Colleen Munro

LLOYDMINSTER, Sask. -ÊIn its early stages, conservation farming relied on herbicides to fight weeds. But now there are signs the movement is maturing to a new phase of weed management Studies show cultural control, or integrated weed management, is becoming a reliable and accepted way to fight weeds. By eliminating tillage, farmers have eliminated a […] Read more

RED DEER, Alta. (Staff) – John O’Donovan has worked on integrated weed control for the past 12 years at the Alberta Environment Centre at Vegreville, Alta. Here are his tips to help a crop get the jump on weeds: Plant good quality, vigorous seed. Plant competitive crops. Promote early emergence. Establish a good crop stand, […] Read more

RED DEER, Alta. – If canola prices sound good at $8.50 a bushel, how does canola worth $100,000 an acre sound? Molecular farming with crops that have been genetically manipulated to produce pharmaceuticals will likely happen in the next 10 years, said University of Alberta professor and canola breeder Gary Stringam. He told the annual […] Read more

SASKATOON – Three herbicide resistant canolas still in the experimental stage moved closer to commercial sale last week. The Western Canada Canola/ Rapeseed recommending committee, at its regular spring meeting Feb. 20, approved for registration as seed Hoechst Nor-Am AgrEvo’s HCN 92 and HCN 10, the glufosinate ammonium-resistant canola. The committee also recommended that interim […] Read more

SASKATOON (Staff) – It might be easier for farmers to resort to the old children’s rhyme, eenie meenie minie mo, when choosing a new canola variety. Last week the Prairie Registration Recommending Committee gave its approval for more than 20 new canolas including 15 new Argentine varieties. “There’s some very good stuff in what’s come […] Read more

Bring out your barley! Bring out your barley! Those weren’t exactly the words of Lorne Hehn, chief commissioner for the Canadian Wheat Board, at the Agriculture Production Days in Manitoba earlier this month, but that was the implication. Hehn mused that perhaps the board will consider lowering its specifications for the premium grade on the […] Read more

SASKATOON (Staff) – Farmers can expect alfalfa varieties with greater disease resistance within five years, said an Agriculture Canada scientist. Bruce Coulman said established varieties should be verticillium wilt resistant and new varieties should have multiple disease resistance. “Verticillium wilt is a serious disease in alfalfa,” said Coulman. It became a problem in North America […] Read more

You’d think that someone would have noticed before now. Statistics Canada’s Dec. 31 stocks report has caused a minor furor in the canola industry with its estimate of available canola stocks released last week. According to StatsCan, total stocks of canola in farm and commercial positions stood at 3.64 million tonnes at the end of […] Read more

SASKATOON (Staff) – Marketing and packaging western Canadian food and beverage products for foreign markets will become the focus of new initiatives, said federal agriculture minister Ralph Goodale. The government’s Western economic diversification plan will provide $3.05 million over three years to the Food and Beverage Canada Association. Its 550-member companies may access the marketing […] Read more

Canada’s durum wheat exports aren’t suffering from the 350,000-tonne cap imposed by Uncle Sam last August. In fact, they’re thriving. Figures released last week by the Canadian Grain Commission show durum exports at 1.51 million tonnes from the beginning of the crop year to the end of December of 1994. That’s seven percent ahead of […] Read more