A spray drone on display during an agronomy event at Assiniboine College.

Manitoba trials work toward drone spraying approvals

Canada’s PMRA says pesticides need drone-specific labels before drone spraying can take off; Manitoba crop trials are adding data towards that process

Canada’s PMRA says pesticides need drone-specific labels before drone spraying can take off; Manitoba crop trials are adding data towards that approvals process.



URL: https://www.gettyimages.ca/detail/photo/pick-at-boonstra-royalty-free-image/1169843869?phrase=strawberry%20crop%20manitoba&adppopup=true
Families and others gather at Boonstra Farms to pick strawberries at this u-pick farm located in Stonewall, Manitoba. PHOTO: AHPHOTOSWPG/ISTOCK/GETTY IMAGES

So you want to farm strawberries

Fall is the time for Manitoba farmers to set the wheels in motion for the 2026 strawberry field crop

If you’re considering starting or expanding a Prairie strawberry farm, autumn is the time to start sourcing and securing the plants and inputs you’ll need, a producer from one Alberta-based U-pick says.









Canadian producers must navigate conflicting global pesticide and residue rules that can clash with domestic approvals, risking market access and requiring careful management and industry support, according to industry experts. Photo: Greg Berg

Keep it clean on pre-harvest chemical use

Farmers urged to toe the line on pre-harvest pesticide application and market product restrictions to avoid grain marketing headaches

Canadian farmers urged to toe the line on pre-harvest pesticide application and market product restrictions to avoid grain marketing headaches.

Giorgos Zeikos, apple farmer and president of the Agia apple producers’ cooperative checks the fruits at an apple orchard in the village of Agia, in Thessaly, Greece, June 12, 2025. Photo: Reuters/Alexandros Avramidis

Europe’s illegal pesticide trade surges as farmers cut costs

At least 14 per cent of pesticides used on EU fields today are illegal

As the cost of spraying crops with pesticides becomes increasingly expensive, farmers in Greece's agricultural heartland have turned to a cheaper alternative: liquids in unlabeled plastic bottles smuggled over land and sea.