Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada requires that all ingredients, as well as the percentage of each, must be on the label of a product sold in Canada. Your job as the product user is to read that product label.

Perceptions and misconceptions versus realities in agriculture

Practical Research: In the court of public opinion, the drama can fog the facts

Since my retirement from Alberta Agriculture in 2002 I’ve acted as a legal expert in a number of lawsuits. Often, when a farmer is sued by a lawyer on behalf of a client, the farmer will immediately seek his own lawyer or lawyers for advice. While the lawyer may be well apprised of provincial and […] Read more

Rebate roundup 2024

Rebate roundup 2024

Cash-back rebates and rewards programs provide growers with much-needed certainty

Canada’s crop input market faces multiple challenges and growers will look to get the most bang for their buck when purchasing fertilizer, seed and pesticides for 2024. Grainews aims to make that process a little easier with its annual rebate roundup feature that examines some of the cash-back rebates and other reward programs available to […] Read more


(Leonid Eremeychuk/iStock/Getty Images)

‘Keep it Clean’ program aims for more than just good advice

Program seen as 'one stop shop' for ensuring marketability of grains

As farmers plan for the upcoming season, they need to do their part to make certain their grain will be ready for market, come harvest time. “Market access issues in general are becoming a bigger issue globally,” said Ian Epp, an agronomy specialist and lead on market access and pesticides with the Canola Council of […] Read more

Keep on target

Keep on target

Strategies to minimize pesticide spray drift on your farm

Spray drift is defined as the off-target movement of pesticide dust or droplets through the air at the time of application or soon after. It can have serious implications for neighbouring farmers and other property owners. It’s an issue that has been around almost as long as pesticides have been used to protect crops against […] Read more


BASF announced Oct. 19 it has received registration for Broflanilide, its newest active ingredient, from Health Canada’s Pest Management Regulatory Agency.

Difficult to get a count on wireworms

New BASF seed treatment should pack a terminal punch

New BASF seed treatment should pack a terminal punch

If there was such a thing as carefree wireworm days they definitely have become numbered as registration of a new, effective seed treatment developed by BASF has received final registration. Why it matters: The presence of wireworms when sampling, even at low levels, is a potential cause for concern, experts say. BASF announced Oct. 19 […] Read more

The nymph (juvenile) stage of 
the twice-stabbed stink bug.

New and notable Prairie crop pest insects

Haven’t heard of canola flower midge? Can’t identify those RED BUGS showing up in your fields? Didn’t know alfalfa weevil populations are developing insecticide resistance? Everything you need to know about new insect threats

Most Prairie farmers know more than they might want to about common crop pests like grasshoppers, cutworms and flea beetles. However, nature likes to throw curveballs, and pests are no exception. Here’s what you need to know about several new-to-you pests currently catching Prairie farmers by surprise. Alfalfa weevil While alfalfa weevils are familiar to […] Read more


The annual rebate roundup: 2018

The annual rebate roundup: 2018

Get the most for your hard-earned input dollars by understanding these cash-back plans

Once again, it’s time for the Grainews annual rebate roundup. We’ve talked to experts at 11 different companies to ask what they’re offering in the way of cash-back savings for the 2018 growing season. Three of these companies have no special rebate programs, some have simple programs, and some companies have rebate programs with so […] 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


Grain buyers want you thinking about residues before you harvest

Grain buyers want you thinking about residues before you harvest

It hasn’t happened yet, but exceeding pesticide residue limits on exported grain could cause a ‘big problem’

Grain growers are again being urged to heed the labels on their pre-harvest pesticides and avoid going over maximum residue limits. “We’re selling our crops mostly into export, and our exports markets are very sensitive to residual levels of different crop protection products that we use,” said Alberta Wheat Commission chair Kevin Auch, who farms […] Read more

Syngenta’s Willy Ruegg in a greenhouse full of canola plants.

Research, development and discussion

Researchers develop crop 
protection products, regulators 
limit use and consumers worry

Syngenta is a household name for farmers so I was quite excited at the opportunity to visit its Crop Protection plant in Stein, AG, Switzerland, this January with the Swiss Farm Writers Association. The Stein plant is the third largest globally and concentrates on research and development of fungicide and insecticide products. Less than three […] Read more