Palmer amaranth has become a serious issue in the U.S. Midwest but hasn’t made a large-scale intrusion into Ontario… yet.

The next tipping point for Canada’s corn growers

Some Illinois growers are already at the tipping point for resistant weeds. Are Canadian corn growers far behind?

Reading Time: 5 minutes The march of glyphosate-resistant Canada fleabane through Ontario has been nothing short of striking, going from Essex County in 2010 to the Ottawa Valley by 2015. And now other resistant weeds are also spreading. In the U.S., waterhemp and Palmer amaranth are the new “dynamic duo” with their own resistance movement. It’s to the point […] Read more

Canada fleabane continues to challenge farmers in Ontario, especially as the biotype that’s resistant to glyphosate continues to spread.

Dealing with those early weeds

Forget the old arithmetic. Your losses from early weeds are probably much more costly than you’ve ever imagined

Reading Time: 6 minutes In a time of low commodity prices and a growing incentive to maximize profit on every acre, it’s hard enough to accept that some growers are giving up $14 per acre on corn. It’s unfathomable that they might be losing $84 per acre. Yet that’s the startling assessment of the impact of delayed herbicide application […] Read more


High Clearance Sprayer

Glyphosate: the real science

Will new studies that confirm the safety of glyphosate actually stop politicians from banning an essential herbicide?

Reading Time: 6 minutes The study published in the November 9, 2017 Journal of the National Cancer Institute is crystal clear. Called “Glyphosate Use and Cancer Incidence in the Agricultural Health Study”, it says: “In conclusion, we found no evidence of an association between glyphosate use and risk of any solid tumours or lymphoid malignancies, including NHL (Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma) […] Read more

Figure 1. A September germinated seedling with its three main divided segments.

Pest Patrol: Controlling wild carrot in no till

#PestPatrol with Mike Cowbrough, OMAFRA

Reading Time: 3 minutes Q: I am a long-time no tiller. I have a problem with increasing populations of wild carrot, mostly in my (conventional) soybean fields. This year in Roundup Ready corn, I have applied up to three litres of Transorb 540 and still have green carrot at harvest-time. What is the solution? Do I need to do […] Read more


Figure 1: Jimsonweed in a corn crop during October.

Pest Patrol: Dealing with jimsonweed

#PestPatrol with Mike Cowbrough, OMAFRA

Reading Time: 2 minutes Q: What weed is this, and how do I get rid of it? A: The weed in the picture (Figure 1 above) is jimsonweed (i.e. Datura stamonium), a member of the nightshade family. According to the Canadian Poisonous Plants Information System, jimsonweed “contains toxic tropane alkaloids, which have caused poisoning and death in humans and […] Read more

BASF’s dicamba production facility in Beaumont, Tex. (BASF.com)

Minnesota joins U.S. states limiting dicamba

Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — Minnesota became the latest U.S. state on Tuesday to restrict controversial weed killers made by Monsanto and BASF that were linked to widespread crop damage, while Arkansas took a step back from imposing new limits. The U.S. has faced an agricultural crisis this year caused by new versions of the herbicides, […] Read more


Figure 1. Canada fleabane plants the following spring after surviving fall tillage. Note the plants have multiple branches at the base and were often 10 to15 cm taller than plants not exposed to fall tillage.

Pest Patrol: What have we learned in 2017 for managing glyphosate-resistant Canada fleabane?

#PestPatrol with Mike Cowbrough, OMAFRA, Dr. Clarence Swanton, Dr. François Tardif and Peter Smith, University of Guelph

Reading Time: 2 minutes Multiple strategies are needed to control glyphosate-resistant Canada fleabane. Experience has taught agronomists and farmers that simply tank mixing another mode of action won’t be a good enough long-term approach. Since 2016, we have evaluated different management tactics for Canada fleabane. The following are the results at our Oxford and Norfolk county field locations. Tillage […] Read more

(FMC.com)

FMC deal for DuPont assets wins clearances

Reading Time: < 1 minute The chemical company set to take up a significant chunk of DuPont’s crop protection work in Canada has picked up the last of the regulatory clearances it needs to close the deal. Philadelphia-based FMC Corp. announced Thursday it received the final approval needed, from the Competition Commission of India, to close the deal the company […] Read more


Albaugh’s chemical plant at St. Joseph, Missouri. (AlbaughLLC.com)

Herbicide supplier Albaugh said to be exploring sale

Reading Time: 2 minutes Reuters — Albaugh LLC is exploring a sale that could value the privately held U.S. producer of agricultural crop protection chemicals at more than US$1.5 billion, including debt, according to people familiar with the matter. Albaugh, controlled by its 67-year-old founder Dennis Albaugh, is working with investment bank JPMorgan Chase and Co. to discuss a […] Read more

Close up of a soybean plant

Minimal issues reported with dicamba drift in Ontario

Reading Time: 3 minutes UPDATED, July 21, 2017 — There appear to be few dicamba drift problems in Ontario, unlike in other soybean-growing areas in the U.S. The provincial environment and climate change ministry, the body to which spray drift problems are reported in the province, has heard of some anecdotal cases this year, but nothing significant, according to […] Read more