Enterprise Machine Intelligence and Learning Initiative
(EMILI) is working with Geco Engineering to assess the
performance of Geco’s weed mapping technology for
predicting weed locations and detecting emerging herbicide
resistance. Summer student Ryan Ruchkall is among those at
EMILI’s Innovation Farms who are operating drones to collect
field data on kochia and wild oat.

High-tech weed control to give farmers a look into how precise spraying can be

Digital tool can be used to predict where weeds will emerge and identify areas with herbicide resistance within fields

Saskatchewan farmer Carl deConinck Smith is a dedicated early adopter who likes to keep on top of the latest innovations in digital agriculture technology. No surprise then that he’s arranged to have some new precision ag tech put to use on his farm this summer. It’s a digital tool developed by Geco Engineering in Vancouver, […] Read more

‘Perfect storm’ for grasshoppers

‘Perfect storm’ for grasshoppers

The conditions are right for pest-type grasshoppers in Saskatchewan. Consider both insecticides and cultural controls

A provincial insect management specialist says grasshoppers could pose a significant challenge for farmers in Saskatchewan this season. During a June 14 webinar offering advice on managing grasshopper populations, James Tansey of Saskatchewan Agriculture said, “we’ve got a bit of a perfect storm for grasshoppers this year.” According to Tansey, warm and dry conditions in […] Read more


Temperature can play an important role in the amount of damage flea beetles can cause to a canola crop. Both species do most of their damage in warm conditions.

Efficacies of insecticide seed treatments on flea beetles

The latest findings on flea beetle control products

The 2022 growing season was a “monstrous” year for canola farmers battling flea beetles in some parts of the Prairies. James Tansey, an entomologist with the Saskatchewan Ministry of Agriculture, shared that assessment with a crowd of producers, agronomists, agri-retailers and other industry representatives at Saskatchewan’s Agronomy Research Update 2022, held last December in Saskatoon. […] Read more

A look at one of the plot locations used during the field testing of the University of Manitoba’s fusarium head blight risk assessment tool.

FHB risk assessment tool created for Western Canada

With real-time data, the new tool shows the risk of FHB in small grain cereal crops on a specified date

A new online tool developed by a team of scientists and researchers in Manitoba could soon make fusarium head blight (FHB) risk management in cereal crops easier for Prairie farmers. For the past five years, staff in the department of soil science at the University of Manitoba (U of M) have been working on a […] Read more


File: A person holding a cellphone.

Go ahead, ask the ‘Pro’ a question

AgvisorPro is a platform for the transfer of information for individual farmers and “communities”

If you have questions related to anything agriculture, or even something related to personal well-being, an expert on AgvisorPro can likely provide an answer. In this era of the internet that might sound like no big deal, but the agriculture information service launched in 2019, accessed through your smartphone, has evolved into such an extensive […] Read more

Recirculating booms can go a long way toward reducing the amount of pesticides wasted on the farm. Shown in this photo is one of three of the more popular models which is the Horsch Leeb 6.300 VL.

How to reduce pesticide waste on your farm

Tom Wolf's simple steps to significantly reduce losses to the ground

With chemical costs continuing to make up a large share of on-farm expenditures, it’s important to prevent any of those compounds from going to waste. That’s especially true when it comes to pesticides. According to the Farm Inputs Price Index from Statistics Canada, total input costs for Canadian farmers rose by 17.4 per cent in […] Read more


Dustin McLaren, a territory manager for Corteva Agriscience, inspects lentils

New tool for anthracnose control in lentils

Zetigo PRM targets disease with a novel mode of action and helps farmers manage fungicide resistance

Anthracnose can be a serious problem in lentils in Western Canada. As Mike Brown, agronomy manager for Saskatchewan Pulse Growers, points out, the disease can result in heavy yield losses due to premature leaf drop and plant death. “Anthracnose is a polycyclic disease, which means it can go through multiple life cycles during the growing […] Read more

A canola flower midge larva inside a galled flower. Larvae are initially white in colour and turn a darker yellow colour as they feed and develop.

Canola flower midge damage less severe than swede midge

Newly discovered species shouldn’t worry canola producers

Swede midge is a devastating insect pest of canola and related cruciferous vegetables and is a problem in Eastern Canada. In North America, swede midge was first noticed in Ontario and the eastern United States. It has affected canola production in Eastern Canada, in some cases leading to failed crops. Swede midge (Contarinia nasturtii) is […] Read more


This image shows the unilateral discolouration of plant stems caused by verticillium stripe.

Take verticillium stripe in canola seriously

A Manitoba farmer warns others about the threat this disease poses to canola production

Last year, Collin Shirtliff knew the threat to his canola crops posed by verticillium stripe but he wasn’t overly concerned. However, that changed late in the summer when he began harvesting the crop on the 3,600-acre farm he and his family operate near Starbuck, Man. What looked like an extremely promising crop weeks earlier suddenly […] Read more

Tips to achieve financial harmony with family and lenders

Tips to achieve financial harmony with family and lenders

Consider the five C’s of small business lending as an evaluation tool for a loan

This past winter, I attended two conferences in Alberta related to farm business management. One was the annual conference of Farm Management Canada (FMC) held in the beautiful Rocky Mountains at Canmore, and the other was the annual Alberta Farm Advisor Update presented by the Canadian Association of Farm Advisors (CAFA), which was held in […] Read more