The hangover of 2014's long, drawn out, wet harvest has already taken a toll on seed supplies of certain crop types for 2015, says Holly Gelech, Biovision Seed Lab's business development manager. The full fallout, however, has likely not been realized. "Farmers did a great job this fall getting seed samples in early," says Gelech,... Read More
Category: Seed
Four additional seeds per plant can result in a five to ten percent bump in soybean yield — every little bit adds up. That was the message from Tony White, St. Louis-based technology development lead with Monsanto, speaking at the Southwest Ag Conference in Ridgetown earlier this month. “When you look at where we’ve come... Read More
Canterra Seeds has announced it is going to be releasing the first canola hybrid with any level of resistance to the new 5X clubroot pathotype for planting in 2015. The new race of clubroot disease was discovered in a field north of Edmonton in 2013. Testing by Dr. Stephen Strelkov of the University of Alberta... Read More
Soybean varieties that are tolerant to both glyphosate and dicamba herbicides are one step closer to being introduced to the North American market. The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced its decision on January 15th to deregulate Monsanto’s Roundup Ready 2 Xtend soybean trait, meaning the company’s glyphosate and dicamba-tolerant soybeans have now received regulatory consent... Read More
Change happens fast in agriculture. Just a century ago, Canadian farmers were behind a horse and plow. Today, we talk about cab comfort, the potential for unmanned aerial vehicle spraying, smart phone apps and biotechnology. The seed industry is no different. The process of collecting and testing a sample of seed is continually evolving as... Read More
It's no wonder that Western Canada is watching what's unfolding in Ontario closely. That province's government's move to closely regulate neonicotinoid seed treatments, even after changes in corn and soybean planting showed significant reductions in bee health risk, has many in the agriculture industry wondering what this means for pesticide access moving forward. In this... Read More
Canada's rules and regulations regarding plant breeder's rights adhere to a convention that's over 35 years old, even though there is a more modern, widely accepted convention that's a mere 23 years old — UPOV '91. Bill C-18, currently in the parliamentary process, will bring Canada in line with UPOV '91, a move that has... Read More
Potentially containing a mycotoxin known as DON (deoxynivalenol), fusarium-affected wheat can be a challenge to market, and a safety hazard to handle. But, new work suggests sorting tactics could help improve sample quality. Rex Newkirk is the vice president of research and innovation at Canadian International Grains Institute (CIGI) and has been heavily involved in... Read More
Welcome to the first episode of an exciting new four-part series on Real Agriculture — Beyond the Bushel. In this series, we'll take you on an in-depth exploration of the wheat and barley value chain in Western Canada. While wheat is a very familiar crop, and one that grows well over much of the world,... Read More
Bill C-18 — the proposed legislation that includes changes to plant breeders' rights — continues to move through Parliament, despite the New Democrats saying they'll vote against it. During the Report Stage in the House of Commons on Monday, Opposition Agriculture Critic Malcolm Allen introduced 51 motions to delete all 51 clauses of the bill... Read More