Canadian ranchers and North American packers aren’t looking forward to the arrival of revisions to the U.S. government’s country-of-origin labelling (COOL) rules. The prospect of Washington’s latest changes to COOL — and the length of the process to appeal against them under world trade rules — left ranchers and others in the beef industry cold […] Read more
Guenther: Canadian cattle producers, U.S. packers dread COOL revisions
New Sask. research chair to focus on new forages
The federal and Saskatchewan governments are investing $1.25 million over five years in a new research chair — to focus on breeding forages. The new chair’s emphasis will be on “developing new forage varieties with improved yield,” Saskatchewan’s Agriculture Minister Lyle Stewart said during the Saskatchewan Stock Growers Association convention in Moose Jaw. Stewart said […] Read more
Don’t sacrifice beneficial insects to kill the pests
Including insecticide with herbicides may seem like a proactive, time-saving measure — but the practice can cause more harm than good. “Using insecticide ‘just because’ kills insects that reduce pest insects. Spray insecticide only when absolutely necessary,” Scott Meers, Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development’s entomologist at Brooks, wrote during the most recent weekly bug chat […] Read more
Alta. pest watchers tweet on flea beetle presence
Alberta farmers, agronomists and entomologists reported flea beetle infestations during this week’s bug chat on Twitter — but so far spraying isn’t widespread. Farmers around New Norway and Viking wrote that they were seeing flea beetles in the area, but canola crops seem to be outgrowing the damage. Lisa Anderson, a sales representative with DuPont […] Read more
Guenther: Critical period now in sclerotinia cycle
Last year’s sclerotinia pressure on the Prairies means farmers should be prepared to spray again if conditions are right, and the economics and yield potential warrant it. Canola farmers in Alberta and Saskatchewan saw what was probably the highest sclerotinia pressure ever last year, says Todd Friday, pulse and oilseeds market segment manager with DuPont. […] Read more
Coming up in Grainews: Check water quality before spraying
Before filling up the sprayer, check your water quality. Spraying with hard water might still give you a kill, however, as former University of Saskatchewan professor Les Henry says, it may be “a lot less zippy than it could be.” Hard water, with high magnesium and calcium levels, is common in Saskatchewan because many wells […] Read more
Guenther: Don’t jump gun on flea beetle spraying
Farmers in parts of Alberta are spraying for flea beetles, and the pest is popping up elsewhere — but before spraying, farmers should make sure damage breaches economic thresholds. During a scheduled online insect chat, Scott Meers, entomologist with Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development at Brooks, wrote that farmers were spraying for flea beetles in […] Read more
Alta. farmer tries ‘tramplining’ over tramlines
Farmers interested in tramlines may balk at the setup costs — but Josh Fankhauser has saved several thousand by using a standard GPS and paying close attention to detail. Fankhauser farms 10,000 acres and runs 500 cattle with three partners near Claresholm in southern Alberta. This year, all their acres are either under dedicated tramlines, […] Read more
Guenther: For problem fields, diagnosis in the details
Providing agronomists with detailed information on a problem field can help field visits go well — but farmers also need to know agronomists might not have a solution right away. “Your job is to collect the information to help with the diagnostics. A lot of times you’ll want to guess at what it is, but […] Read more
Sask. warns on grass fire risk
Saskatchewan has jumped straight from flooding into fire season this spring. The fire department at Meadow Lake, in the province’s northwest, stamped out a small grass fire on Monday that started in the ditch of a side road between two fields. “It was kind of causing some smoke conditions on the highway. That was the […] Read more
Canadian Cattlemen Presents: Depth of Field
