Last week the new Progressive Conservative government in Manitoba changed the name of its agriculture ministry back to the Department of Agriculture. Previously it was the Department of Agriculture, Food and Rural Development, or MAFRD. Many people on twitter were cheerleading the decision as if this was agriculture finding its roots with the name change. Some said they found… Read more »
Tag: MAFRD
New MB Government Returns to Old Name
Bring back the old letterhead and golf shirts. Manitoba’s new government has changed the name of its agriculture department back to what it was prior to 1999. An Order-in-Council passed on Tuesday, the day Brian Pallister’s government and cabinet were sworn in, changed the “Department of Agriculture, Food and Rural Development” to simply “Department of… Read more »
Wheat School: How Many of Your Seeds Survived to Become Viable Plants?
How many of the seeds put in the ground by your airseeder or drill will actually emerge and become viable plants? Seedling mortality can vary greatly, but needs to be considered when determining seeding rates, assessing emergence and when planning for next year. A 5 to 10 percent mortality rate is often assumed when calculating… Read more »
Wheat School: To Treat or Not to Treat, Is It a Question?
For some growers, treating wheat seed is a no-brainer, while others still choose to forego a treatment and the input cost that comes with it. So how do you decide? With seeding ramping up for another spring, Pam de Rocquigny, cereal crop specialist with Manitoba Agriculture, Food and Rural Development, joins us in the field… Read more »
Pulse School: A Rookie’s Guide to Growing Peas
If there was some way of measuring trending topics in farmer conversations in Western Canada over the past six months, “so, are you growing peas this year?” would be at or near the top. Thanks to the very strong prices that are accompanying a global pulse shortage, a record number of pea (and lentil) acres… Read more »
Canola School: New Canola Disease Found in Six Provinces
Editor’s note: The Canadian verticillium stakeholders committee has decided to call the disease caused by Verticillium longisporum “verticillium stripe” instead of “verticillium wilt.” This story has been updated to reflect the new terminology. The canola industry is in the early stages of understanding what it’s up against with a new fungal disease. Verticillium stripe (previously… Read more »
Ladies & Gentlemen, Welcome to the 4R Nutrient Casino
Farmers are dealt a hand of cards each year. There are cards of fortune and cards of misfortune. Maybe it’s a wet spring or corn prices below $4/bu or skyrocketing fertilizer costs. Maybe you get all three in the same hand. A farmer can’t always choose what they’re dealt, but they can choose how to respond…. Read more »
Entomologist Recommends Proactive Approach to Neonics on the Prairies
Regulatory restrictions are not on the radar in Manitoba, but the province’s agriculture entomologist suggests farmers in Western Canada should ask themselves “why?” before using neonicotinoid seed treatments. The Ontario and Quebec governments are restricting the use of insecticide-treated seed in response to concerns about neonics hurting bee health, but there haven’t been the same problems with pollinator populations… Read more »
The Role of Soil-Applied Herbicides in Combating Resistance
This year, the organizers of the Crop Diagnostic School in Carman, Manitoba, decided to do something a little old-school. “We decided to demo soil-applied herbicides here at the farm this year for the Diagnostic School, in part because we’re seeing an increased use in the products,” Jeanette Gaultier explains in the following interview. Gaultier (who may or… Read more »
Crops Get Knocked Down; Will They Get Up Again? A Look at Yield and Quality Impacts From Early Lodging
Wind and rain have taken a toll on some of the best-looking cereal crop acres in Western Canada and the northern U.S. over the last few weeks. Large sections of wheat, barley and oat fields have been knocked flat (some several times) in parts of southern Manitoba and North Dakota. Yield losses from lodging can range… Read more »
Wheat School: Updating N Recommendations for Higher Yielding Wheat
New wheat varieties being grown in parts of Western Canada have made it possible to produce yields that are off the charts, quite literally. Much of the research supporting nitrogen rate recommendations for wheat on the prairies has been based on a top-end yield target of 65 bushels per acre. “That was quite adequate when we were growing Barrie… Read more »
Wheat School: Identifying and Managing Stripe Rust
Stripe rust was reported in early spring in Alberta, likely having over-wintered in the southern part of the province, and now there are reports in Manitoba of the fungus arriving on winds from the U.S. In this Wheat School episode, Holly Derksen, plant pathologist with Manitoba Agriculture, Food and Rural Development, describes how stripe rust inoculum moves north from the… Read more »
Soybean School West: Checking for Root Rots and Seedling Diseases
Poor emergence or damping off of young soybean plants can be a sign of a seedling disease or root rot problem, especially following cool, wet weather as experienced in much of the soybean growing part of Western Canada this spring. As Holly Derksen, plant pathologist with Manitoba Agriculture, explains in this Soybean School West episode, there are… Read more »
48 Manitoba Fields Test Positive for Clubroot
After ramping up efforts to test for clubroot disease over the last year, Manitoba Agriculture, Food and Rural Development has confirmed the presence of the nasty soil-borne pest in 48 fields within the province. The provincial ag department has released an updated map showing positive clubroot cases by rural municipality (see below), while noting “positive findings… Read more »
Crown Rust Resistance Breaking Down in Some “Resistant” Oat Varieties — Ratings Changes Possible
Another gene that has provided resistance to crown rust in oat varieties grown in Western Canada is losing its effectiveness. The Pc91 gene was a source of resistance to crown rust in some of common varieties in recent years, including Souris, Stainless, HiFi, AAC Justice and CDC Morrison, but changes in the crown rust pathogen population in… Read more »