One plant can have many aliases. Scarlet mallow, a native prairie wildflower, is also referred to as salmon pinks or “cowboys’ delight.” Biologists generally use Latin plant names to avoid common name confusion.

Plants and their identity crises

A Little Bit Western: One person’s weed is another person’s useful and cherished plant

Like many farmers and ranchers, I’ve always been curious about plants. After all, we are surrounded by plants, and humans depend on them for everything from food and forage to fibre and fun. Throughout the growing season, as interesting plants pop up in ditches, fields and pastures, I get texts, tweets and messages with photos […] Read more


Wild foxtail barley on the edge of a canola field.

Garden seeds lead to problem weeds

The names in the garden catalogues may sound pretty, but the plants are far from that in pastures or fields

Glacier FarmMedia — Manitoba rancher Herman Bouw was casually perusing a gardening seed catalogue when a particular ornamental grass item caught his eye. The plant was listed as “squirrel tail grass,” but Bouw thought it looked awfully similar to a species with a more cursed name on the Prairies. A comparison of scientific names confirmed […] Read more

The developer of Velcro got the idea from burdock seed heads. While Velcro turned out to be a great thing for consumer products, the burrs that stick to livestock (and humans) are not just a nuisance but can have a negative health and economic impact.

Burdock control is a year-round project

Plants reduce forage production and their sticky burrs can devalue and injure livestock

Burdock is an invasive plant that causes problems for livestock and crops. The tall burdock plant (a native of Eurasia, brought to North America by seed burrs stuck to imported animals) is a biennial. Burdock flowers in late summer, producing a composite seed head which matures by mid-August in southern areas and later in northern […] Read more


A group of wild boars running in Europe, where the pigs have caused challenges with disease spread. (iStock/Getty Images)

Saskatchewan to license, limit wild boar farming

Moratorium placed on any new farms

Saskatchewan is tightening its rules on wild boar farming, including a moratorium on any new farms, in a renewed bid to keep the province’s feral pig population in check. The provincial ag ministry announced the moratorium Wednesday and said it’s “developing regulations for licensing existing commercial wild boar farms.” Regulations for wild boar and feral […] Read more

A group of wild boars running in Europe, where the pigs have caused challenges with disease spread. (iStock/Getty Images)

Ontario moves to phase out wild boar farming

Province, feds fund swine fever defense plans

Hoping to improve its odds against African swine fever ever getting a toehold in Canada’s hog herds, Ontario plans to regulate Eurasian wild boar as an invasive species starting in the new year. To that end, the province is making funding available to farmers who actively breed and raise wild boar to “shift to other […] Read more


An Asian giant hornet, trapped at Birch Bay, Wash. on July 14, 2020 by Washington State Department of Agriculture (WSDA) researchers, is seen at Olympia, Wash. on July 29, 2020. (Photo: WSDA/Chris Looney/handout via Reuters)

U.S. training ag staff to track, trap, kill ‘murder hornets’

Invasive species remains threat to bees, honey producers

Blaine, Wash. | Reuters — The first Asian giant hornet nest of the year has been found in Washington state, and plans are being developed to eradicate it, likely next week, the state’s agriculture department said on Thursday. The so-called stinging “murder hornets,” the world’s largest hornets, can grow to five centimetres in length and […] Read more

Some areas of Western Canada might already be past the point where “pig free” is even possible, says a University of Saskatchewan researcher.

Wild pigs continue to flourish

Control measures are being developed, although it’s unlikely to ever get them all

I am back on the trail of wild boars in Western Canada after a call from a farmer at Moosomin, in southeast Saskatchewan, who asked if there had been any progress in controlling or eradicating the pest. The short answer — no. From what I can see, the wild boar numbers appear to be increasing, […] Read more


Asian giant hornets have noticeably large orange heads and black eyes; worker hornets are about 3.5 cm in length; queens can be up to four to five cm in length, with a wingspan of four to seven cm. (B.C. Ministry of Agriculture)

Two more ‘murder hornets’ turn up on B.C. mainland

One nest found last month in neighbouring U.S. town

Beekeepers in British Columbia’s Fraser Valley and Lower Mainland are asked to keep an eye out for so-called “murder hornets” after two were found in the region within a week. A single Asian giant hornet was found Saturday at Aldergrove, near the intersection of Fraser Highway and Highway 13 — about five km from where […] Read more

Asian giant hornets have noticeably large orange heads and black eyes; worker hornets are about 3.5 cm in length; queens can be up to four to five cm in length, with a wingspan of four to seven cm. (B.C. Ministry of Agriculture)

More ‘murder hornets’ found in B.C., Washington

Findings suggest some were able to overwinter

Reuters/Staff — Officials in British Columbia and Washington state have confirmed new sightings of the Asian giant hornet, dubbed the “murder hornet,” indicating the invasive, predatory insect survived the winter in the Vancouver area and U.S. Pacific Northwest. The stinging hornet, whose queens can grow as large as 2-1/2 inches in length, could potentially pose […] Read more