A three-year study in Arkansas has found that a combination of fall management practices and herbicide use are the most effective ways to control herbicide-resistant Palmer amaranth, when combined with a herbicide program. But Arkansas isn’t Alberta. So what can western Canadian farmers learn from this study? More and more often the message in weed […] Read more
Use diversity to fight resistant weeds
The latest in using integrated weed management tools for hard-to-manage weeds
Reporter’s Notebook: The landscape makes its mark
People and culture are influenced by the environment more than we realize
There are two eyes in the head — the eye of mystery, and the eye of harsh truth — the hidden and the open — the woods eye and the prairie eye. The prairie eye looks for distance, clarity, and light; the woods eye for closeness, complexity, and darkness. The prairie eye looks for usefulness […] Read more
Guenther: Sask. canola, wheat crops still stranded
Spring harvest likely for some Prairie farmers
In north-western Saskatchewan, farmers are crossing their fingers that warm weather will hold long enough for them to get the last of their crops in the bin. There’s “more than enough” canola and wheat in the fields in the Glaslyn area, says Dave Shepherd, location manager at AgriTeam. Shepherd estimates that 30 per cent of […] Read more
Yield-robbing fababean diseases
If you’re putting fabas in the ground, be ready to manage these common diseases
Farmers with aphanomyces-infested fields are faced with a tough decision. Stretch the rotation between susceptible pulse crops to six or eight years, or drop them altogether? Some farmers are opting for less susceptible pulses, including fababeans in moist areas. Of course, fababeans could be vulnerable to disease as well. Here are the foliar diseases fababean […] Read more
How crop diseases become resistant to fungicides
Have you ever wondered how crop diseases develop resistance to fungicides? The first thing to know is that fungicide doesn’t actually cause mutations. Those mutations are random, and can be caused by UV rays, cosmic rays, and cell replication errors, said Dr. Sabine Banniza. Mutations drive evolution, Banniza said. But the last thing farmers want […] Read more
Stem Shock: new herbicide in development
A new mode of action based on RNA could soon be killing a weed near you
It’s been over 20 years since chemical companies released a new mode of action in herbicides. But a B.C.-based company is cooking up a whole new type of herbicide. “We use a different mode of action for the actual killing of the plants than a lot of traditional herbicides. Most herbicides, by reducing the specific […] Read more
Reporter’s Notebook: Racism is alive in our community
Colten Boushie’s death has brought ugly racism to the surface. But there is room for hope
The death of Colten Boushie in August opened an ugly wound in rural Saskatchewan. I’ll refrain from speculating about what happened on Gerald Stanley’s farm near Biggar because the truth is I don’t know much about it. But we all know that a young man is dead and that is tragic. I also wasn’t surprised […] Read more
PHOTOS: Scenes from a farm writers’ tour
Canadian Farm Writers' Federation visits the University of Saskatchewan
Synchrotrons, robotic milkers, pill cameras oh my! Grainews‘ Lisa Guenther had plenty to see and do during a recent tour at Canadian Farm Writers’ Federation awards. Have a look at some of the many modern technologies she and other agricultural journalists saw when they toured facilities at Canadian Light Source and the University of Saskatchewan’s vet centre and […] Read more
Snow carpets Sask. crops, weather causing harvest havoc
Some farmers still have crops in the field, but all they can do is 'wait-and-see'
Old Man Winter yanked the rug out from under the feet of many Saskatchewan farmers this week, as a heavy wet snow fell across the province. Farmers have been happy with the yields, says Ian Weber, sales manager with Warrington AgroDynamic of Mervin. “But they’re not too happy right now with the weather.” Weber estimates […] Read more
Photos from a Saskatchewan harvest
Grainews‘ field editor Lisa Guenther has been focussing her camera lens on harvest in her neck of the woods. Here’s a few of the photos she’s taken so far.
Cyber-Savvy Farmer
