Reading Time: 3 minutes There are many ways to control weeds. Rose De Clerck-Floate’s favourite is to reunite them with their longtime enemies from the old country. “All of the weeds here can come from other parts of the world, mostly Europe and some from Asia, and establish here without the organisms that keep them in check in their […] Read more
There’s foreign workers in the bug world, too — and they attack weeds
Bringing in weed-attacking pests is a laborious process but it’s often the only option for pastures
Crop disease, pest survey needs farmers
Reading Time: < 1 minute Ag Canada’s Prairie Biovigilance Network needs farmers for two surveys, one for leaf disease in wheat fields and another for insects occurring in grain bins. The network is a multidisciplinary group seeking ways to reduce pest problems, insects, weeds, and diseases in western Canadian crops and to raise awareness regarding the prevalence, variability and impact […] Read more
They’re more creepy than cuddly — but bats need your help
The insect-gobbling critters can eat their own weight in bugs each night, including farm pests
Reading Time: 3 minutes Bats aren’t pretty and their reputation isn’t either. But the insect-gobbling critters are friends of farmers — and they need help from producers, says the co-ordinator of the Alberta Community Bat Program. “In Canada, all of our bats are eating bugs — insects and spiders,” said biologist Cory Olson. “Their diets are fairly diverse, but […] Read more
The crush is coming — will canola growers roll the rotation dice?
Reading Time: 4 minutes Shortening rotations to meet demand from a spate of new crush plants will backfire, say experts Prairie canola growers will need to up production to meet the growing demand from a rash of new crush plants in Saskatchewan. But they won’t get there by sacrificing sustainability, says the Canola Council of Canada. “For us, it’s […] Read more
Prairie growers on lookout as insects seize opportunity
Dry conditions, delayed seeding lift pest counts
MarketsFarm — With most Prairie growers’ newly seeded crops already up against dry conditions, growers remain on the lookout for insects which further threaten the health of those seedlings. Considering the high prices of many crops this season, the potential damage would be more costly. John Gavloski, entomologist for Manitoba Agriculture, said there is a […] Read more
Next-gen DNA sequencing aims to find the best beneficial bugs
U of A researchers using advanced tech to find what’s on the menu of your insect allies
Reading Time: 3 minutes It’s like a scene out of the movie “Jaws.” The intrepid scientist reaches his hand into the gut of a shark and pulls out what it had for dinner — a different fish or maybe, in the case of sharks, a tin can. He knows, just by examining those contents, what this predator likes to […] Read more
Business is hopping for Ontario cricket farms
Two Ontario enterprises that raise crickets and turn them into protein powder are expanding
Reading Time: < 1 minute Turns out Canada is a happening place for cricket farming. Two Ontario companies that raise crickets for food announced new funding last month for their expansion plans. Entomo Farms, one of North America’s leading cricket producers, announced it closed a round of fundraising totalling $3.7 million to support growth and expansion. Founded in 2014 by […] Read more
Here’s what pests might be waiting for you in your fields
Bertha army worms get the biggest red flag in three new pest monitoring reports
Reading Time: 3 minutes There could be a bertha army worm outbreak in parts of the province this year, but cabbage seedpod weevil survey numbers are down, and, save in the south, grasshoppers aren’t a big worry, according to new provincial pest forecasts. Bertha army worm Keep watch is the take-away from last year’s survey, which consisted of 350 […] Read more
Weevil and plot trial lessons from the past year
Results from the 2020 pea leaf weevil survey and the Plot2Farm trials are now available
Reading Time: 2 minutes Producers in the area around Edmonton as well as in southern Alberta may be at greater risk of seeing pea leaf weevils this spring. In a recent blog post on the Alberta Pulse Growers website, provincial insect survey technologist Shelley Barkley provided a summary of the annual survey for the pest. The survey, taken in […] Read more
ADM, InnovaFeed to build world’s biggest insect protein plant in Illinois
Chicago | Reuters — U.S. grain trader and processor Archer Daniels Midland and French biotech company InnovaFeed announced plans on Thursday to build the world’s largest insect protein plant at Decatur, Illinois. The announcement comes amid rising global feed grain prices and tightening supplies, and as more companies work toward reducing the carbon footprint of […] Read more
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