Hay production across the Prairies and the American Plains is spotty. Low carry out inventories and poor yields of first cuts for this season have resulted in short supplies and increased prices for the packaged forages. “There are a few spots that have better than average yields, but for the most part the crops are […] Read more
Stories by Michael Raine
Seed company thinks yellow as it ponders prairie future
LETHBRIDGE – Western Canada’s No. 2 hybrid canola seed company isn’t satisfied. It wants to be No. 1. “What’s a ranking?” says Ian Grant of Pioneer Hi-Bred Ltd. Canada. “What does it mean? We want it to mean that more producers in Western Canada are choosing our products than anyone else’s because they will make […] Read more
Do you know this insect?
The diamondback moth, known formally as Plutella xylostella, was introduced into North America in the mid-1800s. It’s now present across the continent, wherever its host plants are grown. Diamondback moth larvae feed on all plants in the mustard family. In Western Canada, canola and mustard are its primary targets. Although present every year on the […] Read more
Putting Hesston on the map
HESSTON, Kansas – Southern Kansas in July has been described many ways, but “it’s hot like that other place, you know, way south of Heaven” came to mind recently as the mercury topped 35 C, the humidity chased after it and smoke from the burning of newly threshed winter wheat fields hung in the air. […] Read more
Spraying for weevil increases
Cabbage seedpod weevils are forcing more producers to spray this season. The extra work is blamed on three factors: The insects’ rising population. Its easterly and northerly spread from southern Alberta. The increased value of the canola crop, which reduces the economic threshold for controlling the insect. “There’s a lot of spraying going on south […] Read more
Winter pulses in rhythm with seasons
Winter peas and lentils are yielding twice those of their spring cousins. Kevin McPhee of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agriculture Research Service in Pullman, Washington, has been breeding fall-seeded varieties of peas, lentils and zero-tannin fababeans for nearly a decade. “At the southern Alberta site we have seen it,” he said. “The early start, […] Read more
Sweep net mastery important
Finding out the type and number of pests in your fields has never been more important. Agrologists and entomologists emphasize the importance of pest scouting this year because of high commodity prices. Hector Carcamo of Agriculture Canada said as the price of commodities rise, the value of the damage insects can do to crops increases […] Read more
Time to scout for sclerotinia
This year’s canola crop is developing later than normal and disease is an issue as plants enter the blooming phase. Early flowering is the time to assess the threat of sclerotinia stem rot infection, says Matt Stanford of the Canola Council of Canada. The first place to look is fields where other host crops had […] Read more
Nutrients washed away
Too much water in some parts of Alberta has caused nutrient problems for grain and oilseed crops that are already behind schedule. Soil has suffered substantial nitrogen losses in some cases, say agronomists with the Canola Council of Canada, especially in low lying areas. Denitrification can occur even in fields where water receded rapidly enough […] Read more
Prairie firms make innovation list
Five of the top 50 agricultural innovations from the past year, as determined by the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers (ASABE), are from the Canadian Prairies. Each year the ASABE selects an expert panel to evaluate new products, processes and services designed to serve agriculture. Eligible entries include products that entered the market […] Read more
