Manitoba cooperator

Page 1

Horses and hot weather

‘Green’ manure Boon to organic grain production » PG 3

Heat stress a risk » PG 13

SERVING MANITOBA FARMERS SINCE 1925 | Vol. 75, No. 33 | $1.75

August 17, 2017

Recovering pigs are being moved to other barns

manitobacooperator.ca

Pushing the boundaries of intercropping

By Alexis Stockford Co-operator staff

M

anitoba hog farmers whose barns are affected by the ongoing porcine epidemic diarrhea (PEDv) outbreak are running out of space to put the surviving pigs. Five unaffected barns recently had to receive pigs from locations battling the virus due to space constraints, Dr. Glen Duizer of Manitoba’s chief veterinary office said last week. While the pigs being transferred to other facilities are no longer shedding the virus, offi-

Flax and soybeans is just one combination under investigation

See PEDv on page 6 »

Field tour attendees July 25 take a closer look at an experimental hemp-legume intercrop plot.   Photo: Alexis Stockford

BY ALEXIS STOCKFORD Co-operator staff

Publication Mail Agreement 40069240

T

here are some unusual crop combinations springing up southwest of Melita. Experimental intercrops are among the Westman Agricultural Diversification Organization (WADO) projects this year, including flax intercropped with soybeans and hemp intercropped with legumes. Pea-canola, an emerging combination already used on some Manitoba farms, and

the already established wheatlegume mix are also under the microscope, with an eye to best management practices. Intercropping trials were on display during the July 25 WADO field day.

First-time combos One of WADO’s more experimental mixes, Manitoba Agriculture diversification specialist and WADO manager Scott Chalmers said, is flax and soybeans. They were grouped at least partially for disease control and to explore yield effects.

Crop maturity lines up well between the two crops, he said, and both share a n u m b e r o f re g i s t e re d herbicides for a range of weed groups, easing weed management. “The main idea is just to observe overyielding, which is traditionally seen in intercropping,” Chalmers said. Overyielding is the additional production observed from a community of plants, when compared to the same crops in a monoculture. P re v i o u s re s e a rc h h a s introduced flax as a “nurse”

c ro p w h e n i n t e rc ro p p e d with other pulses. Results out of Saskatchewan’s South East Research Farm in 2014 found that a chickpea-flax intercrop showed a 17 per cent instance of chickpea aschocyta, compared to 51 per cent in monocrop plots. WA D O re s e a rc h e r s w i l l examine how flax and soyb e a n s g r ow i n g t o g e t h e r affect soil nutrition and any impact on seed quality, Chalmers told the crowd July 25. See combination on page 6 »

Leapin’ loonie: 80-cent dollar won’t break the bank » PAGE 8


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.