With many corn stands in Ontario looking fabulous, the weather challenges in the southern tip of the province have been a real issue. The photos in this RealCropUpdate were submitted by Philip Shaw, a farmer in Dresden, Ontario. In early May, north of Dresden and Wallaceburg, Ontario received between 1.4 and 4 inches which tormented the planted… Read More
Month: May 2012
Keeping your corn weed free through its early growth stages is critical in preserving yield potential. Knowing when to take control measures is a big part of that. If you’ve used a soil applied herbicide to control those weeds, you need to evaluate whether or not it’s working and determine when and if you need… Read More
The flea beetle is a menace to canola crops. Typically seed treatments like Helix Xtra and Prosper have controlled flea beetles with ease and uncontrollable populations were relatively rare. The feeding of seed treatment protected plants controlled the crucifer flea beetle which was great for farmers. The striped flea beetle has been showing up in… Read More
A great deal of Ontario is off to a great start. Everyone has tried to put last year’s cool wet spring behind them and the ideal spring of 2012 has helped. This year farmers wish that some of that spring moisture would return. The ill timed and over abundant moisture that put producers in… Read More
What kind of weather can we expect this summer out west? There seems to be a little bit of confusion surrounding that point. Some weather services have been forecasting hot and dry, others have been saying cooler than normal. Considering the way the predictions for winter and the actual winter went this year, you can… Read More
Recently it was announced that Tom Wolf’s research program will be cut completely by Ag Canada. The reaction from agronomists, manufacturers and farmers has been quite strong. So strong that some of the industry associations are trying to save the program. When word got out tweets started to fly just like this one. Tom Wolf’s… Read More
The corn and soybeans are off to a great start in Ontario. Some farmers are concerned that spring has gone “too well” and are waiting for everything too balance out. For those farmers that tend to think more positively, the opportunity for yield is very high this year. Ontario farmers have had ideal planting conditions,… Read More
It was just over a year ago that parts of Manitoba experienced major flooding as heavy rains caused rivers to overflow their banks and fields to become unworkable. In a few areas farmers are still dealing with the effects of those wet conditions, in other areas life is back to normal. We decided to turn… Read More
Water quality is an often overlooked aspect of spraying herbicides, yet it is very important in determining how effective your spray is going to be on your target weeds. There are a number of factors that can affect the quality of your spray water including; pH, water hardness, turbidity and sometimes even electrical conductivity. The… Read More
I am hearing major frustration from some of the younger cow calf producers regarding the difficulty of trying to expand their cow herd in this crazy market. Prices for pairs has shot higher at the same time when banks may be less than eager to lend to the cattle industry. Add on top of that… Read More
Canola is big business on the prairies. This year alone it’s estimated that roughly 20 million acres of canola will be planted across the prairies. The economics of that are staggering. It also goes without saying that the spin off from those acres has a huge impact as well. Crop inputs, agronomic services, seed treatments… Read More
The decision to apply a fungicide to your wheat crop can be made a little easier if understand the return on your investment. Yield equals dollars and if you’re in an area that’s at risk for disease. Protecting your crops yield potential is benefit number 1. Fungicides first and foremost provide a preventative level of… Read More
Getting the most out of your fungicide application requires a very large attention to the details of the growing season. Corn goes through a number of different growth stages and applying fungicide at the right stage can help to protect the investment you’ve made in the corn crop until that point. Timing is critical when… Read More
Unseasonably warm weather has its benefits other than not freezing to death. It appears as though the warm weather in March provided an extra boost to the winter wheat crop, so much in some cases that there is already talk in some circles of the potential for double crop soybeans . Great news for producers… Read More
So, what’s new for wild oat and millet control in wheat? Not too much actually. Sure, there have been several new names launched during the last couple years; names like Wildcat, Axial, Nufarm Clodinafop, Tundra, Slam’R, and Hellcat. Each of these will do a great job at controlling your annual grasses when sprayed at the… Read More