Soybeans have faced a sobering slap down in Western Canada. From being lauded as the next Cinderella crop and projected by some to assume a core role in most farmers’ rotations, the crop has experienced a big slump. Rather than hitting three million acres in Manitoba, which many expected by now, the crop’s acreage has […] Read more
Tag Archives Pulse Producer
Blackstrap bean could use excess residual nitrogen
Prairie farmers who had planned for pulses for 2022 may be facing a conundrum: last year’s drought meant the crop left behind a lot of nitrate fertilizer in the soil. When it comes to nitrogen, pulses “bring their own lunch” with symbiotic rhizobia bacteria that form nodules on their roots to capture the fertilizer from […] Read more
Swath or desiccate? Risks and reward at lentil harvest
Colour brings a premium, but wrinkles and sprouts can quickly downgrade a crop and wipe out any potential gains
Harvest season is often a race against time and for lentil growers looking for optimum quality, timing is everything. Seedcoat colour, particularly for green lentils, is a quality factor that may earn a premium, but obtaining that premium depends on, yes, timing. Seeding early, using varieties that retain colour better and paying attention to disease […] Read more
New navy bean designed for Sask. fields
A navy bean that offers better yield, shorter season, and higher pod height is coming on stream just in time for farmers to take advantage of a push to increase irrigated acres in Saskatchewan. Ken McDougall said the bean should appeal to farmers that have been reluctant to grow dry beans due to the challenges […] Read more
Keeping ahead of kochia can be a challenge
Managing the tough, adaptable weed takes all the tools that are available in farmers’ integrated pest management toolkit
It is possible to reclaim fields where herbicide-resistant kochia has the upper hand, but it takes long-term planning for crop and herbicide rotations, as well as patch management. Group 2 resistant kochia was first found on the Prairies in the late 1980s and within two decades it spread across the region. “That type of resistance […] Read more
Pampered pets provide profitable market for pulses
As Fido and friends have moved from the doghouse to the people house, pet nutrition has been elevated to big business and big opportunity for pulse producers. “There has been an emergence of high-quality pet food products,” said Colin Young of Mid-West Grain near Moose Jaw, Sask. “The pet has moved from being an animal […] Read more
Read the label to keep your doggo healthy
When the U.S. Food and Drug Administration raised concerns about pulse-based dog foods in 2018, it put a damper on the market. The formulations were associated with increased incidence of dilated cardiomyopathy or enlarged heart, a condition that, left untreated, results in a dog’s heart failure and death. The chief candidate as a cause is […] Read more
Proactive scouting called essential
Producers are urged to keep close watch on their fields this season as a way to control pea aphids in their pulse crops
Pea aphids. If you’re a western Canadian pulse crop producer and you haven’t had to deal with them yet, there’s a good chance you will in the near future. Tyler Wist, an entomologist with Agriculture Canada, said the pea aphid has become one of the most prevalent pests affecting pulse crops in Western Canada. The […] Read more
Weed management improved by multiple methods
Weed management is challenging in pulse crops because of limited herbicide options, poor competitiveness and now the emergence of herbicide-resistant weeds. So to help develop integrated weed management recommendations for fababeans, Amanda Fedorchuk, a masters student at the University of Saskatchewan, has developed an experiment that uses residual herbicides with cultural and mechanical weed control. […] Read more
High cereal stubble helps combat lodging in peas
Researchers in Alberta determine that seed size was slightly bigger and seed weight was up about three percent
Leaving the stubble a little higher when harvesting this year’s cereal crop could make things a lot easier with next year’s peas. “The idea is you seed your peas into standing wheat stubble, so that the peas go in between the rows of wheat,” said Sheri Strydhorst. “At that point when the peas start to […] Read more
