David Kaminski, a field crop pathologist with Manitoba Agriculture, urges producers to be aware of nearby streams when picking oat varieties, thanks to the prevalence of common buckthorn, a wild host for crown rust.

Wild host a thorn in the side for oat growers

Common buckthorn is a haven for crown rust spores over the winter and an easy source of infection if the farmer opts for a susceptible oat variety

Reading Time: 2 minutes Oat growers may want to gauge the distance to the nearest woody stream bed the next time they choose a variety. That’s one of the messages sent out during this year’s Crop Diagnostic School in Carman in the first two weeks of July. Why it matters: Manitoba’s most popular oat varieties have either been downgraded […] Read more

Speaking July 5 at the Crop Diagnostic School in Carman, Manitoba Agriculture’s Terry Buss shows a Roundup Ready 2 soybean plot dying due to dicamba drifting over from the Xtend soybean plot at left. (Allan Dawson photo)

Xtend soybeans expand options, but be dicamba-drift aware

Reading Time: 4 minutes New dicamba- and glyphosate-tolerant soybeans offer more weed control options and are another tool to address herbicide-tolerant weeds, but farmers need to take steps to avoid dicamba drift and spray tank residue, Manitoba officials say. What’s been happening in Arkansas underscores the risk dicamba drift presents. The U.S. state of Arkansas on Friday announced a […] Read more


This plot was left unseeded intentionally. A wide variety of weeds took hold and participants were challenged to see how many they could correctly identify.  Photo: Leeann Minogue

Minogue: Back to school for hands-on learning

Reading Time: 2 minutes On the first day of Saskatchewan Agriculture’s annual Crop Diagnostic School about 100 ag retailers, agronomists and farmers gathered in Swift Current to get a hands-on look at common real-world crop problems. Anyone working in agriculture today has 24/7 access to online information about crop disease and pests, but there is no substitute for seeing […] Read more

VIDEO: “Old soil-applied” solutions for herbicide resistance weeds

VIDEO: “Old soil-applied” solutions for herbicide resistance weeds

Crop Diagnostic School: Know your target weed issues before choosing a herbicide

Reading Time: < 1 minute To help keep herbicide-resistant weeds at bay, some older soil-applied products are rejoining the fight. At the 2015 Crop Diagnostic School, Jeanette Gaultier, pesticide use specialist with Manitoba Agriculture, Food and Rural Development, talks about which herbicide-resistant weeds producers should watch for and what they need to consider before choosing a herbicide for their situation.