Reading Time: 5 minutes When it comes to biopesticides, most researchers say that despite today’s limited selection of bio-based fungicides, insecticides and herbicides, the technology’s potential is extraordinary. Public and private scientists are especially excited by an “all natural” basis for developing new active ingredients. Since most of the elements for these biopesticides come from natural sources, they point […] Read more
A ‘bio’ that works
Commercial use is still a couple of years away, but this bioherbicide is already raising eyebrows
Flax opportunities
Agronomics and yield are the big priorities for flax growers in Western Canada
Reading Time: 9 minutes Flax acres have started to rebound over the past few years, with Saskatchewan still accounting for most of the flax grown on the Prairies. In order to entice more growers to flax, however, yields will need to increase. Average flax yields have hovered around 22 bu./ac. for many years, and although growers in some areas […] Read more
Alberta to reallocate veterinary school funding
Reading Time: 3 minutes Alberta is set to gradually pull its $8 million in annual funding from the University of Saskatchewan’s Western College of Veterinary Medicine (WCVM) and instead expand the vet school at the University of Calgary. The province announced Thursday it will expand enrolment for the University of Calgary’s Veterinary Medicine program (UCVM) from 130 students currently […] Read more
A giant leap for soil kind
Soil-health advocates like Jocelyn Velestuk look forward to new technology to help make better decisions to improve both soil health and whole-farm profitability
Reading Time: 4 minutes Jocelyn Velestuk did a lot of spitting the first time she met her future father-in-law. It made a lasting impression. As she describes it, Velestuk and her then fiancé and his father were touring around the farm she would soon marry into. Being a soil scientist, Velestuk scooped up handfuls of topsoil here and there, […] Read more
Managing root rot in pulses
Peas and lentils have been a financial and rotational blessing for producers, but aphanomyces in partnership with fusarium is raining on their parade
Reading Time: 6 minutes If you’d mentioned aphanomyces at a farm show five years ago, you would have drawn quite a few blank looks. But these days speakers with aphanomyces expertise fill the seats. The reason is no mystery to Prairie pulse producers. Field surveys have found aphanomyces from Alberta to Manitoba, as far south as the U.S. border […] Read more
The brother and sister advantage: Jake and Sarah Leguee of Leguee Farms
Off-farm work and a five-year plan helped this brother and sister team prepare for the non-stop challenges of farming
Reading Time: 4 minutes Leguee Farms has also found a balance that allows it to grow and succeed in Saskatchewan in grains and oilseeds. Communication and defined roles enable the family to run a large business together, and also to live nearby and have harmony during family get togethers. Unlike Misty Glen, Jake and Sarah Leguee’s father Russ is […] Read more
Still sifting through genes, but…
Plant breeding has always been about testing to see how one gene interacts with another, but today it can be done much more quickly
Reading Time: 4 minutes Today’s new generation of plant breeders are often called “gene jockeys,” although they’re actually more like cowboys rounding up “genotypes” into a common corral called a “genome.” Then they look for other genomes to add to the corral so they can improve the herd. Previous generations of plant breeders did the same thing, but they […] Read more
A genetic solution to fusarium?
Across the country, several researchers are studying fusarium from every angle, from pathology to agronomy
Reading Time: 4 minutes In the early ’90s, farmers in the eastern Prairies started to ask questions about odd white “tombstone” wheat kernels. When they received the answer, some wondered whether the name would refer to the tombstone on the grave of the wheat business, especially when there was a huge outbreak in Manitoba in 1993. Near-panic ensued, as […] Read more
The forage value of cover crops
Western research shows cover crops can be worth their weight for grazing or even baling
Reading Time: 6 minutes Extended drought has forced many farmers across Eastern Canada to seek alternate feed sources for the coming winter. It’s even got some producers thinking about the cover crops on their farm and on neighbouring farms. The growing popularity of cover crops among grain farmers may have come at just the right time for cattle farmers […] Read more
Mentorships get real
Today’s mentorships are more relevant than ever, with a focus that includes business management, risk analysis, employee motivation and much more
Reading Time: 7 minutes On the traditional family farm, parents, grandparents and other family members have always been the mentors for those who follow, and agriculture today owes a tremendous debt to them for having trained generation after generation of new farmers. But today is also different. Canada’s farms are more complex than ever, and they’re only getting more […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
