Agriculture Canada

Planting small size kabuli chickpea seed appears not to hurt yield, but more work is needed to determine whether it affects the seed size of the crop. Researchers Yantai Gan, Perry Miller, Brian McConkey and Cal McDonald at the Agriculture Canada research station in Swift Current, Sask., have been studying aspects of chickpea seeding for […] Read more

Scientists are looking for ways to help cattle producers know when it makes sense to use chemicals to control lice. Doug Colwell, a parasite specialist with Agriculture Canada’s research centre in Lethbridge, Alta., said although millions of dollars are spent each year on chemicals to control lice, research hasn’t answered the question of how many […] Read more

Farmers in Western Canada’s rapidly expanding bean industry can have the benefits of a new, narrow-row, direct-cutting system without an increase in weed pressure, according to a recent study by the Agriculture Canada Lethbridge Research Centre. With new upright bean varieties available, farmers use them in narrow-row production with higher seeding densities, resulting in higher […] Read more

A new product under consideration for registration in Canada has potential to help prevent bloat in cattle. Bloat dangers are a major stumbling block in the widespread adoption of high-quality alfalfa grazing systems. Joint research by provincial and federal research centres has evaluated a product that can prevent bloat when added to cattle drinking water. […] Read more

Fertilizing fields with manure can increase moisture retention and reduce compaction. Studies at the Agriculture Canada Research Centre in Lethbridge, Alta., have found that manure increases the amount of water that stays in the root zone, which is the first 100 centimetres of the soil surface. Increased water retention can improve soil moisture and may […] Read more

Researchers in Manitoba are testing aphids for viruses harmful to potatoes. Results will be released later this fall. Potato viruses can be a serious problem because certifiers will reject seed lots if there is a low incidence of potato leaf roll virus and potato virus Y. Leaf tests from Manitoba seed potato fields in 1988 […] Read more

There are many benefits to growing sweet clover as a cover crop, but its place in the crop rotation must be planned because it can also harm some crops, say scientists at the Lethbridge, Alta., research centre. Clover has been used to conserve soil moisture on the Prairies for years, but this is the first […] Read more

The Agriculture Canada Lethbridge Research Centre has identified a possible cause of Acute Interstitial Pneumonia, a cattle disease with a fatality rate of 30-50 percent. In a two-year field study of southern Alberta feedlots, researchers found high levels of toxic metabolites in the blood plasma of cattle killed by AIP. Those metabolites, which damage lung […] Read more

Saltbush might become a valuable part of grazing vegetation in difficult soil conditions. In most parts of the world where there is saltland, saltbush shrub species are an important forage for browsing livestock. Saltbush has been grazed for centuries both as native and artificially established stands. Planting saltbush appears to be a good way to […] Read more

Winterfat, more commonly known as lambstail, sweet sage, winter sage, white sage or feather sage, is a palatable, nutritious forage plant of western North America that is gaining interest because of its drought and salinity tolerance. The shrub is native to southwestern Saskatchewan and southeastern Alberta. Researchers at the Agriculture Canada research centre in Swift […] Read more