LETHBRIDGE – Cover crops have been part of nutrient management in North America for more than two centuries. However, low-cost nitrogen fertilizer and changing agronomics prompted conventional agriculture to largely abandon the practice. The few exceptions included its use to control soil erosion and to grow crops organically. Now, cover crops are poised to make […] Read more
Stories by Michael Raine
Unharvested crop worrying farmers
Seventy-six percent of the Saskatchewan crop is in the bin. In Alberta it’s 91 percent. The Manitoba crop is about 80 percent harvested. The problem is that the rest isn’t. Cold, moisture and winter-like conditions have stranded the crop across the Prairies. Two weeks of cold and wet weather have left too many crops in […] Read more
Breeder proud of clubroot efforts
ST. ALBERT, Alta. – Plant breeder Igor Falak can’t help but smile as he looks out over clubroot’s canola ground zero. But as he does so, Falak makes sure he stays out of the well-podded canola crop, not only because it would be tricky to walk through but also because the dirt is well laden […] Read more
Clubroot resistant canola: seeing is believing
Newell County, Alta. – A large canola crop flourishes where the club-root resistant variety is planted. Where it isn’t, there are only weeds. Alberta plant pathologist Ron Howard directed a one-acre trial of clubroot resistant canola and several other experiments in a southern Alberta field known to be infected with the fungal disease. “By mid-August, […] Read more
Breeders put stock in corn as crop
CARMAN, Man. – Canadian cereals are often measured against corn, whether it be price, feedability or as a feedstock for ethanol. So why not grow more of it at home? In most cases, Canadian feed barley is priced on an American Midwest corn price landed at a delivery point on the Prairies. Livestock producers have […] Read more
Expanding big cereal takes traits, technique
Growing grain corn on the Prairies is mostly confined to the usual regions of south central Manitoba and Alberta, but that could soon change. “There is a lot of interest in corn as another grain crop outside of its traditional area,” said Pam De Rocquigny, chair of the Manitoba Corn Committee, which conducts corn variety […] Read more
Why internet in cab?
People often buy into emerging technology just for the sake of having the latest gadgets. Text messaging teenagers are a prime example. Does high-speed internet in the tractor, sprayer or combine cab fall into the same category, or is it a genuine tool that can help your bottom line? Rob Saik has been hoping for […] Read more
U.S. elevator fills large niche
WAVERLY, Ill. – It takes a lot of capacity to get the crop to market when the land yields 220 bushels per acre. Elevator operator Robert Johnson meets those demands. The American grain handling system has a lot of private elevator operators, and in southern Illinois, not far from where Abraham Lincoln was raised and […] Read more
New grading system could end disputes
Sprouting may be a major problem this fall in western Canadian wheat, which should provide the perfect conditions to test recent grading tech-nology. When a kernel sprouts, enzymes are released to convert its starch into more usable food for the seedling. This loss of starch from the kernel affects the dough quality of flour milled […] Read more
New grading systemcould end disputes
. . . . . Sprouting may be a major problem this fall in western Canadian wheat, which should provide the perfect conditions to test recent grading tech-nology. When a kernel sprouts, enzymes are released to convert its starch into more usable food for the seedling. This loss of starch from the kernel affects the […] Read more
