If dogs can detect trace amounts of drugs in luggage, could they be trained to sniff out plant disease, too? The short answer is yes — and a research scientist headed up a project to prove it in a one-year, proof of concept study out of Alberta. Mike Harding, research scientist with Alberta Agriculture &… Read More
As if this harvest wasn’t already frustrating enough, some farmers are left shaking their head as they leave the elevator. Recently, RealAgriculture’s inbox has been flooded with concerns about elevators checking wheat’s falling number on top of visual inspections for grading. General manager of the Alberta Wheat and Barley Commissions, Tom Steve, says the organization… Read More
A slow start, high winds, and less-than-ideal harvest conditions have many farmers in the Maritimes working overtime to try to get the crop in before snow flies. “For 2019, we had again a slower start, really things didn’t crank up until well into May,” says Syngenta Canada’s Eric Richter, in this excerpt from RealAg Radio’s… Read More
According to a recent survey, farmers are requesting changes to the two proposed models of seed royalty collection presented earlier this year by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. The Alberta Federation of Agriculture (AFA), the Agricultural Producers Association of Saskatchewan (APAS), and the Keystone Agricultural Producers of Manitoba (KAP), have taken the past three months to… Read More
There are some surprising yields being reported across much of Ontario — some shockingly good, others disastrously bad. For at least one farmer, a timely rain or two on just half the field means the same surprise happened in the same pass of the combine. In this week’s edition of Wheat Pete’s Word, host Peter… Read More
From the two brothers working on identifying the disease across provinces, to the sister-like relationship between soybean cyst nematode (SCN) and sudden death syndrome, it’s a family affair when talking SCN. Albert Tenuta, plant pathologist for the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, joins RealAgriculture’s Bern Tobin for this episode of the Soybean… Read More
A&L Canada Laboratories Inc. has announced plans to build a 4000 sq. ft facility and hire nearly 20 new staff at London, Ont. This added build brings the location number to three for the company. The company also conducts agronomic and production research on cooperating customer farms, greenhouses, grow operations and universities across Canada. A&L… Read More
It’s not often someone from town gets to see exactly where their food comes from, but one fast-food restaurant employee got to see just that. Kelvin Hannah farms near Foam Lake, Sask., and during his lunch visits at the local Subway, has made a friend with one of the sandwich artists named Vaibhav Sharma, who… Read More
There are a number of considerations when it comes to the storage and handling of pulses, but the two most important factors to think about are moisture and temperature. Whether storing just one winter, or a winter, spring, and summer, and maybe longer, ensuring pulses are conditioned for long-term storage is key. “You want to… Read More
If you’ve ever wondered why and when a farmer may choose to add gypsum to soil, wonder no more. Gypsum — also known as calcium sulphate — is a source of both calcium and sulphate, and can work as a nutrient source for both of these, except that it’s actually a pretty expensive way to… Read More
Once harvest is in the bin, there’s not much you can do to improve what you have, but there are plenty of things lurking that could downgrade the crop. RealAgriculture resident Peter Johnson says that storage molds need some attention, as they can cause some major issues when they do pop up. “One of the… Read More
Canadian edible bean farmers are seeing first-hand what an abrupt loss of pre-harvest glyphosate means for their harvest. For many, it’s been a real challenge. “So, for example, a black bean grower – black beans are typically pretty easy to harvest and you don’t have to worry about staining them because they’re already black, but… Read More
A Canadian company is making headway in the spray world with six-legged applicators. Bee Vectoring Technologies (BVT) uses commercially-reared bees to deliver crop controls through pollination. Its first registered product, Clonostachys rosea CR-7 (CR-7), is an organic strain of an endophytic fungus the company says has many functions, including: Controlling numerous diseases in plants, particularly… Read More
After identifying a need for aerial spraying services on large farms, an Ontario-based start-up has developed a fully-automated unmanned aerial vehicle for the Canadian market. “Typically most drones you see out there for aerial spraying are fairly small capacity… and for North American farms…it’s just not going to cut it,” says Meng Wei, CEO and… Read More
In 2019, many Ontario soybean fields showed signs of severe manganese deficiency. Many of the problem areas were a direct result of growing conditions that featured both soil temperature and moisture extremes, says AGRIS Co-operative agronomist Dale Cowan, who notes that many soils in southwestern Ontario tend to be naturally low in manganese. Any time… Read More