Reading Time: 3 minutes Ontario’s new goal to ban most use of neonicotinoid pesticides in corn and soybean crops by 2017 has yielded bouquets from the province’s beekeepers — but left crop growers feeling stung. Following up on Premier Kathleen Wynne’s orders to her agriculture and environment ministers in their mandate letters in September, the province on Tuesday announced it will consult on […] Read more
Ontario proposes deep cuts to farmers’ neonic use by 2017
The biotech industry, two decades later
Biotechnology is ready to turn 20, but it still hasn’t won the public relations battle
Reading Time: 5 minutes Biotechnology has been part of the farm landscape for nearly a generation, becoming a staple of agriculture in North America and spreading around the world. Yet there is still a vocal minority of non-farmers who are opposed to biotechnology. And it can seem like their number and their power is growing. Now the question is, […] Read more
When it comes to crop rotation planning, there’s an app for that
#PestPatrol with Mike Cowbrough, OMAFRA
Reading Time: < 1 minute Crop prices are certainly more bearish now than they have been during the past two seasons, and because of this some farmers will question whether they should tweak their cropping rotation in the short term or stay the course. Now there is a smartphone app called “Cash Cropper” that will help you to evaluate: The […] Read more
A look back at thicker soybean stands
Is 2014 proof that we’ve been going in the wrong direction with soybean populations?
Reading Time: 6 minutes Sometimes it’s best to take a quick look in the rear-view mirror before considering where to go next. In farming, of course, it isn’t that simple. The weather next year will never be exactly the same as it was this year, and pest and disease pressures will vary too. Still, it’s essential to look for […] Read more
The slow road to traceability for grains and oilseeds
Traceability may be inevitable, and it may even be welcomed by farmers, but it is arriving in baby steps
Reading Time: 5 minutes The word gets rolled out every time there’s a scare about food-borne illness, or when a meat or vegetable recall hits the headlines. It’s traceability. On the food side of the agri-food industry, it’s a word that instils confidence and trust. Yet on the agricultural side — at least, on the crop side — it […] Read more
Dow limits sales of GM soy, corn on China worries
Reading Time: 2 minutes Reuters — Dow AgroSciences said Wednesday it will restrict sales of its new genetically modified corn and soybeans to prevent them from entering U.S. domestic or international grain marketing channels as it awaits import approval from China. The move by the agricultural unit of Dow Chemical is aimed at avoiding the type of market turmoil […] Read more
Researchers abuzz about soybean yields
The research is preliminary, but early results suggest that some bees might be good for soybean crops
Reading Time: 6 minutes Some call it serendipity. Others say it merely proves the old adage that you make your own luck. Either way, some of the world’s biggest scientific breakthroughs have come when the researcher was actually looking for something else. Think penicillin, for example. Matt O’Neal is more a member of the group that says it all […] Read more
The soybean market challenge
As the world stumbles into 2015, the job for soybean producers is to figure out where to look for market rallies
Reading Time: 5 minutes Soybeans are often called the great liars, a reputation they get because sometimes the crop looks tremendous in the field, but then fails to yield as much as expected. On the other hand, the yield is sometimes very surprising compared to how poor a soybean stand might look. It’s for this reason that soybeans can […] Read more
Grain ‘trade’ at risk of low-balling U.S. soybean yields: Maguire
Reading Time: 3 minutes Chicago / Reuters – At 47.1 bushels an acre, last month’s soybean yield estimate from the U.S. Department of Agriculture was a new all-time high. And the average trader estimate for the USDA’s November projection is higher still, at 47.608 bushels. Even so, the long-term relationship between corn and soybeans suggests current soybean yields remain relatively […] Read more
1.6 million acres of Prairie soybeans
Manitoba’s soybean acres have exploded in 2014, and Saskatchewan farmers are close behind
Reading Time: 6 minutes You can’t accuse Ernie Sirski of doing things by halves. In fact, he does them by twos, at least when it comes to soybeans. In 2012, Sirski planted 200 acres of soybeans for the first time on his farm near Dauphin, Man. The next year, he doubled that to 400 acres, averaging an impressive 40 […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
