soybean plant stand calculator

Tips and tools for a successful soybean season

Tips on seeding, soil levels, weed control, seed treatments and the 
latest sector tools to help you achieve top yields this season

Manitoba soybean acreage has more than doubled in the last 10 years, and this year even more farmers are expected to give the crop a try. Manitoba Agriculture, Food and Rural Development (MAFRD) pulse specialist Dennis Lange offered some tips at the Dauphin Agriculture Society’s Farm Outlook 2015 conference. Lange reviewed the importance of selecting

weedy sidewalk

Manitoba municipalities prepare for cosmetic pesticide ban

Regulations still allow ditches, boulevards and sidewalks to be sprayed for weeds

If the grass on a boulevard or a ditch is mowed, does that make it a lawn? Municipalities have been asking the province that question as the ban on cosmetic pesticides for lawns comes into effect, and now they have their answer. Ditches and boulevards are not lawns, nor are the cracks in the sidewalks


weed dying in a timelapse video

Fun for farmers — watching weeds die

Time-lapse videos help farmers identify signs of herbicide resistance

The weed science team at Ohio State University has come up with a set of videos that farmers might enjoy even more than binge watching “House of Cards” — weeds slowly dying after being sprayed with herbicides. For every second of movie time shown, one hour of real time passes in the time-lapse videos. The

man in corn field

Grow less maize and produce more food

Boosting yield allows seeding less maize as ‘insurance,’ and adding more profitable and nutritious crops to the rotation

Christian Thierfelder strides into a plot of maize, reaches down, and scratches through the mulch with his fingers to grab a clump of soil. Holding it up, the senior agronomist with CIMMYT’s Harare field station lets it crumble through his fingers — it is moist but not muddy, and the decaying plant material gives it


men talking in a group

Field trials continue on grass seed growth regulator

Work is underway to expand the availability of Syngenta’s Parlay

It’s been years in the making, but the Manitoba Forage Seed Association is one step closer to expanding the label of a much-requested plant growth regulator. “We’ve done small-plot work up until now, and this coming season we’re still going to be doing small-plot work, but also we are looking to do some field-scale trials,”

soil erosion

Editorial: Changing how we think

Back in the days when Prairie farmers were still in the experimental phase of adopting what is now known as conservation agriculture, I remember interviewing a farmer who had gone all the way and embraced zero tillage. He said it was an exercise in frustration bordering on failure until he realized the transition involved more


It didn’t just rain, it poured — causing floods

MAFRI crop report for June 24, 2013

Weekly Provincial Summary Many areas of Manitoba received significant amounts of rainfall over the past several days. Impact to crops is being assessed and will depend on the stage of crop development and duration of the excessive moisture conditions. Earlier in the week, crops showed rapid development given the warmer weather conditions. Producers made excellent progress with herbicide

CropChatter: When do I worry about herbicide injury?

The 2013 growing season hasn’t exactly been setting records for heat so far, so some growers may be stuck trying to balance optimal temperatures with their chosen herbicide’s recommended application timings. Crop injury in some situations may be unavoidable, since both temperature and incorrect crop staging affect crop tolerance to herbicides. But not all injury


Government says pesticide ban backed

The details haven’t been announced, but Manitobans overwhelmingly support banning “cosmetic” pesticides, says the NDP government. “More than 2,000 people participated in our consultations and more than 70 per cent of them were in favour of increased regulation,” said Gord Mackintosh, minister of Conservation and Water Stewardship. “The federal government also recognizes the need for

Sequence and intervals

Ask a room full of agronomists what’s significant about the year 1993 and the word “fusarium” ripples through the crowd. It was a memorable year. Much of the wheat in Manitoba, particularly in the Red River Valley, was contaminated with fusarium head blight disease, which affects yields but also creates toxins that can affect human