Bacteria can’t have all the fun — it’s time for some very helpful fungi to get the respect they deserve. Kris Guenette, PhD candidate at the University of Alberta, is working on just that. He’s looking into whether or not incorporating a fungal inoculant on wheat could help with nitrogen uptake, yield, and protein development. Guenette… Read More
Work continues on training computer algorithms to unlock the potential of green-on-green spot spraying systems to identify and target the weeds found on Canadian farm fields. The goal of green-on-green spraying systems is to detect and apply herbicide to weeds that are growing within a green crop. Where green-on-brown spot spraying systems used for burnoff… Read More
Living in a world where everything from entertainment and fixes to problems are seemingly instantaneous, wheat breeding remains outside of these parameters, taking upwards of 10 years to have a concept come to fruition. This balance between what we know now and what may be needed in the future is what wheat breeders, like Richard… Read More
As the saying goes, if you want to cut down on eating cookies, don’t buy them. In that spirit, if winter wheat is in the farm plan, there needs to be seed on-farm well ahead of the ideal seeding window. That’s just one of five key planning steps that Monica Klaas, of Ducks Unlimited Canada, shares… Read More
Although not an overly common disease, wheat streak mosaic virus can cause an immense amount of damage to final yield. Reports in southern Alberta have indicated the appearance of the virus. Although alarms aren’t being set off, it’s important to be aware of it, as the virus can spread quickly and easily. The initial signs… Read More
From a crop nutrition perspective, nitrogen losses as N2O or nitrous oxide pale in comparison to what’s lost in N2 form, but N2O has a much greater impact on the total greenhouse gas emissions from fertilizer. As part of this Wheat School episode filmed at Manitoba Crop Diagnostic School, Manitoba Agriculture’s John Heard shares a… Read More
When thinking about protecting yield from disease, one of the first things to understand is where yield actually comes from. Jeremy Boychyn, agronomy research extension specialist with Alberta Wheat and Barley Commissions, understanding how the each leaf of the wheat plant builds yield helps inform decisions on how to best manage risks to yield. “One… Read More
Wireworms are one of the biggest insect pests for cereals across the Prairies. Not only can they cause extreme damage to the crop, they are incredibly difficult to control. John Laurie, research scientist of molecular biology with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC), and Haley Catton, research scientist of field crop entomology at AAFC, have been… Read More
Grasshoppers are out there, and, in some areas in the Prairies, in large numbers. It’s important to get into your field and scout, not only for populations, but also as a friendly reminder that not all hopping insects are grasshoppers. There are other insects in the field that hop and jump but aren’t grasshoppers, says… Read More
Research shows plant growth regulators (PGRs) are most effective — and least likely to cause damage — when they’re applied with precise timing, and that stage can pass quickly as a cereal crop develops. There are three questions to answer before applying a PGR, explains Anne Kirk, cereal specialist with Manitoba Agriculture, in this video… Read More
Every year, there seems to be times we have more questions about the crop than others. As the wheat crop is emerging is often one of those times. In order to get those questions answered properly, there’s a few different things you’re going to need to do, says Jeremy Boychyn, agronomy research extension specialist with… Read More
With over 30 species of wireworms across the Prairies, the chances of you seeing some in the springtime are pretty good. For the most part, it does get narrowed down into three main species of wireworms that seem to cause the most issues in our cereal crops: the bicolor, the destructor, and the californicus. Lyle… Read More
When you think insects and drought…it can be a tricky combination. After the drought across the Prairies in 2021, there are many farmers asking the question: what are grasshopper populations going to look like in 2022? Parts of Manitoba have fortunately experienced large amounts of snowfall this winter, enough that the ditches could be underwater… Read More
Although we don’t quite know what the moisture situation is going to be like for seeding across the Prairies, we do know one thing: if it’s dry, there are certain things we’re really going to have to watch out for this spring. One of those items on the watch list is fertilizer injury of seed…. Read More
Believe it or not, there hasn’t been an updated survey on wireworm species across Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba since 1943. That all changes now that a research team has taken on the task. Ted Labun, seedcare technical lead for Western Canada at Syngenta Canada, explains in this Wheat School episode why the survey needed to be… Read More
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