Reading Time: < 1 minute Reuters — Corteva Inc. on Wednesday missed analysts’ expectations for second-quarter revenue and its reinstated full-year forecast came in below estimates, sending the seed and pesticide producer’s shares down as much as nine per cent in extended trade. Good weather and higher planted area shifted corn volumes in North America to the first quarter, while […] Read more

Corteva posts weak revenue, disappointing outlook

Pest Patrol: The importance of doing a ‘jar test’ with fertilizers and herbicides
#PestPatrol with Mike Cowbrough, OMAFRA
Reading Time: 4 minutes Each year I get more questions about mixing the liquid fertilizer, ammonium thiosulphate (ATS), with herbicides. With reductions in atmospheric sulphur deposits, Ontario research has shown positive yield responses in some crops when sulphur fertilizers are applied, so it makes sense that farmers are looking at ways to add sulphur to their crop in an […] Read more

EU plans to halve pesticide use, expand organic farming
Reading Time: 2 minutes Brussels | Reuters — The European Commission said on Wednesday it planned to increase organic farming and cut agricultural chemical use to protect the environment, proposals welcomed by green groups but which farmers said would make them less flexible. Agriculture is a contributor to climate change – producing around 10 per cent of EU greenhouse […] Read more

New Brunswick postpones pesticide use hearings
Deadline extended for written submissions
Reading Time: 2 minutes The New Brunswick government’s planned public hearings on the use of glyphosate and other pesticides are postponed, and more time is being granted for the public to file written briefs. The provincial legislature’s all-party standing committee on climate change and environmental stewardship on Feb. 5 announced it would hold hearings in Fredericton March 24-27 “on […] Read more

Robotic weed management takes to the fields
The potential for cost savings and precise control is enormous
Reading Time: 6 minutes Extraordinary. Revolutionary. Game-changing. Those are just some of the adjectives being used to describe robotic weed management, a technology that is generating considerable anticipation based on the initial research into its benefits in a row-crop environment. The list of key players and systems includes WEEDit, Xarvio, Bosch, Agrifac and Einböck. And the potential is large […] Read more

Ag chem industry watching COVID-19’s spread
Reading Time: 3 minutes MarketsFarm –– China is a major producer of agricultural chemicals — and disruptions to production would have a ripple effect on North American supplies of crop protection inputs, such as herbicides and insecticides. Plant closures and transportation issues due to the spread of COVID-19 coronavirus are being followed closely, but the Canadian industry is reportedly […] Read more

Corteva to stop making Lorsban
Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — Corteva will stop producing the agricultural pesticide chlorpyrifos by the end of the year, the company said on Thursday, removing the world’s largest manufacturer of a chemical that has been linked to low birth weight, reduced IQ and attention disorders in children. Corteva, spun off last year after a merger of […] Read more

Competition Bureau probing big ag chem companies
Probe to look at firms' response to FBN's arrival in Canada
Reading Time: 2 minutes Reuters — The Canadian Competition Bureau said on Thursday it was investigating certain agriculture companies for alleged anticompetitive practices over allegations of trying to block an online farm-supply startup from doing business in Western Canada. The regulator did not provide details on specific companies involved in the probe, but documents filed on Jan. 30 in […] Read more

Trump administration scales back U.S. water protections
Reading Time: 2 minutes Washington | Reuters — The Trump administration finalized a rule on Thursday to pare back the types of waterways protected from pollution under federal law, easing burdens on industries such as agriculture and mining but angering environmental groups. The Navigable Waters Protection Rule could win political points ahead of the November election for Republican President […] Read more

Are crop trait technologies simplifying your life, or complicating it?
Deciding how to use the technologies can turn into more of a challenge than deciding which of them to use
Reading Time: 6 minutes The arrival of a new herbicide-resistant technology is often greeted as an opportunity for growers and the industry. That isn’t really new. Roughly 30 years ago, Group 2 herbicides solved the problem of atrazine resistance, then LibertyLink and Roundup Ready technologies enabled growers to push beyond Group 2 resistance. Now that Xtend and Enlist systems […] Read more