Bill Strautman

MEDICINE HAT, Alta. – A number of planets need to align for new plant diseases to make their way onto the Prairies: a susceptible plant; an aggressive or virulent pathogen and favourable environmental conditions. Ron Howard, a plant pathologist with Alberta Agriculture, recently told a Reduced Tillage conference in Medicine Hat that this can occur […] Read more

SASKATOON – An old pulse crop product will be upgraded this year, said Garry Hnatowich, senior research agronomist with Philom Bios in Saskatoon. The pea and lentil inoculant Tag Team Next Generation will contain a new strain of nitrogen fixing rhizobia bacteria. “Across both crops, we’re seeing roughly about a 4.5 percent yield increase over […] Read more

SASKATOON – Power dynamics occur between farmers and companies who sign contracts together. Saskatoon lawyer Craig Zawada says farmers who don’t understand those dynamics will go into the relationship with one hand tied behind their backs. Speaking at Pulse Days during Crop Production Week in Saskatoon earlier this year, Zawada said contracts have always existed […] Read more

SASKATOON – Nutrient stratification is happening in a field near you, says Elston Solberg, a consultant with Agri-Trend Agrology. “Stratification is a layering of certain soil properties near the soil surface. Reduced tillage and straw retention amplifies these situations, as does manure application and other things,” Solberg said at Agri-Trend’s recent Farm Forum conference in […] Read more

EDMONTON – Using too much fan speed on the drill can bash big seeds like peas and reduce germination levels. To see how much, the Alberta Pulse Growers and the Alberta Reduced Tillage Linkages teamed up and carried out tests in 2005 and 2006 to determine how to establish a better pulse stand. At the […] Read more

SASKATOON – Twin nozzles have been around for a few years, but an Agriculture Canada research scientist from Saskatoon says they’re best at controlling fusarium head blight. “It’s one of the unique cases where the wheat head is the target,” Tom Wolf told the recent Saskatchewan Soil Conservation Association conference in Saskatoon. “It’s a vertical […] Read more

BIGGAR, Sask. – Mobile hydraulics are handy to have on the farm. Richard Elenko, who farms near Biggar installed a hydraulic system on his 4×4 service truck and uses it in all sorts of situations. Elenko has a 90-litre reservoir in the back of the truck, with a filter to keep the oil clean. “We […] Read more

SASKATOON – Tom Wolf does not recommend spraying at night. The Agriculture Canada research scientist told the recent Saskatchewan Soil Conservation Association conference in Saskatoon that the problem is temperature inversions that tend to occur at night. “On a typical summer night, when the sun goes down, the air becomes stable. That means the spray […] Read more

DIDSBURY, Alta. – Time is always a factor when putting up hay. What better way to become more efficient than pulling two balers with one tractor? That’s what Dwayne Archer does. Archer puts up 1,500 acres of timothy hay a year near Didsbury for export. He says he chose this style of hitch because he […] Read more

SASKATOON – Farmers looking for a steady market for their feed peas should not ignore the local feed mill, says Henry Van de Velde. The vice-president and grain buyer for Hytek in La Broquerie, Man., told a Pulse Days audience in Saskatoon earlier this year that his company uses a lot of feed. “On a […] Read more