Sclerotinia in canola. (Photo courtesy Canola Council of Canada)

Consider canola crop’s potential yield before spraying

As July approaches and crop canopies close, sclerotinia will be on the minds of many canola growers. But will it pay to spray? Fungicide applications are more likely to be profitable when the canola hits 30-40 bushels per acre, said Colleen Redlick, senior technical development specialist at BASF. Justine Cornelsen, agronomy specialist with the Canola […] Read more

Kabuli chickpeas. (PulseCanada.com)

Chickpeas seen making Prairie comeback

CNS Canada — Chickpeas should see a resurgence in Western Canada this spring, as farmers who hadn’t seeded the crop for a number of years shift some acres back from other pulses. “We sold a sizeable amount of chickpea planting seed,” said Colin Young of Midwest Grain at Moose Jaw. After an excellent quality year […] Read more

Environment Canada on April 30 released this forecast map for the probability of above-normal precipitation for the period of May through July 2018.

May showers likely to leave growers unsatisfied

CNS Canada — Canada’s Prairies can expect to see regular rainfall in most regions during May, but it likely won’t be enough to offset dry conditions recorded over the past several months. According to Drew Lerner of World Weather Inc. in Kansas City, the first half of May should see average rainfall amounts in most […] Read more

(FIle photo by Allan Dawson)

Prairie winter wheat conditions uncertain

CNS Canada — While it’s too early to assess how the western Canada winter wheat crop fared this winter, there is some uncertainty due to unseasonably cold April temperatures. “We start losing cold tolerance, especially in March and going into April now. And that’s when you need to monitor temperatures or for (the crop) to […] Read more



The Canada 150 emblem in a durum field. (Agr.gc.ca)

Durum production seen vulnerable heading into 2018

Winnipeg | CNS Canada — Western Canada and the northern U.S. could be in trouble for next year’s durum crop if rain doesn’t come, while large global stockpiles could also keep commodity prices low, according to analysts here at the Grain World conference. “Will it rain in the durum areas of Canada and the United […] Read more

(WeatherFarm.com)

Parched soils threaten canola, spring wheat

Winnipeg | Reuters — Canada’s western farm belt, dogged by excessive rain in some areas this spring, is now facing parched conditions in others, threatening wheat and canola crops, crop analysts say. A large area of southern Saskatchewan and southwestern Manitoba has received less than 40 per cent of normal precipitation during the 30-day period […] Read more

Farmer Brian Derksen seeds wheat on May 2, 2017 near Miami, Man., about 80 km south of Portage la Prairie. (Screengrab from Allan Dawson video)

Prairie seeding off to ‘shaky start’

CNS Canada — Western Canada will likely see some favourable seeding conditions in the short term, one meteorologist says, though wet pockets in some areas need longer to dry out. “We are getting off to a little bit of a shaky start in some spots, but it looks like the weather pattern is going to […] Read more


PAMI researchers install a probe in a canola bin as part of a temperature monitoring study, which ran from June through to mid-August 2016. (PAMI.ca)

Cool, dry canola keeps best when left alone

For farmers who plan to keep canola in bins through the hottest months of the year, a new Prairie study suggests that to manage bin temperature, less handling is better. Having set out to study how best to manage higher-moisture canola over the spring and summer, a team from the Prairie Agricultural Machinery Institute (PAMI) […] Read more