Reading Time: 4 minutes Canola growers are always looking for ways to improve yields and profitability, and that may be especially true after 2021. While drought tolerance and enhanced water-use efficiency are not available traits at this time, growers do have a few options available that could somewhat reduce production risks in 2022. Days to maturity Canola growers could […] Read more
Four canola seed considerations for 2022
The best cultivar is usually the one with a risk-and-reward combination that suits the situation in each farm and field
Swift removal of infected plants key for clubroot control
You can kill the plant, but the pathogens remain to continue infecting the soil
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
Disease considerations for a late and wet spring
In the west, it could mean more clubroot transmission. In the east, growers should be concerned about phytophthora in soybeans
Reading Time: 4 minutes At the time of writing, spring moisture conditions in Eastern Canada remained to be seen, but there wasn’t much question about the Prairies — many growers would still be dealing with wet soils and late planting due to rain and snow from last fall. For example, by early October the Western Cypress Hills area of […] Read more
Putting a value on crop diversity
Economists and agronomists are getting together to compare the benefits of short and long rotations
Reading Time: 3 minutes Have you ever stared at your crop plan and wished that it didn’t rely so heavily on canola? Or wheat? Or peas? Or any crop that is too often called on for cash flow at the expense of proper rotation? Agronomists have been beating the drum of crop diversity for years and farmers understand that […] Read more
DeKalb pulls two ‘inconsistent’ canolas off market
Reading Time: 2 minutes Up against an “inconsistency of grower experiences” with the seeds’ yields in 2019, Bayer Canada is yanking two of its DeKalb TruFlex canola hybrids from the market. DeKalb’s DKTF 92 SC and DKTF 94 CR will not be available for 2020, Bayer said. Canola growers who have already booked those seeds for this spring are […] Read more
Hope ahead for more durable clubroot resistance
A combination of two resistance genes shows promise against multiple pathotypes
Reading Time: 3 minutes Since it was first discovered in Alberta in the early 2000s, clubroot has proven a wily opponent for plant pathologists and breeders. Back then, researchers identified a handful of clubroot pathotypes, mostly minor, and one major one that was responsible for most infections and yield loss in Western Canada. Plant breeders focused on that and […] Read more
Taking a long-term look at agronomy for canola
Researchers say canola’s environmental footprint has improved but a new agronomic struggle is on the horizon
Reading Time: 4 minutes Canola-based rotation systems can improve long-term sustainability by using less energy and storing carbon below the ground, but keeping them going on top is proving to be a challenge. A study by Saskatchewan Research Council’s Susan MacWilliam, along with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada research scientist Reynald Lemke and others, compared the impact of changing management […] Read more
Clubroot able to beat resistant canola reaches Manitoba
Reading Time: 3 minutes A strain of clubroot able to club the roots of some resistant canola varieties has made its way east to Manitoba. Manitoba’s agriculture department reported Friday that clubroot pathotype 3A — a strain that can “overcome some first-generation sources of genetic resistance” in commercial canola — has been positively identified in the south-central rural municipality […] Read more
Biosecurity a crucial part of your farm’s business plan
As the list of pest, weed and disease threats grows longer, so should the list of measures to keep them away
Reading Time: 9 minutes The signs instructing you to check in at the office and to put disposable booties on over your shoes are no longer just for when you visit hog and poultry farms — biosecurity measures are also becoming a feature for crop farms, for which the list of potential threats may be even longer. On its […] Read more
Twelve tips to clubroot management
There are several key management tools producers need to apply to minimize the risk of clubroot either reaching a damaging level, and/or to reduce a heavy spore load of the pathogen in the soil to a tolerable level (about 1,000 spores or less per gram or teaspoon of soil will not affect crop performance). The[...]
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A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
