Posted: September 6, 2011

Researchers at the Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) Lacombe Research Centre are hoping an integrated pest management approach can take a major bite out of dramatic herbicide cost prairie farmers incur to control wild oat.

A new, multi-year study at the centre is looking at ways to control wild oat with less reliance on herbicide and to help minimize potential weed resistance problems.

"At half a billion dollars per year, controlling wild oat is the biggest herbicide cost on the Prairies," says researcher Neil Harker of AAFC Lacombe."There's also a lot of resistance to wild oat herbicides. So we're looking at ways to try and deal with both the cost and resistance problems."

The strategy researchers are developing will aim to combine multiple control methods for maximum benefit. Control methods to be evaluated include early cut silage, higher than normal seeding rates and cutting alfalfa to prevent viable wild oat seed.

Another key method researchers will look at is putting in a winter cereal such as winter trititcale, fall rye or winter wheat. The rationale is that cereals get such a head start on wild oat each spring that wild oat herbicides are usually not required.

More information is available in Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development's (ARD) Agri-News bulletin.

Posted: September 6, 2011

Apple and pear growers on this side of the border will get access to a naturally occurring virus that targets codling moth and has been available commercially for years in the U.S.

Engage Agro announced it has agreed to distribute the biopesticide, recently awarded minor use registration, in Canada on behalf its maker, Certis USA.

Tim Damico, Certis USA's vice-president for the NAFTA region, says in a release the product offers fruit growers "a sound resistance management strategy" and one that preserves "the environmental integrity often found in an integrated pest management system."

CYD-X's active ingredient also gives growers flexibility, says Don Surgeoner, commercial sales manager for Engage Agro. "They can use it for organic production, in IPM programs, or use it tank-mixed in a conventional control program."

More information is available on the Certis website.

Posted: September 6, 2011

Herbide cost will go down. Seed cost will go up. And the total package will have a similar cost in 2012 as it does in 2011.

That's the gist of an announcement from Bayer CropScience notifying growers of price adjustments for 2012 related to Liberty herbicide and the LibertyLink hybrid canola system.

According to the company release, Bayer CropScience "is again reducing the suggested retail price of Liberty herbicide while increasing the trait value contained in the bag of all LibertyLink canola seed by a similar amount for the 2012 growing season."

The net result of the "rebalancing" is greater flexibility for the grower, says James Humphris, Manager, Oilseed Crops - Herbicides & Trait Agreement. "We are providing growers with an even more economical resistance management tool and the increased freedom to choose higher labelled rates or a more economical 2-Pass option, when required on their canola."

Get more details on the Bayer CropScience website.

Posted: September 6, 2011

Monsanto Canada announced regulatory approval for its refuge in a bag (RIB) corn solution, for use with its Genuity, SmartStax, and RIB Complete corn products.

"Previously, the Genuity, SmartStax trait technology was approved for a reduced refuge requirement of just five percent of planted acres," says Mike Nailor, trait product management lead, with Monsanto Canada. "With the RIB Complete approvals, products with this technology now have the seed required for refuge acres incorporated into the same single bag of seed."

Genuity, SmartStax, RIB Complete product will contain a blend of 95 percent Genuity SmartStax corn seed and 5 percent refuge (i.e. non-Bt) seed that farmers can plant across their entire field. Farmers who use these products will no longer need to plant a separate, structured refuge for insect pests on those given fields.

With regulatory approvals now granted for the reduced refuge corn products, DEKALB brand seed is planning to convert its product lineup to have Genuity, SmartStax, and RIB Complete corn hybrids available for sale starting in Fall 2011, in time for the 2012 planting season.

View more information on the Monsanto website.