How producers control the alfalfa weevil depends on how they use the crop. Insecticides are the best bet in alfalfa seed crops, while cutting is the way to go if it is to be used as forage. Manitoba Agriculture entomologist Brent Elliott said the alfalfa weevil overwinters on the Prairies as an adult beetle in […] Read more
Stories by Bill Strautman
Swinging shelf reduces clutter, keeps tools handy
Big, heavy tools can be a pain to store. Rather than have these tools take up valuable space on top of a workbench, Ken and Jason Sawby devised a way to store them underneath yet be easily accessible when needed. “I’ve got the inch and the three-quarter drive sockets, and you don’t use them very […] Read more
Corn-on-corn needs zinc, sulfur
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – An agronomist with a major fertilizer manufacturer says fertility is becoming a growing concern as the ethanol-induced boost in corn prices encourages farmers to grow the crop continuously rather than in a multi-crop rotation. “We’ve had a two to three year bad trend, where farmers were cutting back on (phosphorus and potassium) […] Read more
Watch for yellow blotch in alfalfa
news Yellow blotch in alfalfa can be a significant problem to forage yield and forage seed quality under wet, humid conditions. Philip Northover, a plant pathologist with Manitoba Agriculture, said symptoms first appear as small chlorotic spots on upper leaf surfaces about 10 days after infection occurs. The fungus Leptotrochila medicaginis also causes blotches on […] Read more
Half-rate end nozzles reduce crop damage
HEARNE, Sask. – An overlap during spraying will apply a double rate of chemical on part of the field. That might be OK with a fungicide or insecticide, but herbicides are a different story. A double rate of Sencor, for example, can severely damage or kill young lentil and chickpea seedlings. Darren Watson grows lentils […] Read more
System reduces hand hoeing
MARA, B.C. – Weeding the 12 acres of market vegetables grown at Wild Flight Farm near Mara, B.C., used to be a job for a crew with hand hoes. But in the past decade, Hermann and Louise Bruns, who operate the 20 acre vegetable farm, have added two modified mechanical weeders that allow their workers […] Read more
Hose boom speeds water fills
CRAIK, Sask. – When Rick Wildfong bought a new sprayer in 2001, he needed to upgrade his water delivery system as well. “The old sprayer was a Bourgault with a bottom fill and it took too long. We bought this new Flexi-Coil and it has a 1,200 gallon tank, so we needed to fill it […] Read more
Playing with herbicides upsets safener ratio
Farmers thinking of tinkering with herbicide rates need to be aware that they’re also tinkering with safener rates in some products. Doug Richardson, manager of research and development with Bayer CropScience in Calgary, said safeners are part of the process used by herbicides such as Puma Super and Horizon to control grass weeds in a […] Read more
Nodules key to pulse performance
NISKU, Alta. – Farmers concerned about the success of their pulse crops at developing nitrogen-fixing nodules now have a guide available to help determine that. The nodulation assessment guide was originally developed for use in British Columbia forestry projects, said Kevin Zaychuk, business development manager at 20/20 Seed Labs in Nisku, Alta. Contractors used small […] Read more
Manganese affected by glyphosate
SASKATOON – Farmers applying manganese micronutrient treatments should ensure they apply it after a glyphosate application. Manganese applied before glyphosate can be immobilized in the plant. Don Huber, professor emeritus of plant pathology at Purdue University in Indiana, said there have been reports for 20 years about an increase in the cereal disease take-all in […] Read more
