Agricultural engineer Maximiliano Marzetti checks genetically modified wheat with a strain called HB4, which has a gene that helps it better tolerate drought, inside a laboratory at Bioceres Crop Solutions in Rosario, Argentina, July 19.

Argentina gambles on GM wheat

As war and drought hit global crops, Latin American nation sees opportunity for technology

Reuters – In fields near the Argentine farm town of Pergamino, spiky green shoots of wheat stretch in neat rows to the horizon. It is a crop that developers hope will boost yields of the grain thanks to a single gene borrowed from sunflowers to help it better tolerate drought.  Reached along a dusty farm


Alex Griffiths from DUC provides on-farm winter wheat advice.

Winter wheat is for the birds — and farmers

After falling for years, winter wheat acres are on the rebound in Manitoba and a rebate program is helping

GROWTH After falling for years, winter wheat acres are on the rebound in Manitoba and a rebate program is helping

Seeded acres of winter wheat in Manitoba have increased for the second straight year, and that’s welcome news for Alex Griffiths, a crop specialist with Ducks Unlimited Canada. “It’s been kind of an interesting curve to follow,” Griffiths said. “We had peaks in 2008 and 2013, when there were about 600,000 acres planted in Manitoba.

fall rye

Cereal crop quality reasonable as harvest looms

Unsurprisingly, a late spring has translated into a delayed harvest this year

Despite getting off to a later-than-normal start, early harvest results show reasonable grade and yield in the province’s cereal fields. “I would say the quality in general, how it’s looking in the field, is good,” says Anne Kirk, Manitoba Agriculture’s cereal specialist. Roughly half of the winter cereals (winter wheat and fall rye) have been


Attention to detail has helped a New Zealand farmer hit record wheat yields. photo: john greig

Winter wheat yields defy cold winter and harsh spring

A great autumn to establish, followed by deep snow, resulted in a good crop

Despite adverse conditions over winter and into spring, winter wheat has done surprisingly well this season, says one agrologist. In fall 2021, the early harvest led to early seeding, and the dry year resulted in leftover nutrients, so the crop was well fertilized. On top of that, it was an open fall, with no frost