Drought is usually linked to high grasshopper numbers, but numbers can shrink if conditions become too dry.  |  File photo

Potential exists for high spring ’hopper hatch

Latest forecast indicates migratory grasshoppers likely to emerge in a large cluster this spring rather than more gradually

MEDICINE HAT — The number of crop-damaging grasshoppers has been rising in southern and eastern Alberta since 2021 and conditions favour the trend to continue, according to the latest forecast. The warm, dry fall and early winter may have created a situation in which most southern Alberta grasshoppers have entered diapause, a type of hibernation […] Read more

Manitoba had an excellent sunflower crop in 2023 with some growers reporting yields as high as 3,500 pounds per acre, well above the historical average of 2,000 to 2,500 lb. per acre.  |  Robert Arnason photo

Poor profit outlook seen for oilseed sunflowers

Manitoba Agriculture has pegged the crop’s target price at 25 cents per pound, much lower than the previous two years

No one likes to finish last but Manitoba Agriculture has ranked oilseed sunflowers as the worst crop to grow in 2024. The province’s cost of production guide for crops says with yields of 2,000 pounds per acre, the profit from oilseed sunflowers will be negative $160.72 per acre, giving a return on investment of negative […] Read more

Researchers from the University of Illinois are investigating the long-term impact of winter cover crop adaptation on nutrient loss and crop yield.  |  File photo

Cover crop efficiency may drop

Cover crops can help improve soil health, reduce soil erosion, cut fertilizer costs and increase soil organic matter. But how climate change will affect the practice remains a wild card. A recent study from the University of Illinois suggests cover crops may become less efficient in the future. The study also showed that yields of […] Read more


Grain needs to hit a number of technical specifications to be good quality malting barley, including germination rates. Assessing that is taken very seriously.  |  Ed White photo

Breeding malting barley varieties a tricky business

Giant North American brewers and maltsters want one thing, while micro-brewers and micro-maltsters often want something else

WINNIPEG — Farmers can be frustrated by how few new varieties of malting barley are available for them to use in the real world. Brewers and maltsters can be cautious about changing anything that goes into their production systems. New varieties spell risk and danger to them. These two sides define an industry that requires […] Read more

An 8820 John Deere combine blended with a Brent grain cart was a winter project on the Belan farm in southern Ontario.  |  Mike Belan photo

‘Combuggy’ used as mobile storage

An 8820 combine modified into a grain cart has the benefit of hydrostatic transmission and rear-wheel assist

Some pretty interesting machines have been built in farm workshops over the years. The odd one is marketed commercially, but most simply meet a need on the farm. For Mike Belan and his family’s farming operation near Sarnia, Ont., the workshop creation, dubbed the Combuggy, has been helping grain handling operations run smoothly since 2000. […] Read more


New 4WD unit sales in Canada grew 84.8 per cent year over year in November and 41.5 percent year to date, according to the Association of Equipment Managers. | Paul Yanko photo

Big iron rakes in big dollars post pandemic

Equipment sales boost largely driven by late deliveries and high commodity prices before they retreated last year

A big boost in four-wheel-drive tractor sales signals that the farm equipment industry is returning to normal, say salespeople and other industry experts. New 4WD unit sales in Canada grew 84.8 per cent year over year in November and 41.5 percent year to date, according to the Association of Equipment Managers. In October, it reported Canadian sales of tractors […] Read more

FieldView aims to simplify field data management for farmers by providing an online platform that can be accessed anywhere. It can unite data from each piece of precision farm equipment and makes the information more understandable through visualization and analysis tools. | Screencap via cropscience.bayer.ca

Combyne uses FieldView data to help market grain

Grain deliveries to be connected back to the fields they originated from and management choices made on those fields

Red Deer — Bayer is making it easier for farmers to track data from seeding to harvest, improving their ability to make better agronomic and marketing decisions. The company recently announced producers can now connect their agronomic data in Climate FieldView with their marketing data in Combyne, which was acquired by the company early in […] Read more



Producer support for the merger of SaskCanola and SaskFlax was "overwhelming," the groups said in a Jan. 10 news release. | Screencap via saskcanola.com

Sask. canola, flax groups vote to merge

SaskCanola and SaskFlax have been sharing offices, admin for about a year

Saskatchewan flax and canola growers approved plans to amalgamate their organizations in a Jan. 9 vote. Producer support for the merger of SaskCanola and SaskFlax was “overwhelming,” the groups said in a Jan. 10 news release. The organizations held a joint annual general meeting to share results of member feedback before taking the issue to […] Read more

Fertilizer Canada's 4R Nutrient Stewardship is a framework of best management practices that involve using the right source of fertilizer at the right rate, right time, and right place. | File photo

FCC announces new 4R incentive

Farm Credit Canada is prepared to pay farmers up to $2,000 to adopt 4R nutrient management practices using AgExpert, it announced Jan. 10. “We see an opportunity to reward FCC customers who follow Fertilizer Canada’s 4R Nutrient Stewardship Program,” said FCC president Justine Hendricks in a news release. “Streamlining the data management and verification process […] Read more