Flea beetle. (Photo courtesy Canola Council of Canada)

Flea beetles take advantage of late seeding

CNS Canada — A heat wave in late May and a slow start to the planting season have created some ideal conditions for flea beetles. Pest specialists in Saskatchewan and Manitoba say farmers have already begun to spray for the beetle in certain locations. “They’ve been getting good conditions to feed under, they like it […] Read more

(File photo)

Manitoba sunflower acreage set to drop

CNS Canada — The closure of a sunflower processing plant in southern Alberta has Manitoba sunflower growers feeling uneasy this year. “Because of the plant closure there’s quite a bit of delay in delivery of the ’17 crop. So it’s discouraged quite a few guys from growing more (sunflowers),” said Ben Friesen, senior market manager […] Read more

Lentil plants in bloom. (BasieB/iStock/Getty Images)

Pulse weekly outlook: Good start despite dry conditions

CNS Canada — Dry soil conditions persist across many areas of Western Canada but the outlook for pulse crops seems fairly promising in one specialist’s view. “For the pulses, seeding has been going fairly well,” said Daphne Cruise, crops extension specialist with Saskatchewan’s provincial Agriculture Knowledge Centre in Moose Jaw. “A lot of the pulses […] Read more

A farmer plants corn near Ashland, Ill., northwest of Springfield, on April 14, 2016. (Photo: DMathies/iStock/Getty Images)

U.S. grains: Corn, soy, wheat end higher after choppy trade

Chicago | Reuters — U.S. corn futures rose on Tuesday, supported by concerns that rains in the U.S. Midwest will stall the tail end of planting, traders said. Chicago Board of Trade wheat futures firmed, snapping a four-session losing streak on short-covering and bargain buying. Soybean futures also closed firm after trading in negative territory […] Read more



Hydraulic drives were home built.

A multi-hybrid planter rebuild

How do you take a split hybrid, twin row planter and make it plant dual hybrids one in the front planter row and one in the back? It takes ingenuity, mechanical know-how and some help from eBay. Mike and Geoff Strang, who farm near Exeter, wanted their new Kinze 3600TR planter to plant two corn […] Read more



Sea surface temperature anomalies (in degrees Celsius) over the equatorial Pacific for the week centred on Feb. 21. (CPC.ncep.noaa.gov)

Spring outlook cooler for Prairies, warmer for Ontario

Growers in parts of Ontario may get an early start on planting this spring, while Prairie fields may see lingering snow and later-than-average last frosts. WeatherFarm’s spring forecast, powered by U.S.-based DTN Progressive Farmer, projects a cold start to the spring as likely for the western half of Canada, reversing the milder conditions shown over […] Read more

Emergence in an Ontario soybean field. (File photo by John Greig)

Greig: Late spring planting means more soybeans in Ontario

Ontario farmers are stopped across most of the province as consistently wet weather holds up planting and pushes farmers to plant more soybeans instead of corn. Significantly higher than normal rain in southern Ontario and record rainfall between Toronto and Ottawa mean that near the end of May, corn planting isn’t complete and there remains […] Read more