Goldacres recently built a sprayer that uses Bilberry’s spot spraying program and is towed by a SwarmFarm Robotics platform.

Finding green on green and dead where it needs to be

Spot spraying: Reliably identifying green weeds among a green crop has long been a goal for spot spraying herbicides

Glacier FarmMedia – There’s a race to build computer programs that instantly differentiate weeds from crops within images taken by sprayer-boom mounted cameras. Green-on-brown spraying, where cameras identify plants on brown soil background for burndown applications, has been around for at least 15 years. Weed-It, John Deere See & Spray Select and Amazone AmaSpot can […] Read more

How are Ontario soybeans holding up?

OMAFRA Field Crop Report for June 2

The majority of the soybean crop was planted by May 20th. Although plant stands have generally been good, there are fields with poor emergence. Poor soybean stands can be caused by various issues such as insect or slug feeding, but this year the main problem has been dry soil. Soybeans must be seeded about 0.5 […] Read more

(CNW Group/Sugarleaf photo)

Canopy Growth to buy rival Supreme Cannabis

Deal comes as pot demand lights up

Reuters — Canopy Growth Corp. said Thursday it will buy rival Supreme Cannabis for $323.3 million, as the world’s biggest cannabis producer bolsters its portfolio to tap surging demand. Shares of Canopy, up 15 per cent this year, fell around 4.6 per cent to $36 after it announced the cash-and-stock deal for Supreme, which owns […] Read more

Being able to spray weeds like redroot pigweed early without spraying an entire field could help reduce costs for farmers.

Canadian weed sensing project could mean targeted spraying

Pesticides sprayed with more precision could reduce farmer costs and build consumer confidence in products

Glacier FarmMedia – A project that will examine the use of artificial intelligence to detect weeds and crop pests during passes over a field received a $12.8 million investment from Protein Industries Canada. Led by Precision.ai., Sure Growth Solutions Inc., Exceed Grain Marketing and the Global Institute for Food Security, the project is designed to […] Read more

Canada thistle usually needs to be controlled by using multiple products.

Weed of the week: Canada thistle

Canada thistle has more than one way or reproducing, making it tougher to control

It takes more than one field action to control Canada thistle – a prolific weed with a couple tricks up its sleeve. Also called creeping thistle and field thistle, Canada thistle (Cirsium arvense) is a perennial weed that reproduces both by seed and by horizontal roots. Dense patches of new shoots can form from these […] Read more


Waterhemp is a cross-pollinating species, which improves its ability to develop herbicide resistance.

Weed of the week: Waterhemp

The challenging weed rapidly develops resistance, so rotating herbicides is critical

Waterhemp can be controlled through a variety of approaches, but identification is often difficult. The weed — a non-native member of the pigweed family first discovered in Lambton County in 2002 – is an annual plant producing tens of thousands of seeds every year. It features narrow leaves, wavy leaf margins, and (almost completely) hairless […] Read more

Herbicide-resistant redroot pigweed continues to spread.

Weed of the week: Redroot pigweed

Economic thresholds run from five to 15 plants per 10 metres of row

Redroot pigweed can be a tough customer. But don’t wallow in despair – control is possible. Redroot pigweed (Latin name Amaranthus retroflexus) is an annual weed found throughout Ontario in cultivated fields, gardens, pastures, waste places, roadsides and, according to the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, nearly any other disturbed area. While […] Read more

(Fudio/iStock/Getty Images)

As customers hoard pot brownies, weed firms see lockdown boost

Reuters — Cannabis sales are touching new highs as customers across the U.S. and Canada stockpile weed to prepare for long spells of isolation because of the coronavirus pandemic. Between March 16 and 22, sales of recreational cannabis across California, Colorado, Oregon and Alaska — some of the key U.S. markets — were up 50 […] Read more


The new formulation aims to provide early season control of broadleaf weeds such as pigweed and many more.

NuFarm launches new Valtera liquid formulation herbicide

Growers in Eastern Canada have another option for early season control of broadleaf weeds in soybeans, wheat and corn. ValteraTM EZ is a pre-emergent herbicide from Nufarm Agriculture Inc. that is now available in a liquid formulation. “Valtera has been available in a dry formulation for several years in Canada delivering residual control for up […] Read more

Black-grass rising over and above a barley crop.

Using technology to pinpoint problem weeds

U.K. researchers create inexpensive, in-field herbicide resistance test tool

Britain’s island geography has been a major barrier for invading forces throughout history, but it’s not so effective at stopping the spread of invasive weeds. That’s why United Kingdom researchers have developed an inexpensive, convenient tool to help farmers identify resistant weeds, specifically black grass, as early as possible. Black-grass is to the U.K. what […] Read more