Giorgos Zeikos, apple farmer and president of the Agia apple producers’ cooperative checks the fruits at an apple orchard in the village of Agia, in Thessaly, Greece, June 12, 2025. Photo: Reuters/Alexandros Avramidis

Europe’s illegal pesticide trade surges as farmers cut costs

At least 14 per cent of pesticides used on EU fields today are illegal

As the cost of spraying crops with pesticides becomes increasingly expensive, farmers in Greece's agricultural heartland have turned to a cheaper alternative: liquids in unlabeled plastic bottles smuggled over land and sea.



Manitoba Agriculture weed extension specialist Kim Brown speaks to an unseen group on a plot tour.

Herbicide-resistant kochia puts pressure on no-till systems

Kochia populations in Saskatchewan and North Dakota are now resistant to group 14 herbicides, leaving fewer options for Prairie farmers

Based on preliminary data from a recent Prairie-wide kochia survey, AAFC’s Charles Geddes suspects Group 14-resistant kochia is now present in multiple fields in Saskatchewan and expects it could soon be confirmed in other regions as well.

A lush green alfalfa crop in Manitoba's Interlake region.

Managing diseases in alfalfa

From seedling issues to stand die-off, understanding the timing and symptoms of alfalfa diseases can help protect yield

Understanding the multiple potential disease pressures on your alfalfa stand can help you improve its yield.



Liquid flows from the nozzles on a high clearance sprayer's boom.

Paraquat lawsuit settlement proposed in U.S.

The future of two Canadian cases targeting the herbicide’s connection with Parkinson’s disease remains up in the air

Syngenta has reportedly entered into an agreement to settle thousands of U.S. lawsuits alleging that its paraquat herbicide causes Parkinson’s disease.

Food manufacturers and meatpackers are sounding the alarm because the number of temporary foreign workers they are allowed to employ might be scaled back, even though they have many unfilled vacancies and few Canadians fighting for the grueling work. | File photo

Consumers need to know that farm costs can hurt them

Dumping costs on somebody else is no big deal if it doesn’t cost the dumper anything. That attitude is a problem for farmers, the rest of agriculture and the food industry as the latest iteration of inflation-promoting measures makes life harder and profits thinner for everybody except the consumer. Or so the consumer thinks. Genetically […] Read more


Some farm groups and agribusinesses said the ruling, if enforced by the federal government, risks hurting farmers financially and reducing options for fighting weeds that are increasingly developing resistance to a limited number of herbicides. | File photo

U.S. court cancels dicamba approval

CHICAGO, Ill. (Reuters) — A U.S. court has nullified the government’s latest approvals of certain agricultural herbicides sold by Bayer, BASF and Syngenta, fueling uncertainty among farmers who spray the products on soybeans and cotton genetically modified to resist them. Environmental activists cheered the court for halting use of the dicamba-based herbicides, which are known […] Read more

Input retailers say growers who are pushing back their usual January-February purchases to April-May could be in for a surprise but suppliers are not willing to take on a lot of excess inventory in today’s high interest rate environment.  |  File photo

Glyphosate, glufosinate prices hit rock bottom

Producers are urged to take advantage and book one or two year’s supply, but many are reluctant to buy too far ahead

SASKATOON — Farmers should seriously consider locking up their glyphosate and glufosinate needs at today’s rock bottom prices, say suppliers of the products. “I absolutely think growers should be pouncing,” said Joel Merkosky, president of Johnston’s Grain. “If I was a producer and I was sitting on a solid cash position, I’d be looking at […] Read more