A screengrab from a promotional video for Bayer’s Proline fungicide. (Bayer CropScience Canada via YouTube)

Finer nozzle screens linked to Proline plug-ups

Bayer CropScience is recommending users of its Proline foliar fungicide double-check the nozzles they’re using before spraying, to avoid the “plugging issues” affecting some customers’ sprayers. The company on Wednesday reported a “small” number of cases in which farmers’ sprayers were plugging up during applications of Proline, a broad-spectrum prothioconazole (Group 3) suspension Bayer bills […] Read more

(Video screengrab from RB.com)

French’s owner kicks off food business sale process

London | Reuters — The sale of Reckitt Benckiser Group’s North American food business, which could fetch more than US$3 billion, has kicked off with information packages going out to industry players, according to sources familiar with the matter. The sale of the food business is aimed at helping the British consumer goods company pay […] Read more


Brown mustard. (Peggy Greb photo courtesy ARS/USDA)

Mustard acres feeling squeeze from canola

CNS Canada –– Following the largest mustard crop in more than a decade in 2016, supply/demand fundamentals are expected to spur a reduction in Canadian mustard seedings in 2017. However, with more and more cropland moving into canola, mustard acreage increases may be limited in future years when supplies are tight again. After growing the […] Read more

Brown mustard. (Peggy Greb photo courtesy ARS/USDA)

Mustard seeding to drop with higher stocks, competition

CNS Canada — Stockpiles of mustard are likely to put a squeeze on the number of acres seeded in Canada this year, especially as the commodity competes price-wise with canola. Olds Products, North America’s second-biggest mustard manufacturer, has started contracting acres in Alberta, Saskatchewan, North Dakota and Montana. Seed division manager Walter Dyck expects less […] Read more


Employing the natural ability of crops to defend themselves is the logical next step in the movement that has brought no-till and soil health to the fore, says Alberta producer Andy Kirschenman.

Plants’ secret chemistry could change the way you farm

Science is discovering plants produce their own pesticides and warn each other of threats — but tillage, spraying, and even breeding can disrupt these defences

Reading Time: 5 minutes A war is being waged in your fields. Every day, your crops are fighting for their lives against insects, diseases, weeds, and weather. And their best line of defence isn’t the chemicals we spray or the traits we breed into them. It’s their sense of smell. “Anything that anybody has ever done to any plant […] Read more

Brown mustard. (Peggy Greb photo courtesy ARS/USDA)

Mustard prices hang tough despite wet weather

CNS Canada — Cold, wet weather that has downgraded the quality of some of Canada’s staple crops isn’t having the same effect on mustard, according to two experts on the specialty crop. While much of this year’s harvest is already over, a significant number of acres remains in Saskatchewan and Alberta, said Walter Dyck of […] Read more


Brown mustard. (Peggy Greb photo courtesy ARS/USDA)

Mustard bids drop with demand, harvest progress

CNS Canada — Mustard spot prices are trending lower, with limited demand for the commodity as harvest progresses. Weather conditions may have curbed yield potential, to an extent, though production is still expected to be large, according to one market participant. Bids for mustard have dropped from the levels seen in July and August into […] Read more

Haying dogged by persistent showers, crop conditions also affected

Alberta crop conditions as of July 26

Reading Time: < 1 minute Warmer temperatures covered the province but the persistent showery weather continued in most regions affecting haying progress principally but also crop conditions. The provincial crop condition rating was virtually unchanged from last week at 82.5 per cent of crops rated in good or excellent condition compared to the five year average of 72 per cent […] Read more


Photo: File

Mustard crops in good condition despite hail, prices squeezed

CNS Canada – Western Canada’s mustard crops are in mostly good condition, one industry participant says, while new-crop prices for the commodity have moved lower. “I would say throughout the growing area it really looks quite good, almost exceptional as an average,” said Walter Dyck, general manager, seed division at Olds Products. He added that rain has […] Read more