herbicide resistant kochia

Kochia tumbling into Prairie pulse crops

Scouting — and testing for herbicide resistance — will be important this spring

Glacier FarmMedia — Concerns about the spread of kochia are growing for Saskatchewan’s pulse producers. Michael Brown, agronomy manager for Saskatchewan Pulse Growers, and Martin Carr, agronomy manager for WinField United, have seen the pesky tumbleweed spread throughout Saskatchewan, Alberta and the United States. The weed is resistant to some herbicides, among them Groups 4, […] Read more

(Adama.com/YouTube)

Broadleaf herbicide formulations set for cereal crops

Corteva, Adama launch new combination products

A combo of Group 4 and 2 actives is Corteva Agriscience’s latest entry for spring and winter wheat and barley growers in the Prairies’ Black and Grey soil zones to use against broadleaf weeds. Extinguish XL, launched in mid-March, is billed as a “pre-formulated, all-in-one application that delivers control of tough weeds like cleavers, dandelion, […] Read more


Your fearless columnist tosses the cell for electrical conductivity (EC) measurement into the Montreal River at Saskatchewan Highway 2 in July 2005. Results are recorded in a notebook and all is carried in a briefcase. I have notebooks like that all the way back to 1982. At this location, water EC is 260 uS/cm. In the north, water is mostly low EC; the standard for comparison is the South Saskatchewan River system that runs through Saskatoon, with an EC of about 450 uS/cm at 25 C.

Water chemistry: a Coles Notes version

Soils & Crops: Conductivity and hardness of water samples show what you can use it for

First of all: readers who have Henry’s Handbook of Soil and Water can check out pages 124-125 for a detailed discussion of water chemistry, complete with calculations. Water is considered to be the universal solvent because it is capable of dissolving more substances than any other liquid. Therefore, one of the first things we might […] Read more

AAFC’s Breanne Tidemann says kochia (seen here) appears to be spreading to areas of Alberta where it wasn’t seen previously.

Into the weeds: 2024 in preview

Prairie specialists consider which weeds are most likely to succeed as the season proceeds

The past few seasons have been a challenging time for farmers on the Canadian Prairies. Extreme heat, lack of precipitation and steep increases in production costs have caused some sleepless nights for many producers. As if those weren’t enough to contend with, another potential threat to crops will soon rear its ugly head: weeds. Grainews […] Read more


An aerial view of spraying operations at Jake Ayre's family farm near Minto, Man.

Spraying facts, fallacies and forethought

Experts share tips on what you need to know before you spray

To spray or not to spray? That is the question many farmers will be asking themselves in the coming weeks. While it’s still too early to say what pest and disease forecasts will look like this season, it’s never too soon to start thinking about temperature and other factors that can help to determine the […] Read more

Planting perennial forages in ditches is recommended to help keep kochia from getting a toehold.

Weed alerts on the southern front

A North Dakota weed expert cautions Prairie farmers about kochia, waterhemp and Palmer amaranth and their evolving herbicide tolerances

Of all the things shared by Prairie farmers on both sides of the Canada-U.S. border, an abiding love of their land, fretting over the weather and a no-nonsense, ‘get ‘er done’ attitude are among those that come to mind. Unfortunately, this also includes weed problems. Weeds know no borders, of course, so when weed trouble […] Read more





Seed treated with Vibrance Total, a combination of five different fungicide groups being brought to market for the 2024 season.

The year in pulse crop inputs

A quick look at new actives, new combinations and expanded labels

Following up on last issue’s roundup of product launches and label expansions in the cereal crop input market, here we’ve put together a quick list of new and/or improved pulse crop inputs that were announced in our earshot during the past year, including several due out for the coming growing season. Again, if we’ve inadvertently […] Read more

John Gehrer delivers up to 1,000 litres of diesel per day with an electric car.

Searching for sustainability in agriculture

A southern Manitoba farmer’s quest for a “greener” farming system has left him with more questions than answers — and feeling a bit hypocritical

In 1888 Bertha Benz drove her homemade car on a 212-km round trip to Mannheim and Pforzheim in Germany. The fuel tank was 4.5 litres, and there were no gas stations along the way. There were probably no paved roads either and the reliability of the car was unproven. It might have been easier to […] Read more