File photo of grain silos and other buildings at harbourside at Saint Nazaire on France’s west coast. (Sissoupitch/iStock/Getty Images)

French agency drops fumigant ban on non-EU grain exports

Limit on phosphine won't apply if use required for export

Paris | Reuters — French health safety agency ANSES on Thursday cleared the use of phosphine pesticide in contact with grains exported outside the European Union when importing countries require the process, averting a halt to shipments from the EU’s top grain exporter. In late October ANSES cleared the use of phosphine tablets used for […] Read more

File photo of grain silos and other buildings at harbourside at Saint Nazaire on France’s west coast. (Sissoupitch/iStock/Getty Images)

France says pesticide ban will not hit grain exports

Fumigant can't be in 'direct contact' with grains

Paris | Reuters — France will ensure that a decision by health and safety agency ANSES to ban the use of a pesticide in direct contact with grains does not hamper its exports outside the European Union, its trade and agriculture ministers told Parliament on Tuesday. In late October ANSES cleared the use of phosphine […] Read more


A farm worker unloads Ukrainian-made fertilizer from a truck on April 5, 2022 to use on a wheat field near the village of Yakovlivka, outside Kharkiv, after it was hit by an aerial bombardment. (Photo: Reuters/Thomas Peter)

Ukraine faces lack of herbicides, pesticides for spring seeding

About a third of needed chemicals reported to be at hand

Kyiv | Reuters — Ukrainian farmers, which have already started the 2023 spring sowing, have only around 35 per cent of the herbicides and pesticides they need, analyst APK-Inform quoted on Monday official data as showed. The Russian invasion has left Ukraine seriously short of finances, seeds and crop protection products, which could have a […] Read more

A senior manager for the Alberta Wheat and Barley Commissions, says the PMRA ruling that lambda-cyhalothrin can’t be used on crops for livestock feed is unworkable.

How to manage without lambda-cyhalothrin in 2023

Alternatives to control most insect pests exist but attention to label recommendations, product rates and timing is important

As of mid-February, if western Canadian farmers want to control common crop insect pests such as grasshoppers and flea beetles in 2023, they should plan to do it without the use of popular lambda-cyhalothrin products such as Matador and Silencer. Those products and others based on the lambda-cy active ingredient aren’t banned, but Health Canada’s […] Read more


News that a cost-effective insecticide that controls a wide range of pests will no longer be available this April is causing disbelief among farmers.

Farmers discuss how lambda-cyhalothrin regulation changes will affect them in 2023

Concerns include the loss of another crop protection tool, lack of science-based reasons for excluding feed crops from the label and costs and availability of alternative insecticides

Western Canadian farmers are hoping that common sense prevails in Ottawa before a potentially serious outbreak of insect crop pests play havoc with grain, oilseed and pulse crops across the Prairies this growing season. News that a cost-effective insecticide that controls a wide range of pests like grasshoppers and flea beetles won’t be available to […] Read more

Farming Smarter used salvaged materials to construct this two-stage biobed at its research farm near Lethbridge, Alta., in 2019.

A better way to dispose of pesticide rinsate

Biobeds aren’t that difficult to build and can be relatively inexpensive

Biobeds are an environmentally friendly way to break down pesticides in the rinse water flushed out of sprayers as well as leftover or unusable pesticides once they’re sufficiently diluted. You’ll find biobeds in Sweden and other European countries, but they haven’t caught on with farmers in Western Canada. Farming Smarter, an applied research group that […] Read more


(Leonid Eremeychuk/iStock/Getty Images)

U.S. trade commission sues pesticide makers, alleging price scheme

Washington | Reuters — The U.S. Federal Trade Commission on Thursday sued two top pesticide manufacturers for allegedly entering into exclusive contracts with distributors that kept prices paid by farmers artificially high. The consumer watchdog agency was motivated to bring the case in part because rising costs and supply chain disruptions from Russia’s invasion of […] Read more

(File photo by Lisa Guenther)

Corteva to exit some markets, cut jobs in cost-saving push

Canada remains among company's 'core' markets

Reuters — Seeds and pesticides company Corteva on Tuesday announced plans to exit about 35 countries and lay off roughly five per cent of its global workforce as part of the company’s cost-cutting plans. A surge in inflation this year to four-decade highs has forced Corporate America to slash planned spending and roll out measures […] Read more


Mike Cowbrough is the weed management lead, field crops, with OMAFRA and co-curator of sprayers101.com. In the photo, Cowbrough shows his audience how mixing order can affect product compatibility in tank mixes.

Two more reasons to consider a jar test before tank mixing

It’s better to be safe than sorry when you combine multiple modes of action or include micronutrients in the tank

When tank mixing goes well, farmers can reduce the number of passes through their fields, saving equipment operating time and man-hours, reducing compaction and optimizing application timing. When tank mixing goes badly, however, the results can be disastrous. Because chemical companies won’t and, in fact, can’t test their products with every possible mixing option, making […] Read more

Figuring out all the angles on rotation can be a complex challenge for farmers.

Rotation, rotation, rotation are a farmer’s best friend in the field

Not rotating crops and chemistries might just be the opportunity crop pests were waiting for

[UPDATED: April 1, 2021] Rotation isn’t a new word, but applying it to all aspects of annual crop production might be a newer concept for western Canadian farmers looking to keep a step ahead of various crop pests, say specialists with Corteva Agriscience. A proper crop rotation, a proper variety rotation, a proper herbicide rotation, […] Read more