Farmers need seed to grow crops. It’s just that simple. This is why public institutions have played such an important role in plant breeding over the years. But, just as new varieties are needed when environmental conditions change, new funding models for plant breeders are needed when economic conditions change. Kofi Agblor knows all to… Read More
Category: Crop Production
Thousands of acres of Ontario corn will have to be destroyed this fall due to high DON levels. A big challenge growers face when destroying those acres now and into winter is ensuring volunteer corn doesn’t make a mess of next year’s soybean crop. In this episode of RealAgriculture’s Corn School, our resident agronomist Peter… Read More
With the impending completion of phase 2 less than five months away, Whole Leaf is set to be the largest lettuce greenhouse operation in North America. The new state-of-the-art facility, opened its doors at Coaldale, Alta., last year. It introduced five proprietary technologies to North American production — making it possible to annually grow “clean, environmentally responsible, and safe”… Read More
The way farmers pay for new variety development is set to change. The federal government is currently hosting consultation meetings across Canada, gathering information and feedback from the seed industry, farmers, farm groups, and industry, on which of two royalty options the industry prefers. Executive director of the Canadian Seed Trade Association, Dave Carey, says… Read More
There will be a new Eastern wheat class starting next July, as the Canadian Grain Commission (CGC) continues to update its structure. The Canada Eastern Other Wheat (CEOW) class was created to provide a class for varieties with unique characteristics and to allow producers to take advantage of special contracted varieties. At the same time, the… Read More
The Oilseed Innovation Partners (OIP) group aims to create new opportunities for Canadian oilseeds and the Canadian bio-products sector. It looks like they did just that — in Ontario. American manufacturer of vegetable-oil based lubricants, Renewable Lubricants Inc. (RLI), has picked the province to build its first wholly-owned Canadian subsidiary. The company creates everything from penetrant lubricant sprays,… Read More
The way farmers support new variety development of most open-pollinated and trait-free crops is set to change. Currently, the federal government is hosting consultation meetings across Canada to garner feedback from farmers, plant breeders, seed companies, and industry on two proposed systems: end point royalty or trailing royalty contracts. The impending change has been a… Read More
The Ontario and federal governments have announced steps to help farmers experiencing revenue loss because of high levels of deoxynivalenol (DON) in their corn crops. While the largest portion of Ontario’s corn crop remains unaffected, the government partners say this support will help ease the impact for effected farmers. It will also assist the entire grain… Read More
A hot, dry early summer encouraged some rarely seen insects to set up shop in corn fields in 2018. Steph Kowalski, agronomy lead for the Agromart Group in eastern Canada, admits she was surprised by the number of reports of thrips in corn crops in Ontario and the Atlantic provinces this year. Thrips are generally… Read More
He sings, he dances, and he hosts a weekly agronomy podcast — the multi-talented Peter “Wheat Pete” Johnson is back for this week’s edition of Wheat Pete’s Word, and we’ve got some major miles to cover on destroying a corn crop effectively. It’s heartbreaking, of course, but Agricrop is releasing some acres to be destroyed…. Read More
A year in to a trying time for pulse movement into India, and there are some reports of a slight uptick in Canadian tonnage moving in to the country. It’s not that the tariff or fumigation situation is resolved — instead, reports of dry local conditions could be putting a damper on domestic production. Regardless… Read More
Nature is pretty amazing, but that wonder and adaptability can translate to a huge problem in a crop. Wireworms, for example, can determine they don’t like what is on the menu when you seed your crop in the spring, wait until the following spring, and attack a more vulnerable crop instead. What’s more, they can… Read More
The news Lawrence MacAulay, Federal Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food has announced a federal investment of up to $5 million to the Automation Cluster led by the Vineland Research and Innovation Centre Inc. The funding is provided under the Canadian Agricultural Partnership. The funding will be used to address current and anticipated labour challenges within the greenhouse… Read More
When precision agriculture concepts were first introduced, fields with high variability were seen as the natural first choice on which to deploy the technology. As precision technology has evolved, improved, and become more efficient, it’s much easier to make a business case for its use on nearly every acre. “All land, all farmland has a… Read More
From beginning with just small test plots, to having more than half of their current land base as an intercrop, the Whites say their farming journey has been all about learning from nature. Fifth generation farmers, Brooks and Jen White call the deep southwest corner of Manitoba — near the town of Pierson — home. Crops they… Read More