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Typically, wheat stem sawfly 
tends to flourish in dry weather.
Cereals, Crops, Features

Parasitoids help control sawfly

Researchers are evaluating the value of wheat stem sawfly’s natural predators

By
Wheat stem sawfly can cause major yield losses. Scientists are investigating parasitoids, small wasps and nematodes, as well as fungi that can be used to control the pest. Héctor Cárcamo, research scientist at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada has been conducting research on beneficial insects that attack wheat stem sawfly larvae. Sawfly, said Cárcamo, has a […] Read more
Small numbers of potato psyllids were found in Alberta between 2015 and 2017. The insect was found in Saskatchewan and Manitoba in 2016.
Crops, Features, Potatoes

Zebra chip pathogen found in Alberta

This colour-changing disease is making 
its way to western Canadian potato fields

By
Zebra chip” is a fun, jaunty name for a potato disease that has nobody in the industry laughing. The disease, which causes harmless but unsightly stripes in potato chips, costs producers millions of dollars annually in New Zealand and the United States. Now the zebra chip pathogen has been found for the first time in […] Read more
The Colorado potato beetle is considered a major economic pest of potato.
Crops, Features, Potatoes

Beetle-resistant potato varieties

Potato growers could soon be growing Colorado potato beetle-resistant plants

By
New potato varieties that are naturally resistant to Colorado potato beetle could be on the market in five years, according to Helen Tai, a potato breeder at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s Potato Research Centre in Fredericton. Tai is the lead on the breeding project, which has been underway for 30 years, she says, since AAFC […] Read more
The plants in the unaffected areas were showing typical drought symptoms, such as pale colouring, shorter stature, minimal plant branching, and trace pod abortion throughout.
Canola, Crops, Features

Crop advisor casebook: What’s wrong with this patchy canola crop?

A Crop Advisor's Solution from the March 6, 2018 issue of Grainews

By
Ted, a Saskatchewan producer who owns a 3,000-acre mixed grain operation near Elrose, asked me to visit his farm last year on July 12. The visit was to assess if diamondback moth larvae populations in his canola field had reached levels necessary to warrant an insecticide application, to save the crop’s yield. Due to lack […] Read more
Devon and his wife Pamela have three young children. When Devon saw an opportunity to grow the farm and make a living, he returned to the farm full time.
Crops, Features

Meet your farming neighbours: Devon Walker

Devon Walker left an off-farm job to go all in on his fourth-generation family farm

By
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
This soil is repairing and building, and looks like cottage cheese.
Crops, Features

Balancing the soil biology

Helping Mother Nature with the fungi:bacteria ratio can keep our soils more productive

By
Soil health. Sounds like a good target we should be aiming at. Where do we start? What do we measure? How do we know when we get there? The first thing we need to find out is where are we? Nicole Masers is an agro-ecologist with Integrity Soils. For her three-day course in regenerative soil […] Read more
Bags Of Money On A Canola Field
Features

The case for making cash flow projections

Financial Planning: A cash flow projection is a versatile financial risk management tool

By
Preparing a cash flow projection as part of your annual farm budget process could provide a signal that changes are needed for the upcoming year. While it’s true farmers have no control over the weather or commodity markets, we do have control over most costs. With the exception of unpredictable pesticide decisions, annual expenses may […] Read more
Greg, Cheryl, and Andrew Herle show reporters some vintage farm equipment, which still comes in handy for seeding small plots.
Crops, Features

Seed growers keep their eyes on the future

For the Herle family near Wilkie, Sask., choosing which seed to grow is the key to success

By
The Herle family has farmed for five generations and produced over 110 crops. Since their ancestors first tilled the Prairie soil, they’ve had a front-row seat to agriculture’s evolution. “Change is constant it seems in this industry,” said Greg Herle, commercial farmer and seed grower, speaking to ag reporters and communications people last spring at […] Read more
Greg Viers-Barilla America
Cereals, Crops, Features

No short-term fix for fusarium heard at Durum Summit

Farmers looking for fusarium-resistant durum seed will have to keep on waiting

By
When farmers packed a meeting hall in Swift Current, Saskatchewan, for the 2018 Durum Summit, they were hoping to find a solution to their fusarium problems. Unfortunately, there’s nothing new on the horizon for the next few years. Curtis Pozniak, a wheat breeder and geneticist at the Crop Development Centre in Saskatoon, says they are […] Read more
Creating an even crop is part of the fusarium management 
strategy for CropPro Consulting’s clients.
Cereals, Crops, Features

Managing fusarium head blight

As the fusarium-infected area grows, 
so does the sophistication of management tools

By
As fusarium head blight marches west, agronomists and farmers are finding more sophisticated ways to manage the disease. Cory Willness, agrologist and president of CropPro Consulting, says evening out crops is part of their fusarium management strategy. CropPro Consulting is based in Naicam, northeast of Humboldt, Saskatchewan. “We find traditionally that the tops of the […] Read more

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