Reading Time: 6 minutes Last September I warned readers of a growing public backlash against glyphosate herbicide, and I wrote of the co-ordinated attack on glyphosate by Avaaz, an online activist community that is claiming credit for the refusal by European regulators to renew the licence for glyphosate, instead only granting an 18-month extension to the expiring licence. But […] Read more
Goodbye glyphosate?
A flood of cancer suits in the U.S. threatens to topple farmers’ most valuable herbicide
Pest Patrol: Xtend soybeans, spray drift and controlling glyphosate-resistant fleabane
#PestPatrol with Mike Cowbrough, OMAFRA
Reading Time: 2 minutes I want to plant Roundup Ready 2 Xtend soybeans this season to control my glyphosate-resistant Canada fleabane. But I keep hearing about the increased risk of drift with the dicamba-based herbicides. Is this fear mongering, or do I need to pay special attention when applying herbicides containing dicamba? We can learn a lot about the […] Read more
Pest Patrol: Enlist vs. Extend
#PestPatrol with Mike Cowbrough, OMAFRA
Reading Time: 2 minutes What is the difference between Enlist and Roundup Ready 2 Xtend soybeans, and how good are they at controlling glyphosate-resistant weeds? The key selling point of each new seed system is that they have tolerance to specific “auxinic” herbicides that traditionally have been used to control weeds in corn and cereals, and in theory should […] Read more
Minnesota probes Palmer amaranth’s sudden appearance
Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — Minnesota has launched an investigation to find the source of seed mixes contaminated with weed seeds after the aggressive, herbicide-resistant Palmer amaranth weed was found on 30 areas planted in a federal conservation program. The weed grows very fast, reaching up to eight feet in height and can hold back commercial […] Read more
Pest Patrol: Garlic mustard control
#PestPatrol with Mike Cowbrough, OMAFRA
Reading Time: 2 minutes Are there any herbicides that I could use to control garlic mustard on the farm? Garlic mustard is an early flowering weed that’s highly visible at the edge of farm woodlots and around buildings and grain bins in the spring. Although garlic mustard is rarely found competing in agricultural crops, it can invade forests and […] Read more
Before you believe it
Because our vulnerability to misinformation is growing every day, the easy-to-use SMELL test needs to become like an app that we turn on every time we connect to the web, listen to a radio, or even talk to each other
Reading Time: 6 minutes If our food looks bad, tastes bad, or smells bad, we won’t eat it. So why don’t we treat information the same way? After all, we are told information is power. Information has value. Information is essential to modern society. So if information “smells” bad, shouldn’t we be wary of consuming it as well? Dr. […] Read more
Pest Patrol: Have genetically engineered (GE) crops resulted in more herbicide-resistant weeds in Ontario?
#PestPatrol with Mike Cowbrough, OMAFRA
Reading Time: 2 minutes There is a belief that the increased acreage planted to genetically engineered (GE) crops has led to an increase in herbicide-resistant weeds. However, results from the University of Guelph’s herbicide-resistant weed-testing laboratory indicate otherwise. Table 1 (below) summarizes the number of species confirmed as resistant to common herbicides used in Ontario during the past 40 […] Read more
The other glyphosate ‘resistance’
Who are the Canadian activists who are pushing for a glyphosate ban, and why are they so convinced they’re right?
Reading Time: 8 minutes In the September issue of Country Guide I wrote about the Avaaz movement’s effort to ban glyphosate in “The Target is Glyphosate“. As I reported then, if you haven’t heard of Avaaz, you should go to its website today. The prestigious Guardian newspaper says Avaaz (whose name means “voice” in several European languages) is the […] Read more
What’s new in soybean varieties for Eastern Canada in 2017?
Disease packages join newer herbicide-resistance technologies at the top of the value list
Reading Time: 13 minutes Last year, the big news in soybean varieties could be summed up in one technological term: Xtend, which became part of the fall lineup for many of the seed companies. Canada’s Outdoor Farm Show was abuzz with talk about Xtend, with demonstration plots aplenty, and all sorts of signage promoting the new system’s platform, Roundup […] Read more
WHO cancer agency asked experts to withhold glyphosate documents
Reading Time: 4 minutes London | Reuters — The World Health Organization’s cancer agency — which is facing criticism over how it classifies carcinogens — advised academic experts on one of its review panels not to disclose documents they were asked to release under U.S. freedom of information laws. In a letter and an email seen by Reuters, officials […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
