Flea beetle. (Photo courtesy Canola Council of Canada)

Flea beetles take advantage of late seeding

Reading Time: 2 minutes CNS Canada — A heat wave in late May and a slow start to the planting season have created some ideal conditions for flea beetles. Pest specialists in Saskatchewan and Manitoba say farmers have already begun to spray for the beetle in certain locations. “They’ve been getting good conditions to feed under, they like it […] Read more

ICE Futures Canada’s head office in Winnipeg. (Dave Bedard photo)

ICE weekly outlook: Seasonals to weigh on canola

Reading Time: < 1 minute CNS Canada — ICE Futures Canada canola contracts ran into some major resistance over the past week before turning lower, with more downside possible as seasonal trends should weigh on values. “Seasonally speaking, we’re in the neighborhood where canola makes the turn down,” said Mike Jubinville of ProFarmer Canada, noting canola typically sees some softness […] Read more



Photo: Canola Council of Canada

Four steps for better seeding this spring

It’s an age-old conundrum: You need to expand so you acquire more acres of land to get more return, but then the rush to get a crop in means seeding some acres too early, too late, or too fast. “There’s a lot of potential for making a mistake when it comes to seeding,” said Harry[...]
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“If you don’t get the seed in the right environment on Day One, then you have already limited your yield potential.” – Gavin Porter, Cross Slot North America.

Cross slot seeding

Maybe it’s not a brand new idea, but this technology from New Zealand allows for revolutionary no-till seeding, fertilizer banding and uniform emergence

Reading Time: 6 minutes A common view in agriculture these days is that crop yields jumped more in the past 10 years than they did in the previous 30. And it isn’t just yield. There have been similar spurts too in the design of multi-hybrid planters, variable-rate seeding and newer transgenics. Yet at the same time, a few older[...]
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Photo: Thinkstock

Growing canola in a dry year

With last year’s dry weather and predictions that this year will be similar across much of the Prairies, there’s concern that this might not be the best year for canola. With moisture levels are already low, and coming out of a year where crops did well by using what was available in the soil profile,[...]
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Photo: Thinkstock

Six factors to consider if your soil moisture level is low

To date, all indications are pointing to a dry spring, given the below-average precipitation received in many areas of the Prairies this winter. There are exceptions to every rule of course, but a lot of farmers had relatively dry soils going into winter, so we asked some agronomists and provincial crop experts what factors could[...]
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Sea surface temperature anomalies (in degrees Celsius) over the equatorial Pacific for the week centred on Feb. 21. (CPC.ncep.noaa.gov)

Spring outlook cooler for Prairies, warmer for Ontario

Reading Time: 3 minutes Growers in parts of Ontario may get an early start on planting this spring, while Prairie fields may see lingering snow and later-than-average last frosts. WeatherFarm’s spring forecast, powered by U.S.-based DTN Progressive Farmer, projects a cold start to the spring as likely for the western half of Canada, reversing the milder conditions shown over[...]
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