Female soybean cyst nematodes feeding on soybean plant roots form bulbous, egg-filled nodules from which their young hatch the following spring. (Keith Weller photo courtesy ARS/USDA)

Soybean cyst nematode confirmed in Manitoba

A damaging soybean pest that was expected to show up sooner or later in agricultural Manitoba has officially arrived. Crop surveys by University of Manitoba Ph.D. student Nazanin Ghavami with soil science professor Mario Tenuta and his students have turned up soybean cyst nematode at “extremely low” levels on soybean plant roots in one field […] Read more

Pam Bailey, chair and co-founder of Ag Women Manitoba farms with her husband and in-laws in Dacotah, Manitoba and is also a director with Manitoba Canola Growers.

Building a network can empower women working in agriculture

When asked about the importance of empowering women in agriculture, Pam Bailey’s response is simple: “Empowering women is always beneficial in every community, so why should agriculture be any different?” While strides have been made over the years to improve inclusivity in agriculture, it’s important to build on that momentum. Building women up in agriculture […] Read more


Some researchers have found that the land equivalent ratio is greater with crops grown together than with crops grown individually.

The science behind intercropping

When plants can share nutrients, they can yield higher together than separately

Just as the adoption of no-till agriculture on the Prairies several decades ago was farmer-driven, the current shift to ecological (sometimes called regenerative) agricultural practices is no different, says Dr. Martin Entz of the University of Manitoba. “In this fascinating carbon world, we’re now moving beyond just crop rotation and beyond just grazing management all […] Read more

Get the most efficiency from your nitrogen

Get the most efficiency from your nitrogen

Generally, banding is the most efficient method for reducing nutrient loss

If you’re looking for a quick and easy guide to choosing the right placement for your nitrogen application, there isn’t one. Neither is there a one-size-fits-all strategy for timing or rate. There are, however, clear guidelines on how to improve nitrogen efficiency while limiting environmental impact. University of Manitoba soil science professor Don Flaten explains. […] Read more


Controlling volunteer canola in soybeans

Controlling volunteer canola in soybeans

New research in Manitoba finds fall tillage can reduce the volunteer canola seed bank

Volunteer canola is difficult to control in soybean because the two crops are often resistant to the same herbicides, leaving few chemical control options available to growers in Western Canada. That causes more than a few headaches for soybean growers, especially as research shows that Prairie canola seed harvest losses on average are around six […] Read more

Keeping canola out of your soybean fields

Keeping canola out of your soybean fields

Volunteer canola: 
Western Canada’s fourth 
most abundant weed

Volunteer canola is thriving in Western Canada. In the 1970s, volunteer canola was the 18th most abundant weed. Today it is the fourth most common in Western Canada. Volunteer canola is especially problematic where herbicide-resistant crops, like soybeans, are added to the rotation. Volunteer canola is a unique weed because it is derived from growing […] Read more


Biostimulant market taking off

Biostimulant market taking off

The biostimulant market is growing fast. Find out what they can do for plants


Five or six years ago few people had heard of biostimulants, which were only being used in some high-value, horticultural crops. Today, the biostimulant market is one of the fastest growing, global agri-input sectors, increasing by 12 to 15 per cent annually. “Biostimulants is a rapidly growing field right now in agriculture, largely because these […] Read more

Symptoms will first appear at the base of the plant and will continue upwards as potassium moves up 
the plant to support new growth.

Manitoba soybeans not responding to K?

Soybean potassium fertility trials leave researchers scratching their heads

While it has generally been known that Manitoba’s lighter-textured soils are low in potassium, it took soybeans to really bring the issue to light. With soybeans taking up more and more acres, researchers felt it was time to conduct potassium fertility trials. While preliminary results are in, results are mixed. More data will be needed […] Read more


There’s a perception in the farming community that soil erosion and degradation are in the past, but that simply isn't the case.

Don’t forget lessons of the Dirty 30s

Although there’s a perception that dust is past, tillage erosion is on the rise in Manitoba

It seemed like the beginning of the end of the world: friends and neighbours dying of “dust pneumonia” and massive dust storms sweeping the land. These are some of the recollections of people who were alive in the “Dirty 30s,” recorded for an oral history project by Daryl Ritchison, interim director of the North Dakota […] Read more

Complex issue of water and beef

Complex issue of water and beef

Looking at the question of much water is used to produce beef from pasture to packer

How much water does it take to produce a pound of beef? That may not be the most urgent question on the mind of beef producers, but for some schoolkids in Surrey, B.C. it was an important question to have answered for a class project. And when multiple letters asking the same question recently landed […] Read more