Clubroot found in Manitoba

Testing has confirmed levels of clubroot capable of producing disease in two soil samples collected from Manitoba canola fields last year, provincial officials say. “It is significant in that we can no longer consider ourselves free of clubroot in Manitoba,“ said Holly Derksen, a plant pathologist with the Manitoba Agriculture, Food and Rural Initiatives Soils


Wheat registration system faces review

A new review for the Prairie wheat varietal registration process could prove contentious, with defenders calling it key to Canada’s quality brand and its detractors saying it is a barrier to innovation. The industry was already looking at the system in anticipation of the Canadian Wheat Board’s monopoly ending. A year ago, it agreed to

The quest is on to improve rate of canola emergence

Canola seeds may be tiny, but they don’t come cheap. That’s prompted more farmers to use row-crop precision seeders in order to get more bang for their buck. There are many row-crop seeders on the market, but the problem is none of them do a perfect job, said Pipe-stone-area farmer Frank Prince, who offered his

Demand and prices are positive for peas — but seed is in short supply

There’s good money to be made in peas these days but producers such as Jason Hodsen 
are struggling to find sufficient supplies of seed

A small green and yellow pea crop in 2012 and increased demand is pushing old-crop prices to new heights this spring, while limiting the amount of available seed. “There is a potential for a very strong market for the next few years,” Jackie Kress, senior grain manager for Legumex Walker, said at the recent Wild


Trouble in your canola crop? There’s an app for that

Canola growers and agronomists have a new online tool for diagnosing problems in their crops. “Often symptoms will look similar for a number of different problems,” said Jay Whetter, communications manager for the Canadian Canola Council. “You’ll go into a field and it will look like something you’ve seen before. You’ll go, ‘I know what

Got bald patches on eroded knolls? Ammonium sulphate may be the cause

If you’ve always assumed canola emerges poorly on eroded knolls because the soil there is poor, think again. Toxicity from ammonium sulphate fertilizer could be the real reason behind those bald patches, especially on Newdale-type soils with high amounts of calcium carbonate in the subsoil zones, according to University of Manitoba student Laryssa Grenkow. “The

Dry soils, high prices prompt farmers’ return to wheat and durum

Farmers in drier regions of the 
western Prairies flirted with canola 
but are turning back to the tried and true

Attractive prices and weather issues are expected to help farmers in Canada take a serious look at seeding more acres to wheat this summer than in previous years, according to industry sources. “Last year a lot of farmers took a chance with canola given the high financial returns, but the drier-than-anticipated conditions across parts of