Frost damage reported in a few areas

Frost damage reported in a few areas

An area around Somerset saw below-freezing temperatures for four to seven hours last Friday

Most Manitoba producers have dodged an icy bullet for now, but there are reports of some minor injury and areas that received a killing frost. Long-season crops, including corn, and later-seeded crops in parts of western Manitoba got some frost early Monday morning, but the extent of the damage wasn’t known at press time Monday,

Grasshopper on a sunflower under attack from red mites.

Invasion of the body snatchers

Southwestern Manitoba grasshoppers being preyed upon by parasitic red mites

This grasshopper munching on a sunflower in southwestern Manitoba is being devoured by parasitic red mites (Eutrombidium locustarum), says Manitoba Agriculture, Food and Rural Development (MAFRD) entomologist John Gavloski. The mites feed on the blood (hemolymph) of grasshoppers. They also prey on grasshopper eggs. Each female mite can lay up to 4,000 eggs, providing mite


The banded sunflower moth. The economic threshold for control in confectionery sunflowers is two per head. The ideal crop stage for control is R4 to R5.1.  
photo: anastasia kubinec MAFRD

Time to scout sunflower fields

Farmers should be watching for two disease and insect pests

Sunflower growers should scout their fields for sunflower rust, sclerotinia head rot, lygus bugs and the banded sunflower moth, says Anastasia Kubinec, oilseed specialist with Manitoba Agriculture, Food and Rural Initiatives. The four pests can affect sunflower yield and quality, especially in confectionery sunflowers where the seed is sold for human consumption. “You have to

Manitoba Insect and Disease Update: July 25, 2014

Manitoba Agriculture’s weekly Insect and Disease Update is now available. Visit the MAFRD website for full text and images. Highlights: Goss’s wilt and leaf blight disease are showing up in corn. Ergot disease infection is now showing up in fall rye and grasses. Blackleg infection on lower stems/roots on canola is showing up. Downy mildew on sunflowers is


People seated in an auditorium.

Farmers swarm first annual CropConnect

More than 1,100 farmers paid to attend over two days

More than 600 farmers attended the first annual CropConnect Conference at Winnipeg’s Victoria Inn Feb. 18 and more than 530 showed up for the second day Feb 19. “Everything I’m hearing about the conference has been pretty positive,” said CropConnect committee chair, Theresa Bergsma, who is also secretary-manager of the Manitoba Corn Growers Association. CropConnect

Hairy vetch opens up opportunities

Hairy vetch has long suffered snickers and quizzical looks at the very mention of its name, but new research shows the legume has potential in Manitoba. Scott Chalmers, a diversification technician with Manitoba Agriculture, Food and Rural Initiatives, told producers at the annual Special Crops Symposium in Winnipeg that plant is a possible cover crop


Scout your sunflowers, expert urges

Two dry years in a row doesn’t mean Manitoba sunflower growers can skip scouting for moisture-loving diseases. Producers should always be on the lookout for sclerotinia and rust, Holly Derksen said at the recent Manitoba Special Crops Symposium. “When we do have a wet year, those are ones to watch for,” said Derksen, a plant

Harvest losses bedevil sunflower growers

Sunflowers pose challenges during harvest as drier conditions lead to increased shatter and seed loss

Drier temperatures can help once sunflower seeds are in the bin, but are a challenge when they’re still in the fields. “It’s getting to be more of an issue every year,” Bud Pittenger told producers during the annual Special Crops Symposium in Winnipeg. “The sunflowers are drying down so much faster nowadays … there is


Ample heat, subsoil moisture helps sunflowers soar

National Sunflower Association of Canada looking at possible introduction 
of bird-repellent products used south of the border

It was a great summer to be a sunflower. “Yields are coming really good this year,” said Denis Touzin of Keystone Grain. “They like heat, and we had the heat.” With an unusually dry fall making a pre-Thanksgiving harvest possible for the first time in years, early reports are pegging yields at 2,500 to 3,200

Belarus threatens to ban farm imports from Ukraine

kiev / reuters / Belarus has threatened to ban imports of Ukrainian sunflower oil, corn and several other agriculture commodities after Ukraine announced it was barring imports of Belarussian milk and dairy products, Ukraine’s Farm Ministry said March 3. The retaliatory move by Belarus marked an escalation in a regional trade war over dairy products