Reading Time: 4 minutes There are so many satellites up there these days that astronomers worry that they will block their view. And while some of these satellites can offer a new level of vegetation and crop image analysis, the uptake has been a bit slow so far. Where there has been significant growth — and perhaps a window […] Read more
More satellite imagery options for crops
A rapid increase in resellers is reshaping imagery demand and usability
Shorter straw, longer crop
More wheat growers are finding the benefits of plant growth regulators
Reading Time: 5 minutes Wheat growers always want to boost yields and cut costs, but this year’s combination of high prices and high input costs has called for an even sharper pencil. That’s led to heightened management in managing cereals — and winter wheat, in particular — with greater intensity than in the past. The success of the Great […] Read more
Maritime YEN takes yields to a new level
It’s not just about how much you produce, but how much you could produce on your farm
Reading Time: 5 minutes Kyle Jewell wasn’t sure what he was getting into when he agreed to join the Maritime Yield Enhancement Network (YEN) project in 2019. Now he can hardly imagine doing without its depth of information and the co-operative spirit he’s seen in the past three growing seasons. The YEN concept began in the United Kingdom and […] Read more
Collaboration not competition
Large firms from different parts of the ag sector are working together to improve herbicide efficiency
Reading Time: 4 minutes Could agriculture be approaching a crossroads where biotechnology and chemistry can’t do the same jobs they’ve done in the past 20 years? Are resistant weed biotypes beginning to challenge chemicals to the extent that different approaches are needed? The answers are either “yes” or “probably,” further complicated by volatile prices and supply chain disruptions for […] Read more
Cereal crop characteristics seen as another biofumigation prospect
Buckwheat has been shown to suppress wireworm, and might also be a marketable crop
Reading Time: 4 minutes Chemical controls have reached a point where “more of the same” may not work, so the search is on for new or alternative methods. If you want to control wireworms, one of those methods might be buckwheat. It’s an approach discovered by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada researchers on Prince Edward Island, where Christine Noronha and […] Read more
More biologicals for pest control on the way
Herbicides are a challenge, but non-chemical insecticides and fungicides may be a cheaper and quicker solution
Reading Time: 4 minutes Whether the problem was weeds, insects or diseases, for the past several decades the solution has usually been a chemical one. But with growing problems of resistance and customer opposition to chemicals, researchers and manufacturers are turning their attention to biological solutions. It’s not as though biologicals are new. For decades, growers have been using […] Read more
A YEN to boost wheat yields
A cross-border initiative measures not only yield, but whether it’s reached the field’s potential
Reading Time: 6 minutes The Great Lakes YEN, or Yield Enhancement Network: get used to the term because you’re going to hear more about it. The project originated in the United Kingdom, where growers, agronomists, advisors, researchers and extension personnel have been working collaboratively since 2012 to improve wheat yields and focus on practices to increase on-farm efficiencies. Conceived […] Read more
Keeping the ‘busy’ in ‘business’
The Mathesons continue to diversify on a farm modelled for success
Reading Time: 5 minutes All of the clichés about sharing workloads — “Many hands make for light work” or “Two heads are better than one,” fall by the wayside when chatting with Ian and Scott Matheson. Since they took over farming from their father, they’ve increased their respective duties on the family operation near Lakeside in the northwest corner […] Read more
Another digital option for farmers
Precision Farming: Corteva’s Granular Insights platform can implement data as far back as 2016
Reading Time: 3 minutes There’s yet another option in the growing list of options for precision farming software. Introduced in 2019, Corteva’s Granular Insights is billed as a platform to help growers scout their fields and find in-season problems faster. It has expanded since and can now upload planting and harvest data, use satellite and aerial imagery and provide […] Read more
Precision ag needs and wants
Precision Farming: The technology is out there, but should you make the decision to give it a try?
Reading Time: 5 minutes You could say that most farmers are already sold on the benefits of precision agriculture — depending on how you define the term, and how many of the benefits are wants versus needs. “Farmers do things along a spectrum,” says Marvin Talsma, product marketing manager for Climate FieldView, Bayer CropScience’s precision agriculture data platform. “There […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
