Wild oat is showing significant herbicide resistance, says Saskatchewan’s provincial weed control specialist.

What weed experts say you should have your eye on in 2020

A province-by-province look at what you need to know about weeds this growing season

Three provincial weed specialists offer their insights on the weeds farmers may find in their fields this growing season and what can be done about them. Manitoba Tammy Jones, a Manitoba Agriculture weed specialist, lists redroot pigweed, lamb’s quarters and green and yellow foxtail as the biggest weed threats this year. Winter annuals like stinkweed […] Read more

When weeds are spotted in fields, best management practices like rotating crops, applying herbicides and controlling weeds when they are small are recommended.

How weed seeds move into your fields

Q & A with an expert

Q: Where are all these weeds coming from? A: Despite our best management practices, we will never eliminate weeds from our fields. Weed seeds will continue to find their way onto our fields in not so mysterious ways. Excluding volunteer crops, the most significant ways new weeds move onto our fields is by wind, water, […] Read more


Pre-seed weed control is important this spring

Pre-seed weed control is important this spring

Weed control will be a different challenge this year. With little fall weed control and good moisture, fields will have an abundance of overwintered annuals, such as cleavers, flixweed, narrow-leaved hawk’s beard and volunteer canola, alongside spring emergence of other annual and perennial weeds. These overwintered annuals are a particular challenge as they are often […] Read more

What to do about volunteer canola in 2020 after “harvest from hell”

What to do about volunteer canola in 2020 after “harvest from hell”

Here are some management steps to control this weed in your fields

Volunteer canola is a significant weed across the Prairies, and given the difficulties with the 2019 harvest, it will likely be a larger issue in the spring of 2020, says Ian Epp, Canola Council of Canada (CCC) agronomy specialist for northwest Saskatchewan. “Fields with overwintering canola or canola that came off late in harvest will […] Read more


Waterhemp.

Watch for expansion of waterhemp, Palmer amaranth and kochia in 2020

Serious weed threats continue to advance and grow, farmers urged to test for resistance

For growers in Manitoba, waterhemp is a serious threat in 2020, reports Tammy Jones, a Manitoba Agriculture weed specialist. This weed was present last year in both eastern and central Manitoba, and Jones’ “biggest fear” is that more will be found in the province this year. And, as reported by Canola Council of Canada (CCC), […] Read more

Ernest sprayed his flax field with a Group 1 herbicide to eliminate green foxtail in his crop, 
but the treatment didn’t appear to be having 
any affect.

Crop advisor casebook: Herbicide not doing its job in this farmer’s flax field

A Crop Advisor's Solution from the March 3, 2020 issue of Grainews

Back in June, I got a call from Earnest, who grows 2,500 acres of soybeans, canola, oats and flax on his farm near Starbuck, Man. He told me he’d recently sprayed his flax field with a Group 1 herbicide to eliminate green foxtail in his crop, but the treatment didn’t appear to be having any […] Read more


I could see numerous patches of discoloured canola plants, 
but there was no discernable pattern.

Crop advisor casebook: Mystery of the discoloured canola

A Crop Advisor's Solution from the February 18, 2020 issue of Grainews

Back in mid-June, I got a call from Dave, a grain farmer near Elie, Man., who was concerned about the condition of the plants in one of his canola fields. Dave, who also grows wheat, soybeans and flax on his 3,200-acre farm, said some of the canola plants started exhibiting discoloured leaves shortly after emergence. […] Read more

A waterhemp infestation can reduce soybean yields by 40 to 95 per cent.

War on weeds, take no prisoners

Hart Attacks: It will take money and commitment to just to hold enemy line

A recent issue of the Manitoba’s provincial farm newspaper, the Manitoba Co-operator, carried some depressing news. The province might be losing the war on herbicide resistant weeds; reports from the U.S. say despite some kind of trade deal with China, U.S. farmers figure they will need more than a $25 billion bailout in 2020 — […] Read more


Herbicide “layering” strategy delivers multiple punches

Herbicide “layering” strategy delivers multiple punches

Effective for weed control and reduces risk of herbicide resistant weeds surviving

Corey Loessin has for several years been delivering the one/two and sometimes multiple punches through the pulse crop weed control program on his northwest Saskatchewan farm. Primarily growing red lentils and yellow peas near Radisson, northwest of Saskatoon, Loessin says his main objective is to use different products with varying modes of action to control […] Read more

Norm Flore, P. Ag, CCA, is a manager of agronomic services for Nutrien Ag Solutions in southern Alberta.

Post-harvest weed control applications

Q & A with Nutrien Ag Solutions

Q. What weeds should I target in post-harvest weed control applications? A. Two general weed groupings can be effectively controlled with a post-harvest herbicide application. Perennials: Controlling perennial weeds such as Canada thistle, dandelions, foxtail barley and quackgrass involves an integrated plan, and a post-harvest herbicide application that includes glyphosate is a pivotal part of […] Read more