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

Malt barley facing stiff competition

More malt barley in Western Canada will be grown solely on a contracted basis as increasing competition from easier-to-grow genetically modified crops will cause producers to turn away from malt barley, Patrick Rowan, senior manager of Canadian barley operations with BARI-Canada said at the annual Wild Oats Grainworld conference Feb. 26. Genetically modified soybeans and


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



IGC forecasts larger world wheat crop

Most of the increased production will be absorbed by higher demand and end-season stocks are expected to rise by only two million tonnes

World wheat production in 2013-14 is tentatively expected to rise by four per cent, the International Grains Council said Feb. 21, issuing its first forecast for next season’s supply-and-demand balance for the commodity. “Much (of the increase) is expected to be absorbed by higher demand and end-season stocks are likely to rise by just two




Wheat could be the next canola

Industry insiders say $2.2 billion will be pumped into wheat research in the coming decade and that will be a game changer

If research into the crop pays off, King Wheat is ready to elbow aside canola, say some industry experts. Seed and chemical companies are pumping up their research and will soon be turning out new seed varieties, treatments and fungicides, Todd Ormann, head of crop portfolio for cereals at Syngenta Canada, told attendees at the


Canola export plan eyes key tariff, non-tariff barriers

Tariffs still hinder canola’s access to China, Japan, 
Korea and the EU but non-tariff barriers are emerging

Some countries are still slapping import-limiting tariffs on Canada’s canola, but the industry warns this country’s most valuable commodity crop is “uniquely susceptible” to non-tariff barriers emerging at an increasing rate. Both types of barriers in key export markets are targeted in the Canola Council of Canada’s new market access strategy — and will require

Our March 8, 1979 issue featured a crop-management special, and this advertisement from that issue reminds of when Treflan was one of the most popular herbicides in Western Canada. Other ads in that issue included Avenge, Eradicane, Asulox, Hoe-Grass, Lorox, Torch and Buctril M. There was extensive information on growing rapeseed — it had not