Green field crop.

Winter cereals pressed into double duty

Scott Lehr’s winter cereal seeding plays a double-header. It serves as winter pasture for his bred cow herd, and the next summer he usually harvests a productive silage crop off the same stand as feed for backgrounding calves. It’s a system that may not work in all areas of Western Canada, but for the southeast […] Read more

Barley .

Barley 180 project

Agronomists and researchers working on the Barley 180 project are looking to boost barley yields to 180 bushels per acre

When Steve Larocque learned that New Zealand farmers have pulled in barley yields of 180 to 200 bushels per acre, he decided to give it a try in Alberta. Larocque runs Beyond Agronomy, an independent crop consulting business at Three Hills, Alta., and farms 1,000 acres just north of Drumheller, Alta. He grows wheat, barley, canola, peas […] Read more


The youngest leaves were most affected and were severely yellowed in this barley crop.

Crop Advisor’s Casebook: Yellowed sixth and seventh barley leaves tell a tale

A Crop Advisor's Solution from the April 18, 2011 issue of Grainews

As Rodney drove by his field mid-June last year, he got a nasty shock. His barley crop — progressing well up until that point —was turning yellow. “I’ve never seen this in my 20 years of farming,” Rodney told me. “My barley crop is under a lot of stress,” he said. Rodney farms 1,000 acres […] Read more