Manitoba Agriculture entomologist John Gavloski highlights several key insect pests that can affect forage crop production and shares strategies for managing them.
Tag Archives alfalfa
What insect pests are bugging your forage crops?
Grasshoppers, cutworms and armyworms can cause major damage if left unchecked. Learn how to scout and manage them
Managing diseases in alfalfa
From seedling issues to stand die-off, understanding the timing and symptoms of alfalfa diseases can help protect yield
Understanding the multiple potential disease pressures on your alfalfa stand can help you improve its yield.
Grow forages, starve weeds
Forages disrupt weed routines and slow herbicide resistance — if you can use them
“Forages actually can be used to combat resistant weeds,” Kim Brown says. “A perennial forage stand will last for several years, but in a spring annual crop rotation, you’re dealing almost exclusively with annual crops most of the time.”
Well-balanced starch and forage levels make milk
Dairy Corner: The amount of starch in corn and barley silage can vary greatly between harvests
Starch levels in corn and barley silage can vary widely between harvests, so they need to be balanced in a dairy ration, nutritionist Peter Vitti says.
Prairies’ pollinators play a crucial role
It’s estimated pollinators, mainly bees, increase the production of numerous species of crops by as much as 75 per cent
University of Lethbridge researcher Shelley Hoover recently explained how these tiny creatures contribute billions to the Canadian economy and why their well-being is crucial for crop yields.
Alfalfa aptitude: five things to consider when selecting varieties
In the case of alfalfa varieties, it’s usually well worth splurging for a top yielder
Yield tops Dan Undersander’s list of considerations for an alfalfa variety, for the simple reason that profitability increases with yield.
Alfalfa replant disease and related disorders
Whatever the cause, we can realize it's a problem and try to avoid it
Back in the 1980s I spent a lot of time on alfalfa diseases, particularly the verticillium wilt disease problem that was spreading across the Prairies, particularly in southern Alberta. In a few snow-free and cold Decembers in those years, a lot of damage was done to alfalfa, winterkilling entire fields of three-year-old stands. Even white […] Read more
DLF buys Corteva’s alfalfa seed business
Business to be 'fully transitioned' after 2024 season
International forage and turf seed firm DLF is stretching its reach in the alfalfa market with a deal for Corteva Agriscience’s assets in that business. The Danish firm announced Wednesday it had acquired Corteva’s global alfalfa germplasm and breeding program for an undisclosed sum, including its current commercial alfalfa varieties and their trademarks such as […] Read more
Preventing frothy bloat on early spring pasture
A couple of treatments are available, but management practices can avoid the problem
As a beef nutritionist, I haven’t heard about many fatal cow bloat cases over the last 10 years, but of the few I’m aware of, it seems it takes only a few things to come together to make bloat deadly. From talking to experienced beef producers, I am also aware that the risk of annual […] Read more
Include high-quality alfalfa in a balanced dairy ration
Dairy Corner: Test for nitrates if the crop was produced under high-moisture conditions
High-quality alfalfa has not escaped the high cost of other dairy feeds, and thus significantly contributes to the record-setting cost of producing milk. And last year’s foul growing season, with wet conditions in some areas across the Prairies, was not kind to some alfalfa crops, resulting in some sprouting. This resulted in a few cases […] Read more
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