As farms continue to increase in size, certain equipment manufacturers race to provide high-horsepower machinery that can stretch a farmer’s reach when they seed, spray and harvest. Farmers also require these increasingly efficient options to contend with a shrinking agricultural labour pool.
Substantial growth in the biologicals market has been driven in part by stricter pesticide regulations and by farmers who wish to produce higher yielding, more resilient crops. Biologicals represent a broad category of plant protection products, including biostimulants, biopesticides and biofertilizers.
CWRS farmers in widespread pockets of the western Prairies have experienced increased wheat stem sawfly populations in recent years. Researchers and agronomists are concerned the pest may become increasingly prevalent if drought conditions continue.
It’s a lengthy and involved process to identify herbicide-resistant weeds that pose a steadily growing threat to farm fields. With almost $500,000 in funding provided by Results Driven Agriculture Research, a project is now underway at the Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada Lethbridge Research and Development Centre to simplify the procedure with the creation of rapid tests.
Available to Prairie farmers on desktop and mobile devices at prairiefhb.ca, the Tool makes daily, localized risk predictions based on weather station data collected over the previous 10 days. The system is active during the peak Fusarium period of June 1 to Aug. 31, and indexes the risk for barley, durum and spring and winter wheat.
Despite the encouragement of crop groups and conservation outfits, winter wheat acreage in Western Canada has decreased sharply to 2.7 million tonnes in 2022 from the record high of 4.8 million in 2008. A sign this trend may reverse, acreage has increased slightly in Manitoba where farmers have struggled to seed spring wheat in wet fields.
Canada produces some of the world’s best malting barley. While new varieties supply high end-use quality and disease resistance, farmers can help ensure it meets the needs of domestic and international malting and brewing customers.
As consumer demand for organic cereals grows, so does the draw for farmers to serve this specialized market with its premium prices. GrainsWest spoke with organic farmers who said this premium is typically 1.5 to two times greater than conventional pricing. The rising cost of conventional inputs and farmland make it an attractive option for those who want to grow a highly profitable crop while they carry less overhead. But it’s not a one-size-fits-all approach. This non-conventional sector requires strategic farm management on an individual level and, more broadly, the support of continued research and innovation to drive it forward.
On a sunny day late last June, a group of agricultural journalists from around the world gathered next to the lush barley field plots maintained by the Field Crop Development Centre (FCDC) in Lacombe. As they scrawled notes about Alberta malting barley production, the group listened to FCDC researchers discuss the varieties the facility has developed over the years, including Lowe. The group sampled Lowe Down, a one-off blonde ale by Olds College Brewery. Its ingredients included Lowe malt produced by Red Shed Malting near Innisfail.
It may be thought of as a disease of the past, but ergot still causes headaches for farmers across the Prairies. While its prevalence may be high, its threat level is typically low and often a non-issue. However, the fungus that’s been a fact of life since at least the Middles Ages, remains a concern. Downgrades at the elevator and contaminated screenings cause issues for grain farmers and feedlot owners alike.
