The green crop on the left is a chickpea monocrop still flowering on August 31. On the right is intercrop that is more ripe and not flowering.

Ins and outs of intercropping

Intercropping researcher Lana Shaw shares tips and tricks for successful intercropping


You can’t convince farmers to use long rotations if they are losing money on some of those crops, says Lana Shaw, research manager of South East Research Farm at Redvers, Sask. Nor is it good enough to only have one or two profitable crops in a region. The industry needs to find a way to […] Read more

Don’s crop was yellow, and very uneven. For example, some plants were still at the five-leaf stage, while others had the flag leaf out with the head in the boot.

Crop advisor casebook: Leaf yellowing and uneven stand in wheat

A Crop Advisor's Solution from the March 27, 2018 issue of Grainews

When I pulled up to Don’s wheat field last year on July 6, the first thing I noticed was how yellow the crop was. The crop’s development was also very uneven. For example, some plants were still at the five-leaf stage, while others had the flag leaf out with the head in the boot. There […] Read more


The Monosem is a high precision seeder meant for precise seed placement in both depth and spacing within the row.

Planting canola with precision

Researchers working to develop canola agronomy with precision planters

As more and more Western Canadian growers move into soybeans and invest in precision planters, there’s increasing interest in adapting those planters for other crops as well, like canola. Can precision planters be used to grow canola better, and if so, how? Farming Smarter Research Manager Mike Gretzinger set out to answer the agronomic questions […] Read more

Lora and Chris Chapple’s farm west of Saskatoon is a fourth-generation farm.

Meet your farming neighbours: Chris and Lora Chapple

This is the story of Chris and Lora Chapple’s farm, near Saskatoon, Sask.

Every farm has its own story. No two farms (or farmers) are exactly alike. Everyone got started in a different way, and every farm has a different combination of family and hired staff who make the decisions and keep things running. But, in general, even after you consider all of the details, Prairie farmers are […] Read more


Last Will and Testament

Get it in writing: wills and agreements

Financial Planning: Make things easier for yourself and your loved ones by making the paperwork clear

Laura McDougald-Williams, a partner with Meighen Haddad LLP in Souris, Manitoba, spends a lot of time with farm families trying to help them plan for unexpected events such as death, disability, divorce or disagreement. “So many times, I wish I’d had a 20-minute estate planning session with people before one of these events in their […] Read more

One grower’s experience with biostimulants

Saskatchewan grain farmer, Sean Edwards first tried biostimulants on his crops about five years ago. He wanted to grow healthier plants with less fertilizer and reduce his fungicide use. “We were fairly wet and we had a lot of sclerotinia on our canola and fusarium on our cereals, and root rot in our peas was […] Read more


Biostimulant market taking off

Biostimulant market taking off

The biostimulant market is growing fast. Find out what they can do for plants


Five or six years ago few people had heard of biostimulants, which were only being used in some high-value, horticultural crops. Today, the biostimulant market is one of the fastest growing, global agri-input sectors, increasing by 12 to 15 per cent annually. “Biostimulants is a rapidly growing field right now in agriculture, largely because these […] Read more

Wireworms are the larval stage of the click beetle.

Wireworm populations on the rise

Wireworms are a growing concern for the potato industry. Creative controls are needed


Wireworm populations appear to be on the rise in Western Canada. Wireworm, which is the larval stage of the adult click beetle, affects many crops, including cereals and pulses, but they are particularly damaging to potatoes. Holes created by wireworms can render tubers unmarketable and serve as points of entry for potato pathogens. This pest has […] Read more


Symptoms will first appear at the base of the plant and will continue upwards as potassium moves up 
the plant to support new growth.

Manitoba soybeans not responding to K?

Soybean potassium fertility trials leave researchers scratching their heads

While it has generally been known that Manitoba’s lighter-textured soils are low in potassium, it took soybeans to really bring the issue to light. With soybeans taking up more and more acres, researchers felt it was time to conduct potassium fertility trials. While preliminary results are in, results are mixed. More data will be needed […] Read more

There’s a perception in the farming community that soil erosion and degradation are in the past, but that simply isn't the case.

Don’t forget lessons of the Dirty 30s

Although there’s a perception that dust is past, tillage erosion is on the rise in Manitoba

It seemed like the beginning of the end of the world: friends and neighbours dying of “dust pneumonia” and massive dust storms sweeping the land. These are some of the recollections of people who were alive in the “Dirty 30s,” recorded for an oral history project by Daryl Ritchison, interim director of the North Dakota […] Read more