Crop Management
A seed company better known for corn, soybean and wheat varieties will soon be adding hybrid canola seed to its Canadian product mix. Officials with Syngenta Canada are still working out distribution arrangements for the company’s first-ever canola seed offerings — SY4135 and SY4114. Duane Johnson, the company’s head of operations for Western Canada, said […] Read more
Crop Management
Syngenta Canada selling hybrid canola seed
Wheat, flax varieties deregistered as of Aug. 1
Four winter wheat varieties developed at the University of Saskatchewan’s Crop Development Centre in Saskatoon will soon have their wings clipped. CDC Kestrel, CDC Harrier, CDC Raptor and CDC Clair will be reclassified from the Canada Western Red Winter (CWRW) wheat class to the Canada Western General Purpose (CWGP) class as of Aug. 1. The […] Read more
When vertical tillage isn’t vertical tillage
A string of wet springs has steered a lot of prairie farmers into vertical tillage as a way to seed into soggy soil. Most producers say their new equipment accomplished what it was supposed to, which was to get them seeding sooner. However, vertical tillage can also be an important tool in fighting crop disease, […] Read more
Growers find new uses for cultivator
Salford RTS 1100 | Lightweight machine for small seed crops can seed wheat
Matt Kremeniuk, who uses his Salford RTS 1100 to apply fertilizer, under-seed timothy and seed canola and barley, says wheat will be the next crop to be seeded using vertical tillage. After two years using the RTS 1100, Kremeniuk said light weight seeding rigs with shallow working tools are the obvious winners when it comes […] Read more
Scout canola now for sclerotinia
Spraying is advised if yield potential is 35 bushels per acre or more
Conditions across the West are ideal for the development of scler-otinia, which can reduce canola yield by 50 percent or more if left un-checked. Dense canola stands across the Prairies, frequent rains and moist, humid conditions in the crop canopy have combined to make an ideal environment for sclerotinia infection. Clint Jurke, agronomy specialist with […] Read moreFlexxifinger cuts corn stalks without cost of corn header
Easy mounting | Unit guides stalks to cutter bar and directs cobs to auger
Dave Dietrich watched from his vantage point in southern Saskatchewan as corn crept north across the U.S. border. The farm equipment builder, who runs Flexxifinger in Assiniboia, felt he could give western Canadian producers a way to harvest the crop without investing in a new, specialty combine header. “We already knew how to lift crops […] Read moreIrrigation management systems give heads up on soil needs
Ted Harms and his team have been working with farmers for 13 years as they evaluate soil water sensors. Harms, a provincial irrigation specialist in Alberta, said soil water sensors that are suitable for adoption by irrigators must be “fairly inexpensive (under $1,000), easy to use and interpret.” He began his three-year project in 2000 […] Read more
VIDEO: High tunnel greenhouses affordable
Jazeem Wahab of Agriculture Canada in Saskatchewan says the lack of intensive, high value vegetable production on the Prairies isn’t due to large infrastructure or production startup costs, nor is it because the northern Prairies’ season is too short and cold. It likely has more to do with a lack of producers that have been […] Read more
VIDEO: Growing soybeans on the Canadian Prairies
Got beans? More than 150,000 acres of Saskatchewan farmland has soybeans growing for 2013. In Manitoba the crop is passing the one million acre mark. Attractive as a low input crop, despite its high seed price, soybeans offer fair margins with yields as low as 25 bushels per acre, provided the price of the commodity […] Read more
Precision planter on canola shows savings
Lower seeding rate | Wider row spacing requires weed management
LACOMBE, Alta. — An Alberta canola grower hopes to dramatically reduce seeding costs by using a precision planter more commonly used in row crop production. Craig Shaw’s interest in the technology was prompted by his frustration over how difficult it was to accurately place canola with large broad acre seeding equipment. He hopes that research […] Read more
