Trying to overcome Canada fleabane via breeding is the target of many researchers and breeders.

Better herbicide tolerance

Better technologies are coming, but we’ll need patience and shrewd management until they arrive

Reading Time: 4 minutes Count off the many challenges facing a farmer in any growing season and outside of weather conditions, the biggest impediment has to be weed management, particularly as it relates to herbicide tolerance. In spite of the importance of varietal or hybrid selection and fertility, and the potential for yield losses from insect pests and diseases, […] Read more

Figure 1. An overhead look at the level of control that cereal rye has provided when it was seeded the previous fall (mid- November) at 60 lbs./ac. (left) compared to no cereal rye planted (right).

PHOTOS: Pest Patrol: Cover crops versus glyphosate-resistant weeds

#PestPatrol with Mike Cowbrough, OMAFRA

Reading Time: < 1 minute Q: Can cover crops be an effective tool to manage glyphosate-resistant weeds? A: My colleague Dr. Clarence Swanton (University of Guelph) used to say that based on research he did in the 1980s, one should not expect to control weeds with cover crops. Their utility was in preventing soil erosion and improving soil health but […] Read more


A soybean plantation in Brazil. Genetically modified soybeans that rely on glyphosate for weed control are planted across the country.  (MailsonPignata/iStock/Getty Images)

Brazilian court overturns ban on glyphosate

Reading Time: 2 minutes Brasilia | Reuters — A Brazilian court on Monday overturned an injunction banning products containing the herbicide glyphosate, knocking down a previous ruling that had been set to disrupt the soy planting season set to begin this month. A Brazilian judge ruled last month to halt the registration of new glyphosate-based products in the country […] Read more

A soybean plantation in Brazil. Genetically modified soybeans that rely on glyphosate for weed control are planted across the country.  Photo: MailsonPignata/iStock/Getty Images

Brazil judge suspends use of glyphosate herbicide

Reading Time: 2 minutes Sao Paulo | Reuters – A Brazilian judge has suspended the use of products containing the agrochemical glyphosate, a herbicide widely employed for soybeans and other crops in the country. A federal judge in Brasilia ruled on Friday that new products containing the chemical could not be registered in the country and existing registrations would […] Read more


(Arysta.cl)

UPL to buy crop chem firm Arysta

Reading Time: 2 minutes Indian chemical manufacturer UPL has raised the financial backing for an all-cash deal to become what’s expected to be the world’s fifth biggest crop chemical firm. UPL on July 20 announced it will pay $4.2 billion to buy 100 per cent of Arysta LifeScience — the maker of Everest and Inferno herbicides, among other products […] Read more

Access to crop input information provides a benchmark for both producers and retailers

Farm input pricing available in Canada, if you dig for it

Alberta, Ontario producers have better access to information

Reading Time: 5 minutes CNS Canada – When putting a crop in, costs can add up fast. Seed, chemicals, fertilizer are all expenses which vary year to year and it isn’t always easy to know if the price producers are paying is the best price. Producers can spend their time calling and visiting different retailers shopping around for the […] Read more


(Scott Bauer photo courtesy ARS/USDA)

Canada to impose tariffs on U.S., challenge at WTO

Reading Time: 2 minutes Reuters — Canada will impose retaliatory tariffs on $16.6 billion worth of U.S. exports and challenge U.S. steel and aluminum tariffs under the North American Free Trade Agreement and the World Trade Organization (WTO), Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland said on Thursday. The Canadian tariffs are set to go into effect on July 1 and […] Read more

Figure 1. A robotic weeder being tested as part of an engineering design project at the University of Guelph.

Pest Patrol: New herbicide names may not mean new chemistry

#PestPatrol with Mike Cowbrough, OMAFRA

Reading Time: 3 minutes Q: Do I have new opportunities in weed control in 2018? A: This is the question I’ve been asked a lot this past winter meeting season, and one I always struggle to answer. There are some legitimately promising concepts being tested such as robotic weeders (Figure 1 at top) and weed seed destruction tools, but […] Read more


More than the cost of herbicide, growers need to consider how the cost of yield losses will affect future cropping plans.

Rotation refresher

More than crops, more than herbicides, it comes down to planning for success — with everything

Reading Time: 7 minutes The past two to three years have seen some encouraging signs of change for the better across Eastern Canada. Commodity prices are cyclically low yet corn, soybean and wheat yields have been trending upwards. There’s renewed interest in cover crops, and more growers have a renewed appreciation for soil health too, including a keener sense […] Read more

The Elbe River at Oberrathen, southeast of Dresden. (CIA.gov)

Germany plans to toughen conditions for insecticide use

Reading Time: < 1 minute Berlin | Reuters — Germany plans to make it more difficult for farmers to use crop insecticides in a bid to preserve biodiversity, an environment ministry document showed. “Insect biomass has fallen by more than 75 per cent in the last 27 years in Germany,” according to the paper seen by Reuters on Wednesday, saying […] Read more