While flowering rush may be a lovely pond decoration, it is also a formidable invasive plant that’s restricting water flow
Flowering rush seems to be an ideal ornamental pond plant. Plants grow on the water’s edge or fully submerged. They are striking, with stalks up to a metre tall, topped by nickel-sized pink flowers. But flowering rush also spreads easily and is hard to kill, making it a formidable invasive species. Flowering rush can restrict […] Read moreFast-growing cattails sequester phosphorus. Harvesting them might be good for the environment, and better yet — it might be good for your bottom line
Harvesting cattails from the ditches, low spots and sloughs on your farm, could one day lower your fertilizer and energy costs. At least that’s the aim of a research study in Manitoba that’s focused on reducing the nutrient loading to Lake Winnipeg. The major study is being conducted at Netley-Libau Marsh by the International Institute […] Read moreNot buying insurance can free up cash for other uses on your farm. But before you make any rash decisions, consider these four factors
A man walks into a coffee shop to buy a coffee to go and the clerk says “Would you like insurance for that? For only 15 cents we’ll replace it if you spill it.” Another man has a farm with thousands of acres of crop. The insurance agent says “Would you like hail insurance this […] Read moreYour wheat and barley dollars are now directly funding the Canadian International Grains Institute. Find out what Cigi is doing for you
After surveying farmers this past May the Canadian International Grains Institute (Cigi) discovered that many weren’t all that familiar with the Winnipeg based organisation and knew very little about what it does. That’s hardly surprising because for the past forty years Cigi has primarily played a support role in providing technical marketing services to the Canadian Wheat […] Read moreYellowdevil hawkweed has been found in the Crowsnest Pass area of Alberta. Learn how to control it before it spreads further
Yellowdevil hawkweed (Hieracium glomeratum) was recently found in southern Alberta, in the Crowsnest Pass area. In the Pacific Northwest, hawkweeds are some of the most troublesome weeds found. A perennial, yellowdevil hawkweed reproduces by seed, and vegetatively by rhizomes and root buds. It is thought that the weed most likely came into the province via […] Read moreWhen Canada’s top weed scientists gathered in Winnipeg for their annual meeting, glyphosate resistance was on their minds
Public and private sector weed scientists agree integrated weed management, rather than any magic-bullet chemistry, will be the way forward to maintain viable fields against herbicide-resistant weeds. Scientists from across Canada gathered in Winnipeg in November to discuss new research at the Canadian Weed Science Society’s 66th annual conference. Much of the research on the […] Read moreHigh yields for pulse crops depend on using the right type of inoculant at just the right time, to get as much bacteria into the soil as possible
Rhizobium inoculants help peas and lentils fix nitrogen, reducing or eliminating the need for applied nitrogen. Success hinges on getting as many live rhizobium bacteria into the soil as possible. “You want to be able to maintain them as viable bacterial cells,” says Dr. Fran Walley. Walley is a soil science professor at the University of […] Read more
