Heat Wave Helps Wheat, Barley Crops

Warm, late-summer weather has Canadian farmers reaping bigger and better harvests than they expected in midsummer, when slow growth and bad weather suggested a potential crop disaster. Farmers now look to escape a year of drought, flooding and cool temperatures across the Prairies with slightly below-average-size crops of wheat and barley and average quality, said

Smaller Canada Canola Crop Could Curb Exports

A sharply smaller Canadian canola crop in a year when crushing capacity is expanding could create tight supplies that would buoy prices and force buyers to rethink plans. Most Canadian crops are expected to shrink after cool weather and drought-delayed development. Farmers are hoping for later-than-normal frost-free weather to allow their crops to mature. Amid


U. S. Food Safety Worries Hit Canadian Canola Meal

Salmonella-tainted Canadian canola meal has run into a headwind of American food-safety concerns, a trend that threatens to pressure canola futures during a rapid expansion period for the industry. Since March, the U. S. Food and Drug Administration has refused one Canadian shipment of canola (a variant of rapeseed) and three shipments of canola meal.

Keep Malathion Away From Canola Storage

The Canola Council of Canada is reminding growers to keep their canola storage bins free of the insecticide malathion this fall. Malathion is not registered to treat bins that will store canola or to control insects in stored canola. Every country that buys Canadian canola sets limits on pesticide residues, and exceeding those limits can


Time To Evaluate Sclerotinia Risk

Late-seeded and reseeded canola fields should now be assessed for risk to sclerotinia stem rot infection to determine if a fungicide application will be economical, according to the Canola Council of Canada. Many factors affect the risk of infection including: Heaviness of the crop canopy Amount of moisture received in the two weeks prior to

Canola Investment Soars

The canola race is heating up. Monsanto Canada broke ground on a $10-million research facility at the University of Manitoba Monday becoming the third company to announce a major expansion in canola research and development on the Canadian Prairies in as many weeks. Ryan Baldwin, Monsanto’s lead researcher for seed and traits, said canola has


Canada/EU WTO Dispute Over

The formal end of Canada’s WTO trade dispute with the European Union over genetically modified organisms (GMOs), announced July 15, will benefit the country’s canola sector, according to an official with the Canola Council of Canada. “The Canadian government has worked really hard on this and we really appreciate all their efforts,” said JoAnne Buth,

Variable Staging Complicates Disease Control

Should a fungicide be applied to canola now when the oldest plants flower or later with the later-flowering plants? The Canola Council of Canada says each field should be assessed individually for risk of infection from sclerotinia stem rot. Early infestations generally cause the greatest yield loss. Scout fields well to determine when the majority


Fungicide Approved Against Pasmo In Flax

Flax growers can now use BASF Canada’s Headline to help protect crops against Pasmo. The company announced June 23 it’s picked up an amended registration for the strobilurin fungicide’s use in flax crops. As a preventive against Pasmo (Septoria linicola), Headline is recommended at 120 millilitres per acre (0.3 litres per hectare) at eight to

Foliar Feeding Frosted Canola

There are reports of macronutrients and micronutrients being foliar applied to frosted, stalled crops to give the plants a boost. Canola Council of Canada agronomists say they are not aware of any scientific research in Western Canada of this practice. However, if growers do try it, they should leave a checkstrip so they can evaluate