Reading Time: 2 minutes In a 2014 column, I expressed my optimism for a herbicide treatment to control vetch (Viccia cracca) before planting soybeans. I wrote, “2,4-D Ester 700 applied seven days prior to soybean planting looks like a promising tool for the control of vetch in soybeans provided vetch has emerged at the time of application. More trial […] Read more
Pest Patrol: Any updates on vetch control in soybeans?
#PestPatrol with Mike Cowbrough, OMAFRA
France moves toward all-out ban on neonics
Reading Time: 2 minutes Paris | Reuters — French lawmakers approved plans for a total ban on some widely used pesticides blamed for harming bees, going beyond European Union restrictions in a fierce debate that has pitched farmers and chemical firms against beekeepers and green groups. The EU limited the use of neonicotinoid chemicals, produced by companies including Bayer […] Read more
Waterhemp knocking at Canada’s door
This cousin of the feared Palmer amaranth has reached the Canadian border, and could soon begin marching across the West
Reading Time: 4 minutes A new alien is lurking in the fields of North Dakota and Minnesota, preparing to invade Canada and cause no end of trouble. The potential enemy is a noxious weed called waterhemp, a member of the pigweed family and a cousin of Palmer amaranth, a glyphosate-resistant weed currently plaguing cotton and soybean growers in the […] Read more
Last call for continuous soybean crops
Continuous soys are tough on the soil, tough on yields and tough on the pocketbook. So why do we still plant them?
Reading Time: 7 minutes Many years ago, Ross Daily, the television host of “This Business of Farming” spoke at a county-level federation of agriculture meeting, and in the course of his speech congratulated growers on their six-year rotations. The audience was frankly bewildered until Daily offered an explanation to clear the confusion. “You know what I’m talking about: soybeans-soybeans-soybeans-soybeans-soybeans, […] Read more
EU defers decision on glyphosate safety
Reading Time: 2 minutes Brussels | Reuters — The European Union on Tuesday put off a decision on whether to extend approval for glyphosate, used in herbicides including Monsanto’s Roundup, after a dispute between EU and U.N. agencies over whether it causes cancer. Experts from all 28 member states attended a closed-door meeting on Monday and Tuesday in Brussels, […] Read more
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 […] Read more
EU may defer decision on glyphosate safety
Reading Time: 2 minutes Brussels | Reuters — The European Union will defer a decision on whether to extend approval for glyphosate, used in herbicides including Monsanto’s Roundup, following a dispute between EU and U.N. agencies over whether it causes cancer, EU sources said Monday. Experts from all 28 member states attended a closed-door meeting on Monday in Brussels, […] Read more
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 […] Read more
China clears Xtend soybean variety for import
Reading Time: 2 minutes Reuters — Monsanto said on Feb. 3 it received import approval from China for its new genetically modified Roundup Ready 2 Xtend soybeans and will sell the seeds in the U.S. and Canada for the 2016 growing season. China, the world’s biggest soybean importer, does not allow imports of new genetically modified crops until they […] Read more
Pest Patrol: What advances in precision agriculture would benefit weed control?
#PestPatrol with Mike Cowbrough, OMAFRA
Reading Time: 2 minutes Auto steer and real-time kinematics (RTK) that allow an operator to repeatedly get within millimetres of a target are, to me, the most obvious investment that you could make to improve the efficiency of mechanical weed control practices like inter-row cultivation. Operator fatigue and accidental damage to the crop would be greatly reduced by integrating […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
