Janine Paly and student Kris Vaculchik assess a winter wheat project near Vermilion conducted by Ducks Unlimited Canada and Lakeland College last year.

Winter wheat uptake low despite big efforts to convince producers

The Western Winter Wheat Initiative wants to boost seeding 
to two million acres — but 2014 plantings were just a third of that

Reading Time: 3 minutes The goal is ambitious — convince Prairie farmers to plant two million acres of winter wheat by 2019 — but the backers of the Western Winter Wheat Initiative admit they have a steep hill to climb. Even though winter wheat yields were 32 per cent better than those for spring wheat in 2012 and offered […] Read more



South sees overwintering stripe rust

South sees overwintering stripe rust

Early-seeded winter wheat appears to be more susceptible even when resistant varieties are used

Reading Time: 2 minutes Researchers are continuing to monitor plots and a few fields for stripe rust survival throughout the winter and early spring. Evidence of overwintering stripe rust was found last year in central Alberta, and Agriculture Canada researcher Denis Gaudet has extended his stripe rust survey this winter to include some evaluations in southern Alberta. Eight winter […] Read more






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Winter wheat acres should double or triple: expert

AgCanada scientist says winter wheat acres could hit the 
five-million mark, if crop insurance rules allowed later seeding

Reading Time: 3 minutes If spring comes late or is wet seven months from now, growers waiting to plant spring wheat will be looking with envy at neighbours’ fields of winter wheat. But there should be less envy and more winter wheat than the one million to 1.5 million acres currently grown on the Prairies, says Brian Beres, a […] Read more

Environmentally Smart Nitrogen (ESN)

When should you fertilize winter wheat?

Research has shown that fertilizing at seeding can be very effective — and a big time saver come spring

Reading Time: 2 minutes AARD Release / Once the decision to grow winter wheat has been made, one question that frequently comes up is when to fertilize. “Traditionally, winter wheat has been seeded with very little fertilizer and then fertilized in the spring,” said Doon Pauly, agronomy research scientist with Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development in Lethbridge. “Sometimes, however, […] Read more