When it comes to getting cereals into the ground Manitoba seems to be coming up short. Provincial specialists say at least half a farm’s arable acres should be planted to these crops, but that’s rarely the case these days. According to MASC data, less than 40 per cent of crop acres in Manitoba were planted
Cereals getting shortchanged
How much of your rotation is still in cereals? If it’s less than 50 per cent, you may be short
Intercropping coming closer
Research centres are building on their knowledge base through the trial-and-error approach
There are signs of both success and failure amongst the intercrop plots at Melita’s Westman Agricultural Diversification Organization. Some look great. Others are nothing but bare soil where nothing established. In others the crops aren’t playing well together and underseeded legumes are set to overtake the crop they were supposed to support. That’s just fine
Intercrops overcome insurance hurdle
Manitoba producers had no insurance for their intercropped acres until this year, but a new program from MASC has changed that
This year was the first that Manitoba farmers could properly insure intercropped acres with Manitoba Agricultural Services Corporation. MASC introduced novel crops insurance this year for, “crops not currently covered by the AgriInsurance program due to the relatively small number of acres grown and/or lack of data or information available,” a category that includes intercrops,
Poor nitrogen uptake has soybean growers pondering rescue application
Lack of moisture has also meant lack of nodules and poor nitrogen fixation for some soybean fields, leading some to consider a mid-season fertilizer pass
More soybean fields are trying to shake off the impact of a dry spring on nitrogen uptake this year. Laryssa Stevenson, western production specialist with the Manitoba Pulse and Soybean Growers, told a SMART field day here last week that she has heard of more growers struggling with nitrogen deficiency this summer, which she blames
How deep is too deep when chasing moisture for soybeans?
A University of Manitoba researcher thinks there should be more attention paid to soybean seeding depth
Soybean growers may have been tempted to dig deep for seeding this year, but University of Manitoba researcher Kristen MacMillan says the data may not back up that practice. The Manitoba Pulse and Soybean Growers puts ideal seed depth between three-quarters of an inch and an inch and a half below the soil surface. Dry
Navigating the hemp nutraceutical market
Hemp growers will soon clear the legal hurdles keeping them from the nutraceutical market, but they may face an uphill climb from the field
A regulatory roadblock is about to disappear for hemp growers, but plenty of obstacles remain to capturing the nutraceutical market. Until now they’ve been required to destroy parts of the plant that might have otherwise been harvested, but new regulations from Health Canada will be arriving along with cannabis legalization this fall. They will then
Outdoor cannabis regs leave hemp producers out of luck
Hemp producers hoping to buffer their crops from outdoor cannabis were left out in the cold when final cannabis regulations were unveiled earlier this month
Hemp growers say they are not impressed by the lack of buffer zones in regulations that would govern outdoor cannabis production. Health Canada has confirmed that licences will allow cannabis to be cultivated and harvested outside after legalization Oct. 17, although, “all other activities with respect to cannabis must take place indoors, such as trimming,
Manitoba sees low aphid counts
Last year was a bad aphid year for a variety of crops, but few problems have been noted this season
Last year’s aphid problems have become this year’s near absence. Farmers are not fighting with aphids this year, according to the province, a departure from last year when levels prompted insecticide applications in a wide variety of crops from wheat to canary seed. “We’ve got lots of people out looking for aphids and, in most
Can cornfield leftovers help fill the gap on feed?
Corn stover harvest is normally an American pastime, but one Manitoba couple says the process can work here and might help fill feed supplies for anyone coming up short going into next winter
Pasture conditions and a less-than-ideal first cut already have some producers weighing options on feed, but one Manitoba farmer says the answer might lie in the corn stover. Alfred Billingham, along with his wife, Judy, says they’ve filled in their feed supplies with baled corn stover for years, a practice more popular in the longer
Trap counts in the black for bertha army worm, diamondback moth surge
Manitoba’s trap counts remained in the low risk classes until mid-July, when diamondback moth populations started to reach threshold in some fields
*[UPDATED: July 24, 2018] Anyone worried about bertha armyworm will welcome the provincial trap counts so far, but some farmers may be spraying for diamondback moth. Diamondback moth is the only one of the two to report threshold populations, according to both trap data and Manitoba Agriculture entomologist John Gavloski. Eighty-eight out of the province’s