Reading Time: 8 minutes A proposal by the Canadian Grain Commission (CGC) to add two grading factors to its list of parameters is stirring considerable debate, mostly among members of the western Canadian food value chain, but also in the east. The two factors revealed in a document published by the CGC late last year are falling number (FN) […] Read more
Guess who’s paying for new grain grading?
New CGC regulations would add DON and falling number to Canada’s grade specifications
Grain grading revamp may add falling number, DON as factors
Reading Time: 3 minutes Two significant grain specs that aren’t yet factors for a crop’s official grade are now under consideration to join that official list. The Canadian Grain Commission on Monday put out a call for “grain sector stakeholders” to submit their views before May 10 on a proposal for falling number and deoxynivalenol (DON) to both become […] Read more
Pearce: Multiple modes of action an emerging reality for fungicides
Reading Time: 2 minutes As growers face more challenges from weeds, diseases and insects, many researchers, agronomists, advisers and farmers have shifted thinking from “control” of pests to “managing” them. Some of this trend is attributable to single-mode-of-action products and a reliance on one or two chemistries or technologies — but the adaptability of weed, disease and insect species […] Read more
Better than meets the eye?
Canada’s quality-control system still has a lot of support, but some are calling for grades to be determined by machines, not the human eye
Reading Time: 4 minutes Is that No. 2 CWRS just as good for milling and baking as a No. 1? Or does that No. 1 CWRS have some quality damage that can’t be seen with the naked eye, making it no better than a No. 2? The answer could be yes in both cases, sometimes, in cases that might […] Read more
Maltsters keen on promising new barley varieties
The recommended malting list for 2018 contains varieties with better agronomics than Copeland and Metcalfe
Reading Time: 4 minutes For a change, it’s not just farmers who are eagerly greeting new malting barley varieties. Maltsters, too, are singing the praises of emerging varieties intended to replace the big two. The Canadian Malting Barley Technical Centre’s 2018-19 list of recommended malting barley varieties emphasizes growing demand for AAC Synergy, plus two new varieties, AAC Connect […] Read more
Ontario winter wheat crop yielding well, quality good
Reading Time: 2 minutes Ontario’s winter wheat crop is living up to its great expectations after a warm winter and lots of spring rain got it off to a great start. Farmers have been harvesting the crop for two weeks in the southwest of the province, but are just getting going in other areas. “I think the wheat’s looking […] Read more
Four canola diseases to watch for
Be ready to recognize these major diseases in your canola crop this summer
Reading Time: 6 minutes Is that canola crop afflicted by blackleg, root rot, both, or something else entirely? It’s a messy question farmers and agronomists encounter every year. Presenters tried to untangle those problems at CanoLAB in Vermilion this winter. Here are four diseases to watch for in canola fields this summer, and tips on diagnosing them. 1. Blackleg […] Read more
Canadian hog prices to rise by summer
Reading Time: 2 minutes CNS Canada — Cheap prices for feed and a softer Canadian dollar have helped keep Canadian hog prices aloft so far in 2017. “Right now producers are looking at $180 to $184 a pig,” said Andrew Dickson, general manger of Manitoba Pork. “Prices are looking pretty good for June, July, August.” By July, he said, […] Read more
Wheat disease risk sees farmers looking to oats
Reading Time: < 1 minute CNS Canada — Canadian farmers are showing an increased interest in seeding oats this spring, despite a lack of activity from a pricing standpoint, as quality concerns in wheat and barley have growers looking to other cereals. “We are seeing a huge influx of acres into oats,” said Scott Shiels, grain procurement merchant with Grain […] Read more
A genetic solution to fusarium?
Across the country, several researchers are studying fusarium from every angle, from pathology to agronomy
Reading Time: 4 minutes In the early ’90s, farmers in the eastern Prairies started to ask questions about odd white “tombstone” wheat kernels. When they received the answer, some wondered whether the name would refer to the tombstone on the grave of the wheat business, especially when there was a huge outbreak in Manitoba in 1993. Near-panic ensued, as […] Read more
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