Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Board of Trade wheat futures on Thursday leapt to their highest prices in more than two months as the latest crop estimates in major exporting countries like Argentina, France and Russia raised questions about global supply. Corn and soybean futures also strengthened, as weather forecasts predicted more heat and dryness […] Read more
U.S. grains: Wheat futures top two-month high on global harvest worries
Corn, soybeans firm as U.S. weather looks hotter, drier
Ontario, Manitoba corn crops need rain
Reading Time: 3 minutes CNS Canada — Corn development in key growing areas of Ontario and Manitoba remains highly variable as the crop nears its yield-determining phase. “The pollination stage is the critical part of the corn-growing period and I would say probably within the next three weeks we will know what yield is going to look like,” said […] Read more
Give your insect friends a home
Leaving some non-crop areas with a diverse range of perennial vegetation can save you money on insecticide
Reading Time: 4 minutes What do shelterbelts, pivot corners and field margins have in common? No, they’re not unprofitable or “wasted” areas. As natural habitats for beneficial insects, including pollinators and predators of crop pests, those non-cropped areas may be worth their square footage in gold. Alejandro Costamagna, an assistant professor in the University of Manitoba’s department of entomology, […] Read more
Be kind to your insect friends
Of the thousands of insect species around your fields, only a few damage crops. Here’s a guide to identifying and protecting the good bugs that eat the bad ones
Reading Time: 2 minutes It can be worrying to see insects crawling over your nicely developing crop, but are they doing any damage? And even if they are, before ordering the insecticide, will spraying kill the good bugs that are already at work controlling the bad ones, not to mention other insects that are important for pollination? While killing […] Read more
Study of bumblebee decline points to climate ‘vise’
Reading Time: 4 minutes A study of the shrinking range of bumblebee habitat suggests farmers relying on those species to pollinate crops may soon have to look elsewhere, barring a reversal of climate change — or, perhaps, an “assisted migration.” An international study of specimens from 31 species of bumblebees in North America and 36 such species in Europe, as […] Read more
Tiny number of bees account for most crop pollination, study finds
Reading Time: 2 minutes Oslo | Reuters — Just two per cent of wild bee species do almost 80 per cent of their work in pollinating crops, according to a study on Tuesday that outlined simple measures for farmers to attract star insects to safeguard food production. The international report, based on 90 studies in five continents, said governments […] Read more
The many facets of the neonicotinoid issue
The neonic debate is not a one-issue, one solution scenario
Reading Time: < 1 minute Whoever you talk to in agriculture today, most people agree this is not a one-issue, one-solution scenario. As Dr. Cynthia Scott-Dupree has stated this is more like a 1,000-piece puzzle. Making the case in the neonic debate The following are just some of the aspects involved in the neonicotinoid debate that may or may not […] Read more
Pesticides could lead to ‘pollination deficit,’ EU report says
Reading Time: 2 minutes Brussels | Reuters –– Evidence is mounting that widely-used pesticides harm moths, butterflies and birds as well as bees, adding to concerns crop production could be hit by a shortage of pollinators, according to a report drawn up for EU policymakers. The European Commission, the EU executive, placed restrictions on three neonicotinoid pesticides from Dec. […] Read more
Researchers abuzz about soybean yields
The research is preliminary, but early results suggest that some bees might be good for soybean crops
Reading Time: 6 minutes Some call it serendipity. Others say it merely proves the old adage that you make your own luck. Either way, some of the world’s biggest scientific breakthroughs have come when the researcher was actually looking for something else. Think penicillin, for example. Matt O’Neal is more a member of the group that says it all […] Read more
Protecting pollinators in 2014
Ontario best-management trials include using fungicide-only seed
Reading Time: < 1 minute Country Guide recently had a chance to sit down with Tracey Baute, Field Crop Entomologist, during the 75th annual AGM for the Ontario Soil and Crop Improvement Association (OSCIA). Baute’s presentation focused on protecting pollinators and how a new partnership with OSCIA using “fungicide only” seed and insecticide treated seed in comparison trials will help […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
