The striped flea beetle is becoming more predominant on the Prairies.

Protect your profits from flea beetles

Insect Management: In a warm dry summer growing season, flea beetles could have a chance to thrive

If you’re growing canola or mustard this year (or garden vegetables like broccoli or cauliflower) you might need to be concerned about the flea beetle, says Scott Hartley, provincial insect/vertebrate pest management specialist for Sask­atchewan. Climate conditions matter, though, when it comes to certain pests, and the flea beetle is no different. “If it’s going […] Read more

Growers should only use an insecticide when an economic threshold for a pest is reached.

Don’t jump the gun on pest control

It’s never a good idea to overreact when you see insects on your crops because jumping the gun, and spraying if it’s not really necessary, can do more harm than good. “Seldom, if ever, do preventative insecticides actually pay us,” says Scott Meers, insect specialist with Alberta Agriculture and Forestry. “When we spray just to […] Read more


(Scott Bauer photo courtesy ARS/USDA)

U.S. EPA moves to pull crop insecticide from sale

CLARIFIED, March 7, 2016: Chicago | Reuters — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said Tuesday it was moving to halt sale of insecticides from chemical firms Bayer and Nichino America containing an active ingredient, flubendiamide, found to pose risks to the environment. Bayer CropScience had anticipated the action after rejecting the EPA’s request to voluntarily […] Read more

Jim Blome is the president and CEO of Bayer CropScience LP in North America.

Bayer looks ahead to the future

Bayer CropScience’s CEO says its product range and focus on research drives success

In late August at the U.S. Farm Progress Show in Decatur, Illinois, Jim Blome, president and CEO of Bayer CropScience LP for North America, spoke to ag media about Bayer’s business. Some customers might be put off by the sheer size of Bayer, a multinational company headquartered in Germany. When all facets of the company […] Read more


flies on livestock

Tips to help keep horn flies off your cattle

Even a couple hundred of the tiny horn flies can knock 20 pounds off a calf

A few years ago, a friend in Saskatchewan asked me to help him treat his beef cows before they went on pasture with pour-on insecticide for horn flies. His job was to push up the cattle in the chute and my job was to use the applicator-gun and squirt pour-on liquid along each of the […] Read more

flea beetle damage on a leaf

Timing your insecticide application for flea beetles

Get out and scout your fields early to look for defoliation and bite holes

All things being equal, you want to come out of the season with as much of the plant stand you came in with. However, heavy flea beetle pressure during the cotyledon to the first or second true-leaf stage can take a big bite out your final yield. The secret to success in dealing with flea […] Read more


Chris beside apple tree

Homemade recipes to help control apple maggots and ants

Plus, Ted shares a letter from Alberta


A phrase taken from Isaiah 11:6 says, “and a little child shall lead them.” Most scripture scholars agree the passage containing those seven words has nothing to do with children teaching or leading adults. However, in our day-to-day living we’re never too old, nor too wise to know it all. We’re still learning from each […] Read more

canola field at 50 per cent bloom

Insecticide rotation for canola growers

The need to rotate herbicides gets lots of attention. It’s also necessary to rotate insecticides

Insecticide rotation is common practice for horticultural growers, particularly potato growers, as a management tool in combatting insecticide resistance. But according to John Gavloski, an entomologist for Manitoba Agriculture, Food and Rural Development, based at Carman, Man., insecticide rotation is important for canola and other field crops as well. “Insecticide rotations are recommended for field […] Read more