High River, Alta - April, 9, 2025 -  Signs of spring - A farmer harrows a field behind a crocus in full bloom with a honey bee on it..  Mike Sturk photo.

AI app promises Prairie farmers better insect scouting

IPPM Now app uses Prairie expertise, including from Manitoba, to help farmers identify and mange for beneficial and pest insects in their fields

A new app, artificial intelligence (AI)-driven and developed on the Prairies, is expected to help farmers identify and manage pest and beneficial insects.

Dennis Lange at the 2022 Crop Diagnostics School.

Scout early for blight in peas

High moisture makes diligence even more important this season

Manitoba agronomists recommend that farmers scout now for mycosphaerella blight in field pea crops. High moisture conditions this year are likely to result in more disease pressure. “The scouting time would be right around early flowering and some fields have started to flower already,” said Dennis Lange, provincial pulse specialist. According to Manitoba Pulse and


Is this scouting platform the future of farming? The R-Tech Rover is just a prototype for now, but the builders say it reveals great possibilities.

Rover shows future of farming

Manitoba manufacturer launches remote-operated platform with University of Winnipeg researchers

R-Tech Industries of Homewood makes farm implements and, because its machines are often used by researchers, many of them come in strange shapes and sizes. They’re small, narrow, miniature versions of the big iron you usually see working the fields in production season. The smallest, strangest and narrowest of them all is the R-Tech Rover, a lightweight basic frame perched on

This Carolina grasshopper is a common sight on gravel roads but it’s not a threat to your crops.

Mistaken identity

Not everything that looks like a pest insect actually is

One of Manitoba’s best-known insect experts is reminding farmers to be sure of what they’re seeing when they scout. For example, that “wireworm” problem may not actually be a problem at all. Therevid larvae (the precursor to a large, hairy fly) are often mistaken for wireworms, provincial entomologist John Gavloski said during a May 22


Sclerotinia relies on a very specific set of environmental conditions to thrive in your canola.

Consider conditions, margins before spraying for sclerotinia

Spray for sclerotinia or give it a pass? That’s no simple black or white question, but one thing is certain — by the time you can see it, it’s too late. Anastasia Kubinec, Manitoba Agriculture, Food and Rural Development oilseed specialist, said that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t scout though. If anything it means it’s more

UAV demonstration at the 2014 Crop Diagnostic School.

VIDEO: Drone flies up, up and away

2014 Crop Diagnostic School demonstrated flying a UAV

Rejean Picard, a farm production advisor with Manitoba Agriculture, Food and Rural Development, demonstrated an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) during the Crop Diagnostic School at the University of Manitoba’s Carman facility July 17, 2014. UAV’s hold a lot of potential for scouting crops. The video begins with Picard explaining how to power up the UAV.


Grounded

It is easy to see why drones, also known as unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are without a doubt the hottest new technology to hit the Farm Belt. They offer a relatively inexpensive option for comprehensive field scouting, allowing farmers to easily pinpoint troubled spots in their fields for closer inspection. We suspect that over time