Reading Time: 2 minutes British Columbia has temporarily banned a stronger class of rodent poisons pending a review of their effects on non-target wildlife, but farm uses will be exempt. The province on July 21 announced an 18-month prohibition on sales and use of second-generation anticoagulant rodenticides (SGARs). The second-generation products are “more powerful” than the previous generation and […] Read more
Rodent poisons allowed on B.C. farms during temporary ban
What’s going to ‘bug’ you in 2020?
Western bean cutworm is quickly climbing the ranks as our biggest threat
Reading Time: 6 minutes Insect pests never seem to get the respect they deserve. If they present a threat during a growing season, they move front and centre, but more often they’re a much lower concern than fertility, weeds and diseases. Some of that is thanks to today’s improved genetics and commercial varieties and hybrids that produce their hardier, […] Read more
Troubling gaps within PMRA
An interview with crop protection expert Craig Hunter on the avalanche of change that may be heading toward Canadian farmers
Reading Time: 5 minutes Last year, calls rang out for growers and their organizations to voice their concerns about an ongoing review of hundreds of crop protection formulations. The lobbying effort carried added urgency over and above similar efforts from the previous two years. The Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA) began conducting these reviews similar to those required in […] Read more
Garlic growers look to develop certified seed
A certified program would help build a knowledge base for pest control measures
Reading Time: 3 minutes The Ontario garlic industry is gradually working to create a cleaner seed supply, which should help reduce disease transmission on cloves. “There is no certified seed in Canada at this time,” says Joann Chechalk president of the Garlic Growers Association of Ontario, and a Smithville, Ont. garlic grower. “Other countries are developing it. Spain and […] Read more
Pest Patrol: Mixing ‘crop enhancer’ with glyphosate for weed control
#PestPatrol with Mike Cowbrough, OMAFRA
Reading Time: 2 minutes [Question:] I recently received this query. “I have a client who wants to mix a ‘crop enhancer’ with glyphosate to control weeds in glyphosate-tolerant soybeans. According to the manufacturer’s website, this product ‘can be combined with other applications (e.g. fertilizer, herbicides, insecticide, etc.).’ However, when I read the composition of the product, it appears to […] Read more
Tighter spray control in the field
Should you be looking at the InterLock system to reduce off-target risk?
Reading Time: 6 minutes What’s in a name? Plenty — especially when it comes to reducing off-target movement of spray applications. The buzz around the launch of Xtend soybeans in 2017 is creating a new level of scrutiny on spray applications. Like it or not, consumers and governments are watching, and increased diligence is warranted. Re-enter the InterLock system. […] Read more
Pesticide review a huge issue for horticulture sector
Time of worker re-entry after application and use of protective equipment are stumbling blocks
Reading Time: 5 minutes Canada’s horticultural growers say they’re concerned about a review of many of the broad-spectrum crop protection chemistries they’ve relied on for years. The Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA) is conducting the review, with a final outcome due in 2018. That gives growers and other industry stakeholders the rest of 2017 to strengthen their arguments and […] Read more
The challenge of optimism
A look inside a modern Ontario hort operation finds a farm family wrestling with issues that may soon dominate the farm agenda coast to coast
Reading Time: 8 minutes Some days, farming is more fun than others. Although he’s driven by a belief in agriculture, and although he’s working hard to keep building their farm enterprise, Shawn Brenn, president of Brenn B Farms Ltd. at Waterdown, Ont., admits there are also days when the frustrations can make him wonder. Every farmer knows the feeling. […] Read more
New seed treatment in a different class
A new mode of action could help confound several pests in eastern Canadian corn
Reading Time: 3 minutes Corn growers across Eastern Canada looking for help against early-season insect pests such as wireworms, black cutworms and armyworms will likely have a new option for the 2017 growing season. The timing may be ideal, considering the frustration over new regulations governing the use of neonicotinoid-based seed treatments, which will further tighten for the coming […] Read more
Another big hurdle for Canadian producers
With MRLs, the problems begin when a test used for regulating trade gets treated as a verdict on food safety
Reading Time: 6 minutes In the past 25 years, agriculture has seen a full gamut of new programs from environmental farm plans to neonicotinoid-use restrictions in Ontario. Some are relatively farm friendly, some less so. Like them or hate them, they’re all meant to be in the name of sustainability, traceability and food safety and security, which are under […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
