AgCanada boss says budget cuts won’t affect fusarium head blight research

Recently retired plant pathologists Andy Tekauz and Jeannie Gilbert will be replaced, 
but the positions will be in Morden, not Winnipeg

Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada isn’t easing up in the battle against fusarium head blight, says the director general for the department’s Prairie/Boreal Plain Ecozone. “Fusarium work is a high priority,” said Stephen Morgan Jones. “It is, along with the rust diseases, a very high priority for us.” Jones said two recently retired fusarium experts from

Soybeans hot, flax is not for 2013

Expect to see a lot more soybeans and corn planted in Manitoba next spring and a lot less flax and barley, seed growers said during their annual “what’s hot, what’s not” session last month. Hard red spring and general purpose wheat are expected to be popular too, growers told the Manitoba Seed Grower Association’s annual


Harvest most popular CWRS wheat in Manitoba

The high-yielding, fusarium-susceptible variety captured the highest percentage of provincial acres this year, but newcomer Carberry is rising with a bullet

Just like the classic Neil Young album of the same name, Harvest is topping the charts. In this case, it’s the Canada Western Red Spring acreage chart in Manitoba. “It’s been quietly beavering away out there with not too many people paying attention,” said Stephen Fox, the Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada scientist who bred the

CDC Falcon shifts to general purpose class Aug. 1, 2014

CDC Falcon, Manitoba’s most popular winter wheat, will be shifted to the Canada Western General Purpose wheat class next August as long as there’s enough suitable replacement seed available. Moats and Flourish have performed as well as CDC Falcon in trials and meet the quality standards for the Canada Western Red Winter wheat class. There’s


More rain needed for late-season crops and pastures

Weekly Provincial Summary Winter wheat harvest is nearing completion in Manitoba with yields generally ranging from 50 to 80 bushels per acre with average to above-average quality. Harvest yields of spring wheat, barley, oats, canola and pea crops are variable, largely dependent upon amount and timing of precipitation. To date, spring wheat yields range from

What spring wheat variety is right for you?

Pest and disease challenges are reducing AC Barrie acreage, 
but the alternatives require some careful thought

Just a few short years ago the questions surrounding planting spring wheat were fairly straightforward — such as how many acres and how did it pencil out. A question that very rarely came up in Manitoba was what variety to plant — it was all but certain that the seed that went into the ground


Crop holding its own as rainy weather continues

Provincial Summary:  Seeding progress in Manitoba is estimated to be 98 per cent complete. Some reseeding is still occurring.  Generally, the condition of most crop types is rated as good.  Heavy rains in some areas of Manitoba have resulted in ponding and saturated soil conditions, mainly in the lower and poorly drained areas of the

Fungicide season has begun

Flag leaf stage applications provide the best protection Winter wheat is at, or near the stage, for applying fungicides to protect it from various leaf diseases and spring wheat isn’t far behind, says Holly Derksen, a plant pathologist with Manitoba Agriculture, Food and Rural Initiatives (MAFRI). Some winter wheat fields were at the flag-leaf stage


New fungicide options available this year

There are a couple new fungicide combinations available to Manitoba farmers this year and perhaps a new one if final regulatory approval comes in time. BASF’s Twinline combines the active ingredients in the fungicides Headline (Group 11) and Caramba (Group 3) into one jug. The product controls a number of cereal diseases including leaf, stem

Winter wheat can germinate in spring

There are reports circulating of agronomists telling producers to reseed winter wheat fields that have just germinated this spring. As I understand, it is related to the process of vernalization and whether it has occurred or not. Last fall I wrote a Crops eNews article titled “What Happens if My Winter Wheat Didn’t Emerge?” –