Insect pests such as grasshoppers and flea beetles pose a significant perennial threat to western Canadian farmers. Once again, this year, they threatened to wreak havoc on Prairie grains, oilseeds and pulse crops. And one of the most effective pest management tools, lambda-cyhalothrin (branded as Matador and Silencer) was not much help, as it has become the latest victim of a federal bureaucracy that is in many ways out of touch with agriculture.
Farmers tend to roll their eyes at mention of the word “sustainability.” It’s a topic the whole world wants to address lately, but farmers generally feel they’ve been left out of the discussion. In a July report by the Canadian Agri-Food Policy Institute (CAPI), farmers take the lead in a rethink and reset of the ag sustainability agenda. GrainsWest spoke with CAPI managing director Tyler McCaan about the guidance provided by the 720 Canadian farmers who contributed to Navigating the Path to Sustainable Agriculture.
For the last five years, Canada has averaged third place among the world’s top malting barley and malt exporters. Across the globe, Canadian barley and malt are considered premium products. Naturally, the varietal purity of malting barley is a cornerstone of Canada’s value proposition for domestic and international maltsters and brewers.
Greater adoption of the 4R Nutrient Stewardship Framework is central to the federal government’s 30 per cent fertilizer emissions reduction target for Canadian agriculture. According to the most recent 4R Nutrient Use Survey, familiarity and uptake have increased, yet barriers to improvement exist. Ongoing research indicates field practices can effectively curb nitrogen emissions. GrainsWest spoke with industry experts who all emphasized the benefits of 4R principles.
For generations, Canadian farmers have been careful stewards of the grasslands, watersheds and cropland their livelihoods depend upon. It is only recently, however, they have begun to receive wider public recognition and financial compensation for the critical environmental benefits their practices deliver.
A dozen years ago, Devon Walker officially began farming alongside his dad Donald on the family farm in northwest Saskatchewan near the Alberta border. Like many young farmers, Walker was eager to put his stamp on the farm by adopting new management practices he believed would “shed risk.” After evaluating the farm’s fertility plan, he suggested they put partial fertility down at planting and then top up with a foliar application later in the season when the crop needed it most. “Applying foliar is like rubbing a sandwich on your arm when you’re hungry,” advised Donald.
Those orange and red, blob-like areas on insect survey maps are a farmer’s cue to action. Fields seeded with certain crops and located in and around these hotspots may require individual assessment and population control. Among cereal farmers, the most anticipated of these maps are those for grasshoppers, wheat stem sawfly and wheat midge.
Ontario senator Rob Black admitted he is not a soil scientist. Even so, when he was appointed to the Senate in 2018, he began pushing for a national soil study.
Findings from a recent University of Missouri (MU) study seem to suggest farmers visit the seasoning aisle of their local grocery store for an unexpected remedy to crop stress.
TR19655. No, it’s not the name of a robot from the latest Star Wars movie. Rather, it’s the newest two-row malting barley variety developed by the Field Crop Development Centre (FCDC) at Olds College.
