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
Robotic weed management takes to the fields
The potential for cost savings and precise control is enormous
Pest Patrol: New herbicide names may not mean new chemistry
#PestPatrol with Mike Cowbrough, OMAFRA
Reading Time: 3 minutes Q: Do I have new opportunities in weed control in 2018? A: This is the question I’ve been asked a lot this past winter meeting season, and one I always struggle to answer. There are some legitimately promising concepts being tested such as robotic weeders (Figure 1 at top) and weed seed destruction tools, but […] Read more
The problem with problem weeds
Different regions, different crops and different species turn ‘control’ into ‘management’
Reading Time: 5 minutes It’s a message filled with contrasts. Weed management is simple yet complex. It’s all about improving your bottom line, but it adds a cost. And although it’s all about controlling all your weeds, it often gets judged on a single weed species. In spite of all the differences that come with farming in different regions, […] Read more
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
Is it enough to rotate your herbicides?
Integrated weed management can slow herbicide resistance, but rotation is just one piece
Reading Time: 6 minutes Integrated weed management (IWM) is not rotating herbicides or modes of action. IWM is combining one of more different weed management techniques, such as chemical, cultural, physical or biological weed control. Some IWM methods are easy to implement, such as making sure you select good, certified seed that will grow vigorously and out-compete weeds. Seeding […] Read more
Getting that extra 15 per cent from your soybean yields
More intensive soybean production can pay off with solid per-acre returns
Reading Time: 6 minutes Soybean production in the past 10 years has undergone a radical transformation at both ends of the statistical spectrum. On the positive side, yields are up, and so is the frequency of getting unexpectedly good crops. Unfortunately, what we get on one hand, we can lose with the other, and the yield losses where weeds, […] Read more
The case for long-term weed programs
With Enlist soybeans and Roundup Ready Xtend coming, the time to start stretching your weed control horizon is right now
Reading Time: 5 minutes As a concept, a long-term weed management plan may be nothing new. Even so, however, the reasons to adopt it are looking stronger than ever thanks to a combination of new technologies and a weed-resistance threat that keeps intensifying. The concept certainly has merit, says Dr. Peter Sikkema, professor of weed science with the University […] Read more
Pest Patrol: Using the ‘Pest Manager’ app
Weeds and weed management information in the palm of your hand
Reading Time: 2 minutes We have good pest management information and research. The challenge can be to get that information to the farmers who need it. Earlier this summer, a smartphone app was launched called Pest Manager. Currently, only information on weeds and weed management is included, so I tell farmers it’s what you would get if a weed […] Read more
A cover crop that buzzes
Phacelia can fit a variety of cropping systems, and it’s popular with bees
Reading Time: 3 minutes There’s a new arrival in cover crops called phacelia that has the compelling advantage of being neither a cereal nor an oilseed. In fact, phacelia is a completely new species in Canada’s agriculture, which may prove to be a very good thing indeed. Phacelia is a member of the waterleaf (Hydrophyllaceae) family. Unlike oilseed radish, […] Read more
Herbicide-resistant weeds are our biggest threat
There’s no reason why the West must become an Arkansas-style nightmare because of weed resistance, but we may be heading there anyway
Reading Time: 7 minutes Neil Harker calls herbicide-resistant weeds the biggest threat to sustainable crop production in Western Canada. “We’ve been the grim reaper talking about this for ages, but this is a watershed moment,” says the research scientist with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada in Lacombe, Alta. “There are places in North America going back to the plow and […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
