Daily Network News

More News →

Tag Archives Agronomy

Winter wheat planting lags in U.S.
Comment/Feedback, Crops

Winter wheat planting lags in U.S.

The big question is if it’s weather related or a sign of shifting grower intentions

By
There’s little doubt the planting of the 2018-19 U.S. winter wheat crop is off to what could be the slowest start in history. But the most jarring fact is that the lag appears to be at its worst in the top-producing state, Kansas, which brings the intended acreage — and thus production potential — under
Dr. Alan Moulin takes tour attendees through the field.
Crops

Measuring tillage impact

There may be a middle path that gives the best results

By
Conventional wisdom says less tillage is better when it comes to soil structure, but the issue is more complex when comparing organic soil health to zero till, according to Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada researcher Dr. Alan Moulin. Moulin’s team looked at “soil aggregates,” or how soil particles bind together into larger groups, under high-input conventional
The University of Manitoba’s Martin Entz, an agriculture professor and cropping systems specialist, suspects reduced tillage and organic production may not be mutually exclusive.
Crops

Can organic no till work in the field?

Environmental benefit is part of organic market value, but organic weed management usually means tillage, commonly considered a black mark for soil health. Is there a middle ground?

By
Hairy vetch may be the key to reducing tillage in organic farming, at least in the short term. Martin Entz, a professor and agriculture systems expert from the University of Manitoba has been looking at mulches for organic weed suppression, rather than the tillage typically used. “We found that when we used the right mulch,
Monsanto workers Nathalie de Rocquigny (l), Celeste Giesbrecht and Kwok Chu Tom Li (r) test corn for its response to pathogens on Monsanto’s research farm 
near Carman June 20, 2017.
Crops, News

Drowning in grains once again

How Big Ag sowed seeds of a profit-slashing glut

By
On Canada’s fertile Prairies, dominated by the yellows and golds of canola and wheat, summers are too short to grow corn on a major scale. But Monsanto is working to develop what it hopes will be North America’s fastest-maturing corn, allowing farmers to grow more in Western Canada and other inhospitable climates, such as Ukraine. The seed
Kochia seedlings, part of a U.S. study of the weed, emerge in a field at 
Garden City, Kansas.
Did you know?

Keeping kochia in check

New research indicates the importance of early-season control of herbicide-resistant kochia

By
Herbicide-resistant kochia is a big problem in the U.S. Great Plains states, and has appeared in limited numbers in Manitoba over the past few years. Now researchers, writing in the latest edition of the journal Weed Science, are beginning to reveal more about how the weed works. Kochia typically begins to emerge in the U.S.
Canola traders are fixed on forecasts for a record crop
Grain Markets, Markets

Canola traders are fixed on forecasts for a record crop

Minneapolis wheat suggests protein will be in short supply

ICE Futures Canada canola contracts trended higher for the past two weeks, despite seasonal harvest pressure, although the bigger picture remains sideways and rangebound. The November contract briefly traded above the 200-day moving average of $497 per tonne on Sept. 22, on the back of some fund buying triggered by a rally in Chicago soybeans.
Mitchell Timmmerman, agri-ecosystems specialist with Manitoba Agriculture, highlights root difference between crops during the Manitoba Beef and Forage Initiatives Brookdale tour August 30.
Crops, Local news

Soils are not made equally when it comes to soaking up moisture

Mitchell Timmerman’s rainfall simulation emphasized the role of 
perennial forages in increasing infiltration during the August 30 
Manitoba Beef and Forage Initiatives Brookdale site tour

By
Which one will soak it up first? That was the question a recent demonstration at the Manitoba Beef and Forage Initiatives (MBFI) Brookdale site tried to answer. It was a head-to-head comparison of the ability of fields to soak up surface moisture by Mitchell Timmerman, the province’s agri-ecosystems specialist, using a rainfall simulator that made
soil
Comment, Opinion

Farmers’ focus must shift from yields to soil health

But looking after the land doesn’t have to result in a ‘yield penalty’

By
A funny thing happens whenever talk turns to how to make farming more sustainable. As various options for improving how agriculture treats the natural environment are discussed, someone inevitably brings up the “yield penalty” farmers and society would pay. That penalty is seen as the gap between conventional methods using tillage and high rates of
Bob McIntosh, who farms in Perth County, says it can take a lifetime or longer to repair degraded soils.
Crops

Degraded soils cost farmers billions annually

Yet soil care remains a low priority for policy-makers as well as farmers

By
Farmers have reduced the amount of soil they lose through annual cropping practices, but they continue to carry a costly legacy of degraded soils, a University of Manitoba soil scientist says. David Lobb used crop production data and computer models to estimate how much lost productivity has occurred over the past four decades due to
Dr. Yvonne Lawley of the University of Manitoba presents initial data in front of her newest line of plots evaluating the impact of tillage on soybeans.
Crops, Oilseeds

To till or not to till? For soybeans that’s the question

The Westman Agricultural Diversification Organization is testing out planting dates and 
pre-seed tillage systems in its latest round of soybean experiments

By
Conventional wisdom says to break out the harrow before planting soybeans, the better to expose black earth and warm the soil, but new research is putting that assumption to the test. Dr. Yvonne Lawley of the Unive­rsity of Manitoba is measuring the effect of seeding date and different tillage systems on soybeans through several regions

AgCanadaTV

AgCanadaTV: In case you missed it; your national ag news recap for March 6, 2026

Sponsored by:
More Videos →

Cyber-Savvy Farmer

Glacier Farmmedia Podcast

Latest Market News

More Market News →