There are many innovative products and services available to Canadian crop producers that could help improve sustainability. However, the global food sector is struggling to find ways to reward growers who adapt sustainable technologies and techniques. Big food companies have made public commitments to source ingredients that are better for the environment, and more opportunities […] Read more
Tag Archives Agronomy
When canola gets to 100 bushels
Of the eighty farmers that participated in the first year of Agri-Trend’s Canola 100 Challenge, 16 decided to pay the $1,000 fee to have their crop verified. “Mother Nature took over and we won’t get the last four or so verified because they are buried underneath snow and rain, but we do have a list […] Read more
Ont. crops rebound, but climate change weighs on minds
CHATHAM, Ont. — Farmers in the Great Lakes Basin may no longer be able count on stable weather patterns, according to an agronomist with AGRIS Cooperative. “We used to try to predict the future from the past and now our future is looking to be nothing like the past. We’re working on a blank piece […] Read more
Following rotation advice not easy
Most canola growers don’t want to hear lectures about three-year or four-year rotations. However, it’s not because they don’t want three-year rotations; it’s because they can’t. “The message of extend your canola rotation is on deaf ears because there aren’t many other (crop) options,” said Brett Halstead, president of the Canadian Canola Growers Association and […] Read more
Durum acres fall prey to fusarium
Winter cereals gain in popularity as durum production grinds to a halt in areas once considered safe from fusarium head blight
Fields that once grew profitable durum no longer do so because of fusarium, leaving some to speculate that prairie durum may go the way of the dodo bird and the dinosaur. Plant breeding and fungicide application can do only so much in the war on fusarium. As a result, strategic rotation has become an increasingly […] Read more
Major setback or minor disruption?
It is clear that heavy rains have caused yield and quality damage to this year’s lentil crop but it’s too early to assess the extent of the damage, say experts. Much of the prime lentil growing region of Saskatchewan has received excess summer rainfall. A wide swath, stretching from the southwestern corner of the province […] Read more
Telemetry; wireless data transfer key to precision ag
It seems that I have a greater appreciation for history as I age. What I’ve found is that many instances in history can be applied to these current times of advancing technology. Data communication is one of those technologies that have evolved as precision agriculture has advanced. As a favourite quote says, “there is always […] Read more
Herbicides keep costs down, help feed world
If farmers stopped using herbicides many environmental groups would be pleased, but consumers may not rejoice because food would be much, much more expensive. A Weed Science Society of America study has concluded that corn yields would drop by 52 percent and soybean yields by 49.5 percent in the U.S. and Canada, if producers didn’t […] Read more
VIDEO: Auxin research may hold key to heat resistance
EDMONTON — When canola crops begin to bloom and the summer heat cranks up to around 30 C, there is nothing growers can do to protect their crops from heat-induced flower and fruit abortion. But that may change as Jocelyn Ozga’s plant auxin research advances at the University of Alberta. Auxins are a class of […] Read more
Spray early for maximum margins
It is a dilemma faced by most growers at one time or another: spray early and get ahead by killing the first weed flush — those that can compete against the newly seeded crop. Or spray later and control more weeds with one pass. Do the yield losses add up for later season spraying or […] Read more
