Reading Time: 5 minutes A new research project funded by the Alberta Wheat Commission and the Saskatchewan Wheat Development Commission will try to answer a question that has bedevilled plant scientists for years: can cereal crops be made to fix their own nitrogen the way legumes do? The AWC is spending $100,000 to have Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada scientists […] Read more
The ‘Holy Grail’ in cereal technology
Can wheat and barley really be taught to act like pulses, and produce their own fertilizer?
A woman’s place at the board table
In different parts of the country, Amanda Jeffs and Pam Bailey are rising to the same challenge, curbing the dominance of men on so many farm boards
Reading Time: 10 minutes Bailey has always bucked the trend. As a child, she was far more interested in Lego and Tonka trucks than dolls, and she had dreams of becoming a mechanic instead of a nurse, teacher or the other jobs that “girls were supposed to do.” At 34, she’s still bucking the trend. Bailey has just become […] Read more
Putting down roots in Canadian soil
With farmers like Peter Nikkel helping Raymond Ngarboui, refugees from the world’s trouble spots are getting a new chance
Reading Time: 13 minutes Before we even exchange our first word, I get a sense of Raymond Ngarboui. When we meet, he’s on the phone with a refugee settlement counsellor who asks if he might have garden plots available for two families from Burundi, recently arrived in Winnipeg and feeling stressed and isolated. This is 43-year-old Ngarboui’s side-project but […] Read more
Species-specific crop protection
RNA interference provides a new method of pest control, using tools so precise they hit only the target insect or disease
Reading Time: 4 minutes “We like to call sclerotinia the bully,” says Mark Belmonte. And stopping a bully is not easy. The pathogen attacks fast, it moves quickly through the plant and it can do heavy yield damage right away. “Because it acts with brute force and involves multiple genes, sclerotinia is difficult to study and get a good […] Read more
Empty soils
Today’s big-yield genetics really are draining the nutrient supply in our soils
Reading Time: 6 minutes The power of today’s corn hybrids and soybean varieties to exceed farmers’ expectations is a testament to the science of plant breeding, and also to the value of selecting the best elite genetics. That farmers in Eastern Canada have been able to push corn yields to 200 bu./ac. and soybeans to 60 bu./ac., even in […] Read more
Smarter than you think
Here’s what your kids come home having learned about business at ag college. It’s much, much more than even a few years ago
Reading Time: 9 minutes When Colin Penner enrolled as a student in the University of Manitoba’s agricultural diploma program 10 years ago, he had to prepare a business plan for his farm. Today, he is back at the U of M as an instructor, teaching other students how to complete today’s planning assignments, which are miles ahead. Preparing a […] Read more
Smart stuff
Do parents really recognize the skills their children are bringing back from college and university, and how those skills can make the farm stronger?
Reading Time: 8 minutes Skip the smiley faces and the acronyms. In the new age of digital soft skills, agricultural schools are embracing the same modes of electronic communication as their students, albeit with a dose of finesse, professionalism and, at times, trepidation. “Don’t use emojis, they’re cute, but they’re not professional,” Mark Fournier of Alberta’s Olds College tells […] Read more
Prairie corn: Agronomics and economics
A four-year project in Manitoba has some notable findings on tillage economics and the reliability of heat unit ratings
Reading Time: 8 minutes As Prairie farmers consider growing some of the shorter-season corn hybrids coming onto the market, they still have questions whether they should even risk trying them, and which hybrids have the best chance of success. After completing three years of the four-year Corn Agronomy Project, researchers are beginning to provide a few answers — and […] Read more
Season too short for cover crops? Maybe not
They could have a fit for Western Canada, but they require just as much planning as any other crop choice
Reading Time: 5 minutes Open just about any U.S. farming publication and you won’t read for long before seeing the words “cover crop.” There’s been an explosion of interest in the practice of sowing a cheap mixture of seed to cover the soil after harvest, and then seeding directly into it the following year. The benefits go beyond soil […] Read more
Detecting spoilage before it starts
An adaptation of cancer-screening technology offers a better and safer way to check for grain bin moisture, with a bonus of theft detection
Reading Time: 5 minutes An electromagnetic imaging technique originally designed to detect breast cancer tumours is now being adapted for a totally different use — locating spoiled grain in bins. The research project at the University of Manitoba uses electromagnetic imaging (EMI) to create a 3D profile of a bin, showing pockets of moisture which can overheat and spoil. […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
