Reading Time: 7 minutes Soybean growers near the Ontario-Quebec border have tested wide rows, and some have even adopted them already as a way of managing white mould pressure. The disease thrives here. even though agronomists can’t exactly say why. But there’s also more to the 30-inch debate than just mould control. Based in the eastern end of the […] Read more
A new look at 30-inch rows for soybeans
If you think the case is closed on 30-inch rows, get ready to think again
Eight tips for growing flax
Agronomy researcher Chris Holzapfel shares what he’s learned about growing flax
If you count each research plot as a crop, Chris Holzapfel – a research manager for the Indian Head Agricultural Research Foundation – has grown more crops in a few years than most farmers have a chance to grow in a lifetime. Holzapfel’s research includes several different crops, but at a recent Saskatchewan Oilseed Producer[...]
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Rye takes an innovation jump
Hybrid varieties and new specialty markets are breathing new life into what had become the poor cousin of the Prairie cereal family
Reading Time: 5 minutes Some new varieties and new markets may signal the end of a long decline in Western Canada’s rye production. The 1990s started with rye area pushing the 1.3-million-acre mark, yet this year only 220,000 acres went into the ground. But some of those acres were planted with new hybrid varieties that have produced some eye-popping[...]
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Blending scores big with cover crops — and diversity
More growers are exploring more blends with specific goals in sight
Reading Time: 8 minutes At Canada’s Outdoor Farm Show this past fall, the cover-crop focus was on diversity. There was a high-diversity blend, a six-way blend, a Merlin (Ontario) Multi-Mix and a soil-building mix. There was even a cool-season N-fixing blend, just to gauge its potential. If it seems like a lot to take in, get used to it.[...]
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Double-cropping on a comeback
Today, the double-crop odds are even more in the growers’ favour, thanks in part to short-season varieties bred for Western Canada
Reading Time: 8 minutes When comparing current commodity prices against everything they have to pay for, including land values and rents, plus seed, fuel, chemicals and fertilizer, it’s no surprise that farmers want to maximize their soil’s performance. It’s enough to make double-cropping, especially after cereals, seem like an obvious choice — if only it wasn’t so risky. Maybe[...]
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Where do you cut when you have to cut costs?
As crop prices drop, growers have a new focus on cost containment. Weed control is always a big bill, so it’s only natural this gets a hard look — but taking the wrong steps could cost you money
Reading Time: 4 minutes High crop prices always make the decision to apply crop protection products relatively easy. Just a few years ago, when canola was north of $700 per tonne and wheat was sitting near $500 per tonne, the question was never “Should I spray?” it was “Why wouldn’t I spray?” After all, at those prices if you[...]
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We need to get our herbicide resistance response right
Dealing with what's become a global problem could end up being one of Canada's key competitive advantages as a grain-exporting nation
Reading Time: 7 minutes In Australia, the problem is so bad growers are catching chaff with mechanical seed destructors or burning it in windrows in order to destroy weed seeds. In the U.S. Cotton Belt, the unthinkable has happened and crews walk through fields, hand-roguing Palmer amaranth at $150 per acre. In Europe, they’re resorting to more and more[...]
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Unique farmer-driven funding model achieving the ‘im-pulse-able’
The Prairie pulse sector has developed from a few hundred acres to a few million
Reading Time: 6 minutes Sometime in the next year or two, University of Saskatchewan Crop Development Centre pulse breeder Bert Vandenberg expects the sector will quietly cross a very important milestone. In the early days people like him set themselves a lofty goal of capturing a significant number of acres with soil-building, protein-rich legume crops like field peas and[...]
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The right corn hybrid for your soil?
Pat Lynch says there are other ways to maximize production — and they’re more realistic
Reading Time: 5 minutes It’s always high on any list of recommendations. No matter which researcher or agronomist you talk to, choosing the “right” hybrid for your field is always near their top of their Top 10 list for growing a more productive crop of corn. With precision ag systems, however, is it possible to determine which hybrids perform[...]
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Corn isn’t just about crop heat units
New shorter-season hybrids are just part of the Prairie corn picture. Just as important will be the local research to fine-tune how they’ll fit into the production system
Reading Time: 5 minutes As the life-science companies begin to deliver on their promise of shorter-season corn for the Prairies, another challenge arises. Typically corn is grown in rotation with soybeans in a far wetter climate in a corn-soybean rotation. How will it fit in a drier landscape, and in rotation with wheat, pulses and canola? There aren’t many[...]
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A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
