According to Neil Harker, research assistant with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, wild oat management through herbicide application costs western Canadian producers around $500 million annually. Herbicide resistance in many weed biotypes is cropping up — resistance within wild oat populations has been nagging at farmers' fields for years and is spreading. How can we combat... Read More
Category: Research
The Canadian Wheat Alliance was announced on May 16 and will provide $97M worth of funding over five years for wheat research. The effort will combine expertise from each of: the National Research Council, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, the province of Saskatchewan and the University of Saskatchewan. "Wheat research has lagged a bit," says Lyle... Read More
The Alberta Wheat Commission (AWC) has hired Lauren Comin as research manager, according to a recent press release. Comin has a PhD in bioresource and food engineering from the University of Alberta, and brings a wealth of research knowledge in advanced grain processing, strong project management skills and a keen interest in food science and... Read More
Ontario ginseng is the class of its field. The species grown here, called American ginseng (versus Asian ginseng, the other popular variety) is the apple of ginseng exporters’ eye. It now generates $130 million in export sales annually, and it’s growing every year. That’s great news for farmers who work the unique sandy soils in... Read More
Working with what nature gives you and spending a bit of time with pen and paper can boost your pasture and hay land productivity. Whether it's matching topography like floodplains to forage species that don't mind wet feet, or mapping out cattle movement or winter feeding needs, pasture planning is well worth the time. In... Read More
Recently I have seen several different press releases on competitive companies deciding to share corn traits. Most farmers look at these kinds of announcements and just flip the page to the next article without a second look. Really you should take that second look and think about the impact on your farm in the future.... Read More
How can I produce more corn and soybeans on the same piece of land? That is the multimillion dollar question at play. Syngenta is investing a lot of time and money in trying to rethink multiple cropping strategies, tank mixes and the traditional crop rotation order to try and battle weed resistance, improve yields and... Read More
Dr. Robert T. Fraley is the executive vice president and chief technology officer of Monsanto. He is also considered by many to be one of the fathers of modern agricultural biotechnology. Dr. Fraley's farm background and his passion for research combined early in his career and moved the Monsanto Company from an industrial chemical company... Read More
The discussion around proposed changes to the check-off funded associations in Western Canada is growing significantly. No, not everyone is on-side with the idea — many grower group members feel they best serve the commodity's interest individually, and are opposed to joining ranks across provinces and especially not nationally. Danny Penner is one of those,... Read More
Everyone has an aunt or an uncle or someone that uses "blanket" terminology. You know what I mean, they call blu rays and CD's DVD's or call all mp3 players "iPods". We're all guilty of it on some level, but the truth is terminology is important. Just ask Tony Vyn about using the terms "drought... Read More