here’s what you need to know
A few years ago we were moving cows to a different summer pasture. It was an easy job, more of an excuse to go riding than anything. I’ve forgotten most of the details of that day. But one moment was memorable. The cows had to walk through a little draw to get to the gate. […] Read more
Fire guts Saskatchewan town’s last elevator
Residents of Prelate, Sask. had a rude awakening Tuesday as the village’s last grain elevator, owned by Paterson Grain, was engulfed in flames. Calls to 9-1-1 started coming in at 5:48 a.m. Tuesday, according to Jason Gizen, a local volunteer firefighter and pedigreed seed grower. Gizen lives in the house closest to the elevator and […] Read more
VIDEO: Bayer CropScience tests new way of applying fungicide
Warren Bills believes there’s a better way to manage sclerotinia risk in canola. And for the last couple of years he’s been putting that idea to the test. Bills, the business development manager for digital farming at Bayer CropScience, says the trick is to identify variable canola fields and spray the areas with high biomass. […] Read more
Can you skip inoculant?
Pulse type and field conditions determine how much inoculant your pulse crop needs
Inoculating, or even double inoculating, is routine for pulse growers. But is it always necessary, or are their situations where farmers can save a few bucks without affecting yields? The answer, it seems, comes down to crop type and field history. Peas, fababeans and lentils all form symbiotic relationships with the same rhizobium species, and […] Read more
Slowing blackleg resistance with rotation
Labelling canola seed could help farmers slow the development of genetic resistance
As blackleg resurges in Western Canada, canola growers and agronomists have been calling for seed companies to label the blackleg resistance genes on their varieties. Those labels would allow farmers to rotate resistance genes when one resistant variety breaks, the thinking goes. “We’ve been engaged with the industry over the last few years to see […] Read more
Managing blackleg on the farm
Clint Jurke of the Canola Council of Canada offers producers three tips
Clint Jurke, agronomy director for the Canola Council of Canada says the industry is “losing millions of dollars in terms of canola yields every year due to blackleg.” The disease is also a trade issue, and we need to improve control as much as possible, he adds. “We really want growers to look at what […] Read more
Reporter’s Notebook: Tips for safely managing ag reporters
Some tips on how to talk to reporters, and why you might want to in the first place
Last spring I wrote a column designed to scare all of you from ever talking to a reporter. If you’ve run into a pack of farm reporters at a field day, you’ll know why I felt compelled to warn you. (Just kidding, we’re okay). I thought I’d start the New Year with a couple more […] Read more
Cyber-Savvy Farmer
