Crop Management
The bird cage door has once again slammed shut on canaryseed sales to Mexico. Canadian and Mexican plant protection officials have failed to extend an interim agreement regarding quarantine weeds that expired June 21. “For nearly a year government officials have been negotiating a solution, and the expiry of the agreement is a failure to […] Read more
Crop Management
Mexico weed policy shuts out canaryseed
Gov’t may miss biodiesel mandate’s start date: canola growers
Canadian canola growers get the sense the federal biodiesel mandate will be delayed. The proposed two percent mandate is scheduled to be implemented on July 1, after publication deadlines for this issue. Rick White, general manager of the Canadian Canola Growers Association, said there could be some “slippage” on the start date. A spokesperson for […] Read more
Water quality key to chemical effectiveness
Most farmers know that water with a pH level higher than seven can affect the performance of insecticides, said Jason Deveau, an application technology specialist with the Ontario agriculture ministry. However, he said only a few producers know how to treat alkaline water so that it’s suitable to mix with pesticides. “If it’s outside of […] Read more
Well users have false sense of water safety: survey
How well is your water well? An Alberta study on rural water wells found that most people don’t know. Responses from 1,014 surveys returned in 2010 showed only 10 percent of Alberta water well users test their water well quality at least annually and only 30 percent regularly shock chlorinate it, which involves flushing large […] Read more
Weed of the Week: Foxtail Barley
Foxtail barley has benefited from increased use of reduced tillage. It is a prolific seed producer and has become a growing problem across Western Canada. Hordeum jubatum is also known as wild barley or other names that compare the weed’s bushy awns to the tails of a number of mammals. Foxtail barley is often confused […] Read more
Maltless brewing may see maltsters crying in beer
Canada’s barley, malting and brewing industries are keeping tabs on a new brewing process that could reduce demand for high quality malt as an essential brewing ingredient. Enzyme-assisted brewing uses commercial enzymes to promote fermentation in malted or unmalted barley, meaning brewers can reduce their reliance on finished malt or, in some cases, eliminate it […] Read more
Weed of the Week: Common burdock
Common burdock is a tenacious biennial weed that reproduces from seed. It is the seed that makes this weed such a pest. The plant’s burrs are two to three millimetres with barbed bristles that stick to nearly any hair or fibre. Animals can become heavily burdened by these seeds. The weed is heavily branched up […] Read more
Grain bag roller easy on wallet, environment
Steve Greenslade got to work when a customer told him that what he really needed was a grain bag roller. The owner of Greenslades Northern Welding Ltd. in Hanna, Alta., has spent the last couple of months taking the idea to prototype, patent and product. Last week he attended the Western Canada Farm Progress Show […] Read more
Plant breeders eager to begin genomic research
The first cheques from a new multimillion-dollar research funding program are now arriving at the University of Saskatchewan and Agriculture Canada. The Western Grains Research Foundation established the Directed Research Program (DRP) last year to fund large, co-ordinated research initiatives in high priority areas. Funding comes from investment earnings on the WGRF’s endowment fund, which […] Read more
Alternative to CWB check-off collection sought by foundation
The following two paragraphs originally contained errors. Those errors have been corrected in the story below: “Our objective is to have something ready that can be on the ground and ready to go (by August 2012) so we don’t have an interruption in our check-off revenue stream.” “Scott said a recent study estimated that […] Read more
