Reading Time: 2 minutes If you rely solely on crop protection products to fend off wild oats, you’re not going to like the eventual bottom line. Herbicide-resistant strains of the weed are going to mean you’ll eventually run out of luck. It’s not a new problem, but every year it gets just a little bit more concerning. “Resistance is […] Read more
Wild oat a growing resistance challenge that can’t be ignored
Keep an eye on your fields this summer and be ready to tackle the problem when you see it
Manitoba Crop Report: Plantings advance, crops threatened by weeds, insects
MarketsFarm – Seeding continues to advance in Manitoba, but recent rains have also hindered progress and emergent crops are being threatened by weeds and insects. Plantings in the province are 91 per cent complete as of June 21, four points higher than the previous week according to Manitoba’s weekly crop report. Typically, the third week […] Read more
Get the lowdown on kochia control
Reading Time: < 1 minute Manage Resistance Now has put out a new fact sheet on dealing with herbicide-resistant kochia. “Herbicide-resistant kochia is one of the largest weed threats to crop production in Western Canada,” the organization, created by CropLife Canada, notes in the online resource (available in the Weeds section of manageresistancenow.ca. A combination of control methods is needed, […] Read more
Thistle control program on hold
Reading Time: < 1 minute The West-Central Forage Association won’t be bringing in Canada thistle stem-gall flies this year. The flies lay their eggs on the tips of thistle shoots in the early summer, with the larvae burrowing into the shoots and triggering gall formation, which stresses the plant by stealing nutrients. The association said it is discontinuing the program […] Read more
Dealing with herbicide shortages
Reading Time: < 1 minute Alberta Wheat and Alberta Barley along with their Prairie counterparts have put out a five-page guide titled “Strategies for managing herbicide shortages.” (link below) It covers management practices (such as higher seeding rates and spraying when weeds are small) but also tank mixes. While going below product rates on the label is not recommended, there […] Read more
Water quality can make a difference on herbicide efficacy
Glyphosate in particular is prone to being tied up by hard water, which may be more common this year
Reading Time: 4 minutes Water quality can change after a drought — and that can affect the efficacy of your herbicides. “It’s well known that there are certain things in water — chemicals, salts, metal cations — that can antagonize the spray,” said well-known spray expert Tom Wolf. “With much lower water levels, it’s conceivable that those antagonists will […] Read more
Face herbicide-resistant wild oats head on, say producers
New video gives the view of three Prairie farmers who have been hit by resistant weeds and battled back
Reading Time: 4 minutes Don’t turn a blind eye: Admit you’ve got a problem and get on top of it right away. The issue is herbicide-resistant wild oats and that’s the advice from a trio of Prairie producers in a new video from the Resistant Wild Oat Action Committee. “It’s definitely something that it pays to get on sooner […] Read more
Group fighting resistant wild oat has new resources for producers
The threat is already serious and poised to get much worse without concerted management efforts
Reading Time: 2 minutes When it comes to herbicide-resistant wild oat, the odds favour the bad guy. “The last herbicide-resistance survey (Beckie et al. 2020) indicates that 69 per cent of wild oat fields have herbicide resistance,” Alberta Wheat agronomy research extension specialist Jeremy Boychyn noted in an article in May. “Additionally, 62 per cent of those fields are […] Read more
Drought may have set up weeds nicely for 2022
And while disease levels dropped last year, they could easily come roaring back in 2022
Reading Time: 4 minutes This summer’s hot, dry conditions made weeds harder to manage this year — and that’s not good news for next year. “This year, precipitation was one of the biggest driving factors for what we saw showing up in fields,” said federal research scientist Charles Geddes. “We ended up seeing a lot more flushes of weeds […] Read more
Spot spraying gets lots of looks but many farmers seem hesitant
Some are holding off on ‘green-on-brown’ weed tech until it costs less and does more
Reading Time: 3 minutes When it comes to precision-farming technology, automated spot spraying of weeds would be a science fiction dream come true. If it lives up to its promise, farmers would save countless dollars in reduced herbicide use, benefit the environment, and maybe even gain the upper hand in battling herbicide resistance. In Canada, the face of spot […] Read more
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