Planning for the growing season isn’t just about seed choices and fertilizer rates — penciling in and choosing crop protection products is crucial to protecting yield and quality. That said, just because a product is approved for use doesn’t automatically mean farmers have the all-clear to use it, depending on the crop’s destination.
Greg Bartley, director of crop protection and crop quality at Pulse Canada, says that the Keep it Clean initiative is one way farmers can weed out what products might cause an issue with a buyer well ahead of decision time.
Keep it Clean is a joint initiative between Pulse Canada, Cereals Canada, and the Canola Council of Canada. Its goal is to provide timely, practical guidance on agronomic practices and pesticide use that may affect market access. “It’s simply meant to be a communication tool to communicate the things that farmers and industry need to know to produce market-ready crops,” Bartley says.
New to this year’s advisory is the inclusion of flonicamid (sold under the trade name Carbine) for use on green lentils, due to market uncertainty in the European Union. Bartley encourages farmers to check with their grain buyers before applying the product, noting that the advisory aims to flag only those products with real export risks.
In addition, Bartley says it’s important to review what crops are available as a pre-harvest product and which ones are a complete no-go. Bartley urges producers to plan ahead, call the grain buyer first, and then consult their agronomists to adapt practices as needed.
A free product advisory webinar will be held April 24 at 11:00 a.m. CDT. Registration is available at KeepitClean.ca.
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