Webinar Australia: Chemical company BASF has launched a free resource for farmers on herbicide resistance, including lessons from Australia.

Transplanting herbicide-resistance advice from Down Under

Australia has something to teach Canadian farmers about herbicide resistance, at least, according to BASF’s latest online resource

On the other side of the world, farmers have learned some valuable insights about herbicide resistance that you can share. In Australia they’ve long been fighting this battle and the land Down Under has learned some tough lessons. The International Survey of Herbicide Resistant Weeds found Canada is third in the world in terms of

Editorial: In the weeds

Canada has a brewing weed problem, and we’re not talking about the looming legalization of cannabis. This is an older problem, but with a modern twist, in the form of constant selection pressure from chemical control products and the resulting herbicide-resistant weeds. Manitoba farmers have the dubious distinction of being among the first in the


Glyphosate-resistant kochia is still rare in Manitoba, but the time to prevent it from spreading is now.

ON THE GROW: Herbicide resistance is spreading quickly

Manitoba Agriculture is warning about new and looming threats when it comes to resistant weeds

Manitoba’s provincial weed specialist is urging a harder line on herbicide resistance. “Zero tolerance is really where you need to be,” Tammy Jones of Manitoba Agriculture said. “Controlling your escapes. Control them with mowing; control them with tillage. If you really want to, control them with hand weeding, but if you have resistant wild oats

Fall is the best time for controlling foxtail barley

Fall is the best time for controlling foxtail barley

It might be too late in the season now, but there are ways to tackle this weed in the spring too

Fall is the best time to control many perennial weeds with glyphosate, including foxtail barley, but it might already be too late. Weed surveys show foxtail barley is on the increase, Manitoba Agriculture weed specialist Jeanette Gaultier said Sept. 20 on her last day in the position, during the Westman Crop Talk webinar. “In the


Quebec researchers say a new treatment can remove atrazine from 
surface water.

Cleaning up chemicals

Atrazine is the most common weed killer found in Quebec surface water, which prompted the research

A group of Quebec researchers, at that province’s Institut National De La Recherche Scientifique, say they’ve identified an effective way to remove the pesticide atrazine from surface water. Atrazine, widely used as a weed killer, is known to have harmful effects on aquatic wildlife and presents a risk to human health by altering the action

The decision to apply glyphosate or a true desiccant ahead of harvesting soybeans will depend on the weeds being controlled.

Pre-harvest glyphosate on soybeans?

Yes, no or maybe — it really all depends on the weeds

Whether to apply glyphosate or a true desiccant before harvesting soybeans depends on the weeds in the crop, Manitoba Agriculture weed specialist Jeanette Gaultier, said Sept. 20 during the Crop Talk Westman webinar. “If your issues are winter annuals and perennials I would definitely go in with glyphosate because obviously it’s a systemic — it’s


Sept. 20 was the last day of work for Jeanette Gaultier as Manitoba Agriculture’s weed specialist. KAP hopes the position is filled quickly. Gaultier is BASF’s new senior technical service specialist for Manitoba.

KAP concerned over unfilled weed specialist position

Jeanette Gaultier, who had the position, left to work for BASF

Keystone Agricultural Producers (KAP) wants Manitoba Agriculture’s weed specialist position quickly filled. Jeanette Gaultier, who held the job for the last two years, left the position Sept. 20 to become BASF’s new senior technical service specialist for Manitoba starting Sept. 25. Previously Gaultier, who has a PhD in pesticides and soil science, was Manitoba Agriculture’s

Desiccating sunflowers too early can cut yield and test weight. Ideally seed moisture at the time of desiccation will be 14 to 16 per cent, or at least under 20. The back of the sunflower head can be a guide. The bracts in the photo on the left are not fully brown to the bottom. Seeds in this head will be about 30 per cent moisture. The bracts on the right are brown to the bottom and the back of the head is tan coloured. The seeds will be 15 to 20 per cent moisture.

Lots of advantages to desiccating sunflowers

The key is timing and determining if the crop is good enough to justify the additional cost

Desiccating confection or oilseed sunflowers to speed up harvest can deliver profits and peace of mind, but timing is everything, says Anastasia Kubinec, Manitoba Agriculture’s manager of crop industry development. “There has been a move to more producers going to desiccating sunflowers because they do see the economic benefit to it,” Kubinec said during the


There’s talk of restricting dicamba use in Arkansas following many crop injury complaints there this growing season, but there’s no such talk in Manitoba. Manitoba Agriculture’s Terry Buss spoke about a plot demonstrating dicamba drift damage at the Crop Diagnostic School in Carman in July.

Manitoba sees very limited dicamba drift

There were dicamba drift complaints in Manitoba, 
but nothing like in parts of the U.S.

[*UPDATED: Sept. 18, 2017] There’s talk of restricting dicamba applications in Arkansas and possibly other states, but not in Manitoba. “I don’t think we are anywhere near the situation that they are having in the States (with dicamba crop injury complaints),” Manitoba Agriculture weed specialist Jeanette Gaultier said in an interview Sept. 7. “We seem

Tips to reduce dicamba drift

Cleaning out the spray tank is a critical step for 
preventing damage to other crops

The best way to avoid dicamba drift is to follow label directions. Although dicamba can be applied to Xtend soybeans from pre-emergence to early flowering, applying pre-emergence has advantages. One is if your crop isn’t up your neighbour’s might not be either and can’t be damaged by drift. “Dicamba provides residual control for a short