Farmers, agronomists, and agricultural retailers from across the province have been in Carman this week learning more about field scouting and crop health.

Week one of Crop Diagnostic School wrapped up yesterday, with the second session running next week Tuesday through Thursday. Manitoba Agriculture's Anastasia Kubinec is the event ringleader, and says the school is comprised of eight stations, including topics on field crop pathology, entomology, crop nutrition, soil health, pulses, cereals, oilseeds, and weeds.

Kubinec says Manitoba Agriculture has been running this event for 26 years, and every year's program is different.

"From year to year, there are a lot of completely different plots that people are looking at," she says. "We do try to base our trials and demonstrations on things we deal with every year, or things that we know are going to be an issue depending on what the weather conditions have been like. I think (participants) do appreciate that. We're also very honest with our answers."

In the past five years, Kubinec says the Crop Diagnostic School has averaged around 500 participants per year, with about 530 in attendance this year.