pollination Archives

A field of canola being grown for hybrid seed, with orange shelters for leafcutter bees in the background.

Hybrid seed doesn’t just happen

Aside from initial research and development to create a variety, a lot of detail goes into the annual production of hybrid seed

By Lee Hart September 26, 2024

With the cost of hybrid canola seed being the No. 1 expense in producing the oilseed crop, Prairie farmers can have confidence knowing each of the 4.25 million canola seeds in a 50-pound bag was produced with care and attention to quality control. That’s the commitment of long-time hybrid seed producers, HyTech Production Ltd., based […] Read more

aerial photo of irregularly shaped manitoba cropland

Crops, Features, Forages

Bless your mess: Crops may not be best for underperforming acres

Taking poorer-producing ‘messy’ landscapes out of crops may improve fields’ economics and farms’ sustainability

By Lee Hart March 6, 2024

UPDATED, March 7 — It might be difficult to consider “messy” fields as a pathway to improved crop production and profitability. But in the early going, a Prairie-wide university-developed research project suggests taking poor-producing acres out of annual crop production might be a means of improving overall efficiency, as well as the all-important bottom line. […] Read more

CBOT September 2020 wheat with 20-, 50- and 100-day moving averages. (Barchart)

Crops, Markets, Reuters, Weather

U.S. grains: Wheat futures top two-month high on global harvest worries

Corn, soybeans firm as U.S. weather looks hotter, drier

By GFM Network News July 9, 2020

Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Board of Trade wheat futures on Thursday leapt to their highest prices in more than two months as the latest crop estimates in major exporting countries like Argentina, France and Russia raised questions about global supply. Corn and soybean futures also strengthened, as weather forecasts predicted more heat and dryness […] Read more

The Lalondes say there is good co-operation between farmers and beekeepers.

News

Beekeepers co-operating with farmers

Top Saskatchewan apiarists talk about farmers, bee habitat and neonic bans

By Edna Manning February 24, 2020

Apiarists Simon and Dan Lalonde have seen a lot of changes in the bee industry since their father, Tony, began the beekeeping operation near Clavet, Sask., in 1979. Tony and his sons gradually grew the business and today they run approximately 45,00 hives. As well as selling honey in bulk, their company, Tony Lalonde Sales, […] Read more

Columns, Crops

What’s up honey?

The truth about honeybees’ importance in North America. Hint: it’s less than you think

By Ieuan Evans November 30, 2018

In the last few years the general public has been bombarded and brainwashed with the supposed tremendous importance of honeybees in North America. Let’s get down to the facts. First of all, honeybees can technically be classified as invasive pests since the honeybee, Aphis melifera, is not native to the Americas — or Australia or […] Read more

A corn crop in the RM of St. Andrews in Manitoba’s Interlake region on July 5, 2018. (Greg Berg photo)

Corn, Crops, Weather

Ontario, Manitoba corn crops need rain

By GFM Network News July 26, 2018

CNS Canada — Corn development in key growing areas of Ontario and Manitoba remains highly variable as the crop nears its yield-determining phase. “The pollination stage is the critical part of the corn-growing period and I would say probably within the next three weeks we will know what yield is going to look like,” said […] Read more

Amara beetles hunt and chew on cutworms at CanoLAB in Vermilion. Amara beetles belong to the  Carabid family.

Canola, Crops, Features

Increasing yields with natural landscapes

Researchers say maintaining some natural habitat next to your fields can bring yield increases

By Lisa Guenther June 5, 2017

Researchers are looking at how natural landscapes can bump yield in nearby canola fields in Alberta, and they want your yield data. Previous research, done at various locations around the world, has shown that native habitat bestows yield gains and cuts insecticide applications on neighbouring farmland, says Gregory Sekulic, agronomist with the Canola Council of […] Read more

Henry (l) and Rich Braul stand in a leafcutter bee shelter.

Crops, Farm Life

Still going strong after 50 years

Leafcutter bee pioneers ‘still learning’ after all that time

By Julienne Isaacs October 5, 2016

When Henry Braul and his brother John decided to take a risk and invest in leafcutter bees to pollinate their alfalfa seed fields near Rosemary, Alta., “we were the only ones,” he says. “Everyone was watching us and smiling behind our backs.” Braul bought his first batch of larvae in three two-gallon pails for $700 […] Read more

Dr. Ieuan Evans says producers must continue to use good bee-safe management tools and beekeepers need to control the pest infestations in their hives and to collaborate with responsible farmers.

Columns, Hart Attacks

Facts about bees, birds are next

Something is afoot in the bee community, but is agriculture really to blame?

By Lee Hart March 21, 2016

We’ve heard a lot about honeybees in the last couple of years, particularly concerns that some crop protection products are a leading cause for the decline in bee numbers. The finger has most recently been pointed at a chemical compound known as the neonicotinoid class of pesticide, which in the past decade or so has […] Read more

Researchers are still learning about how plants communicate. One day, research looking at modifying plant behaviour could be used to increase crop yields or combat weed growth.

Crops, News

New research shows plants talking

Plant researchers are finding a surprising amount of unseen communication among plants

By Dilia Narduzzi November 5, 2015

Farmers know well the issues that can arise with their crops. One of the biggies is insects eating plants. What’s interesting, though, is that recently more studies are being done on how plants communicate with and to the environment around them. While research on plants has been happening for thousands of years, says Dr. James […] Read more

U.S. grains: Soy futures set six-week low as China buys Argentine cargoes, snubs U.S.

U.S. livestock: Hogs rally ahead of USDA report

Canadian Barley Research Coalition pledges $1.8 million to USask Crop Development Centre

GFM Network News