Reading Time: 4 minutes A new study shows that even after a plant infected with clubroot has been killed with a herbicide and frozen to ensure all plant cells are dead, the pathogen survives and continues to mature. The study led by Mary Ruth McDonald, a professor of plant agriculture at the University of Guelph, and Agriculture Canada scientist […] Read more
Swift removal of infected plants key for clubroot control
You can kill the plant, but the pathogens remain to continue infecting the soil
PGRs for malting barley? Maybe
Research suggests plant growth regulators should be considered as a risk-management tool in fields with high yield potential
Reading Time: 4 minutes [UPDATED: April 12, 2021] Lodging is the enemy of barley producers, especially if they’re hoping for a malting premium. It’s prompted some producers to get out of barley altogether. Others are turning to plant growth regulators (PGRs) to help cut their losses. Sheri Strydhorst, a research scientist at the University of Alberta, says lodging is […] Read more
Serious about mentoring
The idea of mentorship is catching fire in agriculture, with new programs popping up all the time. Should you sign on?
Reading Time: 8 minutes Lance Stockbrugger always knew he wanted to farm. “It was going to be my career,” he says. “It was just a matter of how I was going to get there.” When he was 11, Lance’s father was killed in a motor vehicle accident. The family — Lance, his mother and his three siblings — were […] Read more
A cover crop ‘failure,’ but the story doesn’t end there
Black medic is a soil improver, and can be a good fit in situations where nitrogen is limited
Reading Time: 3 minutes A cover crop that self-seeds year after year, grows whenever environmental conditions are right and doesn’t compete with principal crops. Sounds like a dream, but it exists: it’s called black medic. It’s been planted in Western Canada since the 1990s, but it’s not widely used, and in fact “it’s kind of a failure,” says Martin […] Read more
A place to do business
A farm office may be a profit-making next step for your farm, whether you’re specialized or commodity-based
Reading Time: 5 minutes It’s a familiar story. Almost 50 years ago, when Lynn and Ute Thacker started farming with Lynn’s brothers in Bow Island, Alta., their “office,” if you could call it that, was their kitchen table, and their filing system was a cardboard box. They were producing spearmint and then added dill and finally dry leaf and […] Read more
Using a multi-prong strategy against herbicide resistant weeds
There are more pre-seed control options available to suppress herbicide-resistance, but use cultural management as well
Reading Time: 4 minutes More than half of western Canadian fields under annual crop production contain at least one herbicide-resistant biotype, according to surveys from 2014 to 2017. In Alberta, roughly 60 per cent of fields surveyed have resistant weeds; in Saskatchewan that figure is 57 per cent and in Manitoba it’s 68 per cent. “The surveys have been […] Read more
Barley getting through the winter
The search for hardy varieties continues, both in Eastern and Western Canada
Reading Time: 4 minutes Winter barley produces a higher-yielding, lower-moisture grain than spring-seeded barley. It’s appealing as a forage crop, as a cover crop and as a means of diversifying rotations. But in most of Canada, there’s just one problem — winter. In Europe, winter malting barley is favoured over spring barley for its longer growing season and ability […] Read more
How to know if your farm business skills are keeping up
In the last five years, every farm has upped its business management. So is your farm middle-of-the-pack? Above average? Below? Get ready for some surprises
Reading Time: 8 minutes When you ask Shawn Hass, vice-president and portfolio manager at RBC Dominion Securities in Lethbridge, Alta., what his cutting-edge farm clients are doing that sets them apart from the rest of the pack, his first answer will likely surprise you. “They’ve built an office or have one on site,” Hass says. “The most successful farm […] Read more
Less mowing, more flowers, more yield
A few tweaks to farm landscape management can improve life for beneficial insects
Reading Time: 6 minutes It’s estimated that insects such as bees are responsible for pollinating almost 20 per cent of Canada’s crop, but that’s not the only reason for protecting their habitat. It’s also a breeding ground for beneficial insects that prey on cereal, oilseed and pulse crops. A recently completed study shows that simply “tweaking” agronomic practices can […] Read more
What type of person are you?
Across the business world, personality testing is growing exponentially. Now, it’s coming to the farm
Reading Time: 3 minutes We’ve met them all before. In fact, many Canadian farmers don’t even have to drive down the lane to meet them all. Australian agronomist Cam Nicholson says farmers can be divided into four basic types: Dependables are the reliable types who defend the status quo. Doers work fast but don’t always finish every job. Pioneers […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
