In search of a good label

In search of a good label

On virtually every pesticide container, it’s written in big, bold letters, “Read the label and booklet before using.” My guess is almost no one complies, and with good reason

Reading Time: 4 minutes It can be a ridiculous request. Labels have become virtual novels. The label for the most widely used pesticide in Canada, glyphosate, can be over 100 pages long. If you tank mix glyphosate with another herbicide such as Pardner, add another 59 pages to your bedtime reading. Has anyone ever taken the time to read […] Read more

Six questions for the ag entrepreneurs

So you’ve got an idea that might make a great new product or service. Should you invest in it?

Reading Time: 4 minutes Today’s agriculture isn’t your grandmother’s agriculture. While we still work the soil and practise animal husbandry, today we do so in wonderful ways that past generations could never imagine. From lasers and GPS to genomics and drones, agriculture has become a hotbed of innovation. Nor is ag innovation the exclusive domain of the major multinational […] Read more


images of canola, potato, wheat, and lentils

Abundant choices

There’s no shortage of crop protection choices for just about any problem a grower might face in the 2014 season, including a number of new options registered in time for this spring

Reading Time: 4 minutes We are a fortunate lot, here in Canada, when it comes to controlling pests in our crops. We have access to literally hundreds of products which can be used alone or in tank mixes to control just about any weed, insect, or disease we might encounter in any crop we are likely to grow. In […] Read more

quackgrass

We’ve come a long way

Weed control evolution has occurred incrementally over the years, but looking back at the sweep of history shows some very impressive gains

Reading Time: 5 minutes Some might remember the 1970s cigarette commercial featuring the slogan, “You’ve come a long way, baby.” Well, as I think back to how we controlled pests in the early days of my career, no slogan could be more appropriate for our pesticide industry. I was recently reminiscing with my brother Bill, who has been in […] Read more


Wireworms

Profit thieves

A persistent and insidious crop pest could be chewing away at your profits year after year

Reading Time: 3 minutes What’s three-quarters of an inch long, hard-bodied, yellowish brown, lives in the soil, and may be secretly chewing away at your profits? Wireworms… even their name is descriptive. Wireworms are the larval stage of the adult click beetle, and while the beetles do no damage, the same can’t be said about their offspring. The click […] Read more

Bar graph showing market share of pesticide makers (2013).

The pesticide jungle

Keeping it all straight isn't easy in the modern era of pest control

Reading Time: 3 minutes Weeds, diseases and insects. Every year these stand between you and a bumper crop. Controlling them was once a straightforward exercise, but that era has long passed. The proliferation of pesticide brands, genetically modified crops, residue management and pest resistance has thrown a monkey wrench into the picture. With over 1,500 pesticide brands registered to control over 1,200 pests that attack the over 800 […] Read more