Posted: February 4, 2011

Thousands of kilograms of obsolete pesticide were recently collected by Alberta and Newfoundland and Labrador communities, in partnership with the CleanFARMS program.

Rocky View County in Alberta collected 11,275 kilograms of obsolete pesticides, through a collection program held at five locations over the summer and early fall of 2010, where farmers could drop off unwanted and unused pesticides.

The collection stations were provided by CleanFARMS, a national, industry-initiated program that, since 1998, has assumed responsibility for more than 1.4 million kilograms of obsolete, commercial-grade pesticides.

CleanFARMS offers its collection program to Rocky View County, to help ensure unwanted or obsolete pesticides are disposed of in an environmentally responsible way, at no cost to farmers, says Barry Friesen, general manager of CleanFARMs. "This was the first time that CleanFARMS partnered with a county and it was a huge success for both the industry and the municipality. We are looking forward to continuing the partnership in the future."

In a similar recent effort, farmers in Newfoundland and Labrador turned in 2,085 kilograms of pesticide products. More information is available here.

Posted: February 4, 2011

Monsanto announced a number of advancements in its annual research and development pipeline update, including next steps for herbicide tolerant (HT) wheat and dicamba-tolerant canola.

HT wheat, along with higher-yielding / stress tolerant wheat, has advanced to "Phase I" or proof-of-concept phase in the Monsanto pipeline. The company says plans are to stack the wheat yield and stress technology with the HT traits. This would offer multiple modes of weed control, along with better yield potential under average stress growing conditions.

When stacked with Roundup Ready technology, dicamba-tolerant canola is designed to add an additional herbicide mode of action, which would enhance the flexibility for weed control options available for canola growers This initiative has also advanced to Phase 1 (pre-launch is Phase 4).

More information is available on the Monsanto site.

Posted: February 4, 2011

A new herbicide product, Optica Trio, distributed by UAP Canada, is available to cereal growers in western Canada looking for control of Group 2 resistant weeds.

Optica Trio, a Group 4 herbicide, combines three active ingredients one package to control broadleaf weeds in wheat – spring, durum and winter wheat – as well as in barley and oats. This includes control of Canada thistle (top growth control only) and cleavers. It also includes control of common chickweed, common ragweed, kochia, lady's-thumb (suppression only) lamb's quarters, redroot, stinkweed, volunteer canola, wild buckwheat and wild mustard.

According to UAP, for best results Optica Trio should be applied when crops are at the 2-5 leaf stage and when weeds are at the 2-3 leaf stage and actively growing. For winter wheat, apply in the spring before the crop is more than 30 centimetres tall.

More information is available on the UAP Canada site.

Posted: February 4, 2011

TeeJet Technologies announced its new Matrix Pro Guidance System, billed as the only system available that displays guidance and live video simultaneously.

This improves accuracy and efficiency in field operations, the company says. With this system, up to eight cameras can be used to monitor multiple machine operations, while at the same time viewing guidance information. Growers can choose Matrix Pro 570 with a 5.7" (145 mm) display or Matrix Pro 840 with an 8.4" (213 mm) display.

"Matrix Pro multi-tasks with ease so you can operate all your systems simultaneously," says Rich Gould, vice president and guidance business manager at TeeJet Technologies. "Plus, all the new features of Matrix Pro add to the user's productivity without complicating operation or adding cost."

Find more information here.