Adaptive management has probably been taking place as long as human beings have been around. Just about everyone can be given a recipe or a method to do something but often they find they need to adapt that recipe or those instructions to fit their own situation. They may have to substitute recipe ingredients they […] Read more
Combining many tools into an overall integrated weed management strategy is a winner
There are many components to integrated weed management (IWM) including crop rotation, seeding rates, chemical, cultural and mechanical controls, but one of the most vital aspects of any successful IWM is crop establishment, says Dr. Rob Gulden of the University of Manitoba. At this year’s Crops-A-Palooza event in Portage la Prairie, researchers including Gulden manned […] Read more
Variety and fungicide are key for control, but for sunflowers there’s only one option — rotation
The good news is the hot, dry summer made sclerotinia somewhat scarce in canola fields this summer, but there was a minor downside — there weren’t many examples to show farmers attending a sclerotinia control session at this year’s Crops-A-Palooza, even in the inoculated demonstration plots at the Canada-Manitoba Crop Diversification Centre (CMCDC) here. But […] Read more
Predatory and parasitic insects can contribute to pest suppression for your crops
Pest control services provided by naturally occurring, beneficial insects save growers in the United States around US$4.5 billion per year. Add that to the just over US$3-million benefit they provide through pollination of crops, and these are pretty valuable critters to have on the farm. New research at the University of Manitoba is trying to […] Read more
The annual disease survey found this perennial challenge is still the biggest issue for farmers
Sclerotinia was the biggest issue for Manitoba canola growers last year, according to results from the 2016 disease survey. It showed that over 90 per cent of the 105 Manitoba fields surveyed had some level of sclerotinia infection. The incidence of the disease – the number of plants infected in the field – was between […] Read more
Clubroot and verticillium stripe are two growing risks for canola growers
It appears clubroot is a fact of life for Manitoba farmers — but it’s still a long ways from the crisis seen in Alberta. Clubroot symptoms have only been reported in eight Manitoba fields to date; two in 2013 and six in 2015. No Manitoba fields surveyed in 2016 showed any clubroot symptoms. Delving a […] Read more
They could have a fit for Western Canada, but they require just as much planning as any other crop choice
Open just about any U.S. farming publication and you won’t read for long before seeing the words “cover crop.” There’s been an explosion of interest in the practice of sowing a cheap mixture of seed to cover the soil after harvest, and then seeding directly into it the following year. The benefits go beyond soil […] Read more
The answer is ‘maybe’ — and probably ‘yes’ for sandy soils, but no research has yet been done in clay soils, according to University of Manitoba graduate student, Patrick Walther whose master’s thesis focused on soybean response to different tillage treatments. Walther compared four tillage treatments in soybean crops — standard double disc, vertical till […] Read more
There are products available to protect you from nitrogen loss, as well as management techniques to apply
Leaching deep into the ground, gassing off into the atmosphere, soil denitrification from microbial activity — all ways you can lose your valuable nitrogen fertilizer. Finding ways to reduce these losses and help producers get more value from their N fertilizer is crucial, and that begins with understanding how these losses occur, said researcher Fabian […] Read more
Knowing your numbers is the foundation of good decision-making on your farm
What’s it cost to grow a bushel of wheat, canola, soybeans or corn on your operation? If you can’t answer that question, it’s going to be hard to make informed decisions about how to manage your fields. That’s because production, marketing and management starts with planning, and calculating the cost of production (COP) is the […] Read more
