How to maximize the efficacy of your crop protection products

How to maximize the efficacy of your crop protection products

For starters, ensure you have adequate water quality

No farmers want to unintentionally alter the efficacy of their crop protection products because of water quality pumped into the tank. However, farmers may do just that if they do not have their farm water source tested every year and take the appropriate actions based on the results of those tests. There are several factors […] Read more

Fungicides with dual modes of action, a new insecticide seed treatment and foliar fungicides containing a brand new active ingredient are available for 2020.

Get ready for improved pest control

Companies offer new products and new actives for coming crop year

With the start of the 2020 growing season just a few weeks away, crop protection companies are introducing farmers to new products with new chemistries promising improved pest control — some with wider windows of application and some with dual modes of action — and all are intended to provide a bigger bang for the […] Read more


Producers can typically achieve good control of pasmo with fungicides, and breeding projects are underway to improve disease resistance in new varieties.

Spring flax for pasmo: when and what

Wait until the early flowering stage to make your pasmo spray decisions in flax

Pasmo is the wallflower of flax: it’s always at the party, but typically doesn’t take centre stage. But even though it doesn’t usually rank as the disease with most economic impact, flax can still take a hit from pasmo. The Flax Council of Canada says severity can range from traces to 60 per cent of […] Read more

A new fungicide from Syngenta is designed to help control fusarium in cereals and sclerotinia in canola.

New protection products coming from Syngenta

New fungicides and a plant growth regulator in the queue for registration

Registration of a new active ingredient is making it possible for Syngenta Canada to bring several fungicide products to the market with promise of improved disease control in wheat and canola, along with a wide range of other field and horticultural crops. Adepidyn (which is the trade name for pydiflumetofen) is viewed as one of […] Read more


Managing fungicide resistance

Managing fungicide resistance

Your risk of resistance will depend on the disease you have and the fungicide you spray

Should western Canadian farmers be concerned about fungicide resistance? And if so, how should they manage it? Fungicide resistance shares some fundamentals with herbicides, says Jared Veness, field marketing manager at Bayer Crop Science. By applying fungicide, farmers are applying selection pressure to a pest. Within that pest’s population, there are likely individuals with mutations […] Read more

New wheat varieties fight fusarium

New wheat varieties fight fusarium

Agronomy tips... from the field

Looking at new wheat varieties for 2017? Yield, standability, as well as protein and maturity will still be top of mind. And for many, fusarium tolerance will also be high on the list. Fusarium is now established across Western Canada, and in years when environmental conditions favour the disease, it can have devastating impacts on […] Read more


Winter wheat seed: treatment pays

Winter wheat seed: treatment pays

A dual fungicide/insecticide seed treatment builds hardier winter wheat stands

Despite the benefits of winter wheat — weed competitiveness, high yield potential and a schedule that allows growers to spread out work load and capital costs — it’s still not a staple crop for many western Canadian farmers. Farmers say concerns about planting logistics and poor stand establishment are obstacles to growing winter wheat. To […] Read more

How crop diseases become resistant to fungicides

Have you ever wondered how crop diseases develop resistance to fungicides? The first thing to know is that fungicide doesn’t actually cause mutations. Those mutations are random, and can be caused by UV rays, cosmic rays, and cell replication errors, said Dr. Sabine Banniza. Mutations drive evolution, Banniza said. But the last thing farmers want […] Read more


Cover crops can help increase production by keeping soil cool, retaining moisture, and feeding the microbes and earthworms that build a healthy soil.

How to plan your first cover crop

Before you choose a cover crop mix, make sure you know what you want it to do

Cover crops are becoming more popular. But how do you plan your first cover crop? The first part of the planning process is setting goals, says Kevin Elmy, owner of Friendly Acres Seed Farm at Saltcoats, Saskatchewan. Elmy has been growing cover crops for seven years and now grows and sells cover crop mixes. “With […] Read more

Prevention not always the best bet

Prevention not always the best bet

Sometimes, applying fungicide to durum as a preventative measure could increase disease

Better safe than sorry” is a mantra many producers live by. But in the case of durum, they might be better off ignoring it — at least when it comes to early and repeated fungicide applications. Dr. Bill May, a Crop Management Agronomist for Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s Indian Head Research Farm, and Dr. Myriam […] Read more