Saskatchewan Agriculture wants to hear from farmers who find ergot in their cereals this summer. The ministry is asking producers to start scouting for the disease a week after crops start flowering and report ergot to their regional offices as soon as it’s detected. It’s all part of a new project designed to help livestock […] Read more
Guenther: Cereal crops hit with ergot needed for livestock project
Guenther: Wanted for science: Southern Alberta canola fields
A University of Manitoba researcher will lead a group of researchers who aim to pinpoint avirulence genes in blackleg found in farmers’ fields. The group will also study how the fungus adapts to different canola cultivars and how agronomy affects blackleg populations. They’re currently looking for farmers in southern Alberta to allow them to collect samples once or twice a year during the four-year study.
Crops in northwestern Sask. faring relatively well
While crops in southeast and east-central Saskatchewan struggle against surplus moisture, fields in the province’s northwest generally look good. “As long as nothing silly happens between now and harvest we should be good,” said Dave Shepherd, manager of AgriTeam Services at Glaslyn, 67 km north of North Battleford. Errin Tollefson, agronomist with Cavalier Agrow at […] Read more
Soaked Manitoba soils may take out some insect pests
Crops may not be the only casualties of drenched Manitoba soil. Under the right circumstances, superfluous rain can kill insect pests, too. Most of Manitoba’s southwestern corner and parts of the province’s Interlake region were hammered with 176 to 200 per cent of normal precipitation between May 1 and last Sunday (July 6). The Virden […] Read more
Guenther: In dry SW Sask., past flood damage still lingers
Four years later, rancher Eric Lawrence is still feeling the effects of the Maple Creek flood. On June 17 and 18, 2010, a severe rainstorm dropped about 100 mm in Maple Creek, which hugs the north side of the Cypress Hills in southwestern Saskatchewan. The rain fell on the heels of the wettest May and […] Read more
Guenther: Cutworms eye new Prairie soybean acres
Some soybean growers in Saskatchewan’s southeastern corner are dealing with unwelcome dinner guests. Brad Eggum, of Eggum Seed Sales, was scouting a soybean field when he came across cutworms by chance. “The beans were struggling to get through and we were just checking the emergence and started finding (cutworms),” says Eggum, who farms near Halbrite, […] Read more
Guenther: Scout now for flea beetles
Flea beetles are on the march and Prairie farmers need to scout canola fields to keep them at bay. “I’ve seen some fields where flea beetles’ levels are high enough where it has warranted spraying. Again, like every year, it is spotty,” Lyndon Hicks said during an interview here during Canada’s Farm Progress Show. Hicks […] Read more
FNA pins down south-central Sask. site for Project N
Regina — Farmers of North America (FNA) will be breaking ground at Belle Plaine, Sask., for its farmer-owned nitrogen plant. “For strategic reasons it’s a very good site,” FNA spokesperson Bob Friesen said in an interview here Wednesday at Canada’s Farm Progress Show. The Belle Plaine site, about 40 km west of Regina, has access […] Read more
Guenther: Demand, supply carry cattle producers to ‘this year country’
Maple Creek, Sask. — Ranchers are all too familiar with the mindset behind the phrase “next year country,” which implies hope for better times ahead. But as one rancher at the Cow Town Livestock Exchange put it, it looks like they’ve now entered “this year country” instead. It’s no wonder cattle producers feel more optimistic: […] Read more
Guenther: NW Sask. growers hustle within seeding window
Jay Millard is chipper so far this seeding season. “The weather’s been good. It’s warmed up and things are growing. That’s as good as it gets,” he said. Millard farms about 3,500 acres in the Livelong area, about 90 km northwest of North Battleford, Sask. As of Friday he has about 2,000 acres under his […] Read more
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