The 2016 Herbicide Resistance Summit was held in Saskatoon on March 3, to a full house of farmers and scientists. Robin Booker from The Western Producer teamed up with Lisa Guenther from Grainews and interviewed event presenters. The following video is a collection of their interviews, which include: Australian weed scientist, Ian Heap, is the […] Read more
Robin Booker
Stories by Robin Booker
Growers seeing fababeans as lentil, pea alternative
Fababeans are a small-acre crop in Western Canada, but they have become an increasingly popular choice with growers. The crop’s prairie acreage doubled in 2015 from the previous year, said Sherrilyn Phelps, the agronomy and seed program manager at Saskatchewan Pulse Growers. “We can assume that we were close to 200,000 acres as of last […] Read more
Business group presses feds on innovation agenda
Agriculture Manufacturers of Canada hopes the Liberal government will fulfill a election pledge to support innovation in the agriculture sector. Prime minister Justin Trudeau promised during last year’s federal election campaign to spend $100 million a year for three years on the Industrial Research Assistance Program (IRAP), which is an innovation assistance program for small […] Read more
Agnotology in politics
I recently encountered a word that stopped me dead in my internet perusing tracks and left me nodding my head toward the computer while saying, “that’s a good one.” The word, which I came across in an article by Georgina Kenyon on bbc.com, is agnotology, which is “the study of willful acts to spread confusion […] Read more
New, improved pea varieties sure to please
Canadian pea growers have four new pea options this year from the University of Saskatchewan’s Crop Development Centre. CDC Saffron and CDC Amarillo are yellow pea varieties and CDC Raezer and CDC Limerick are green peas. “These four are the newest varieties available to farmers, and there is seed available,” said Tom Warkentin of the […] Read more
No-till gets credit for boosting sulfur in soil
Half of sulfur remains in the straw in the field after harvest and returns to the soil as the residue breaks down
No-till production methods have boosted soil organic carbon levels and increased the soil’s nutrient supplying capacity, including its ability to supply sulfur to prairie crops. University of Saskatchewan soil scientist Jeff Schoenau said during a presentation at a recent farm show in Saskatoon that only about half of sulfur used by the crop is removed […] Read more
Flax responds to inputs like other crops
Research has found that the crop responds well to nitrogen applications, but not so much to phosphorus
Flax is often thought of as a low input crop that doesn’t respond well to fertilizer applications. However, the crop’s nutrient requirements are right up there with canola when compared on a per bushel basis. “If you want to get into that high 30 bu. per acre plus, we certainly do need to add some […] Read moreNothing good comes from online trolling
Last week’s Manitoba Ag Days in Brandon joined a long list of Twitter hashtags that have been targeted by people who seem to oppose any use of animals beyond snuggling. Even the people who posted the provocative images and graphics on #agdays16 would likely agree this was a trolling campaign. Most people understand what it […] Read more
Multi-species cover crops help control weeds
Saskatchewan producer finds that as many as five to eight species are needed to meet many of his soil-health goals
Garry Richards says incorporating a cover crop cocktail into his rotation helped him reduce the amount of fertilizer, herbicide, insecticide and fungicide he uses on his farm near Bangor, Sask. “Rather than reaching for them (chemicals) first, they are way down the line as far as a ways to produce crops,” Richards said after his […] Read morePerennial grain seen as key to sustainability
American researcher says one of the benefits of perennial grain crops would be their low input-to-productivity ratio
Soil health is a key measurement when striving to improve the sustainability of global food production. “To be sustainable, you cannot have an agriculture that depletes the soil source. Eventually it’s going to collapse,” said Tim Crews, director of research at the Land Institute in Salina, Kansas. Crews, who is working to develop perennial grain […] Read more
