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I could see numerous patches of discoloured canola plants, 
but there was no discernable pattern.
Crops, Features

Crop advisor casebook: Mystery of the discoloured canola

A Crop Advisor's Solution from the February 18, 2020 issue of Grainews

By
Back in mid-June, I got a call from Dave, a grain farmer near Elie, Man., who was concerned about the condition of the plants in one of his canola fields. Dave, who also grows wheat, soybeans and flax on his 3,200-acre farm, said some of the canola plants started exhibiting discoloured leaves shortly after emergence. […] Read more
Features, Markets

Hedging the Canadian dollar

Hedging currency is another risk management tool for the farm

By
David Derwin, commodity portfolio manager with PI Financial, has been working with some of his farm clients for many years on currency hedging strategies as a risk management tool. Recently, he has helped bring these strategies into a package called the Currency Ag Strategic Hedging (CASH) program. This program helps protect farmers from a rising […] Read more
Truflex varieties allow producers to use a higher maximum rate of Roundup herbicide over a wider window of crop safety. The higher maximum rate also broadens the weed control spectrum.
Canola, Crops, Features

TruFlex is game-changing tech for canola

Improved traits in hybrid varieties give growers more options

By
Flexibility is the name of the game when it comes to some of the new features in canola varieties this year. Some varieties have been developed to handle higher rates of glyphosate with a wider window of application, while others have dual herbicide tolerance, and will give farmers a choice to use one or two […] Read more
The affected plants had smaller peas than they should, and some leaves were exhibiting minor ascochyta blight damage.
Crops, Features

Crop advisor casebook: What’s causing the symptoms in this ailing pea crop?

A Crop Advisor's Solution from the February 11, 2020 issue of Grainews

By
Andy has a 2,000-acre mixed farm operation near Vauxhall, Alta., where he raises cattle and grows wheat, canola, sugar beets, beans, field peas and hay. I had worked with Andy for some time and knew he’d stepped up his scouting efforts that summer, due to the fact the growing season had been unusually cool and […] Read more
Melissa Werkema’s Future Analytics Inc. offers “plant sap” testing, which measures the xylem sap in plant leaves as an indicator of nutrient availability.
Crops, Features

New lab offers plant sap analysis

Tired of the same old soil and tissue tests? Try this

By
A new, independent lab is offering an innovative nutrient test to farmers in Red Deer, Alta. Future Analytics Inc. offers “plant sap” testing, which measures the xylem sap in plant leaves as an indicator of nutrient availability, as well as water, soil and bacteria testing, says owner Melissa Werkema. The lab, which opened in spring […] Read more
SM AG Research operates small test plots, testing pre-commercialized products for agricultural clients.
Crops, Features

Running a small-plot crop research business

Stephanie Kernaleguen’s off-farm job is on the farm, running SM AG Research

By
Life is busy for Stephanie Kernaleguen and her husband Marc, who are raising a family, running a business and are fourth-generation farmers on the family farm near St. Brieux, Sask. Kernaleguen graduated from the University of Saskatchewan with a degree in Ag Business. After working in ag research jobs, she says, “I saw an area […] Read more
Features, News

Get ready for agroecology

Experts at World Food Day are ready to change the entire food system

By
By coffee time of the World Food Day conference in Bern, Switzerland I wanted to jump up on that stage and shout out: “I’m a commercial grain farmer from Canada that grew GM canola and don’t regret it. What do you have to say to that!” The speakers and attendants that day were not particularly […] Read more
Crops, Features

The five principles of soil health

USDA researcher says healthy soil needs a systems approach

By
At the Regenerative Agriculture Forum in Brandon in November, Jay Fuhrer, soil health specialist with the Natural Resource Conservation Service of the USDA, spoke about soil health. Fuhrer has identified five principles of soil health, and how they work to improve soil health and increase productivity. Fuhrer defined soil health is defined as “the continued […] Read more
As corn acreage expands on the Prairies, there will be a whole new crop that can host fusarium spores.

Crops, Features

Still no magic bullet for fusarium head blight

There’s still no cure, but at least there’s no sign of fungicide resistance. Yet

By
“We have no magic bullet.” When Randy Kucher, associate professor at the Crop Development Centre/Department of Plant Sciences at the University of Saskatchewan, said that at the beginning of his presentation, the mood in the roomful of CropSphere attendees deflated just a bit. Fusarium head blight has stolen yield from many durum and spring wheat […] Read more
Farming Smarter has been looking at the potential of precision planters for grain, pulse and oilseed crops for several years.
Crops, Equipment, Features

Precision planter research is encouraging

Still many questions about how it would fit for grains, pulses and oilseed crops

By
Southern Alberta researchers say there is increasing evidence that seeding a wide range of western Canadian field crops with a vacuum or precision planter makes sense, but they need co-operative weather to prove it. That’s how Ken Coles and Lewis Baarda with the Lethbridge-based Farming Smarter applied research organization sum up results of several years […] Read more

AgCanadaTV

AGCanadaTV: In Case You Missed It – Your National Ag News Recap for the week ending February 21, 2020.

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