Wheat Pete's Word, Dec 1: Corn height, sticky snow, stuck plows, and not so magical manure

If you’re already shopping around for next year’s seed supply for, well, everything, you’re probably going to be glad you did.

To help make the decision on what to buy, Peter “Wheat Pete” Johnson says the corn hybrid information for Ontario is complete and ready for your scrutiny, and on this week’s Wheat Pete’s Word, he also discusses which crops may be hard to find seed for by late spring. Oh, and don’t miss the discussion on how magical manure is perhaps not so magical.

Have a question you’d like Johnson to address or some yield results to send in? Disagree with something he’s said? Leave him a message at 1-888-746-3311, send him a tweet (@wheatpete), or email him at [email protected]

SUMMARY

• Corn trial data is up! All the reports are done. Dig in.
• This year’s winner is almost never next year’s winner, so don’t try and pick the “winner,” choose for consistency
• Does corn height matter?
• Yes! They plant 4-row plots, but only harvest the centre two, to limit the “border” effect
• The test weight vs. kernel weight discussion has proven useful
• Kernel weight is correlated to high yield in hybrid trials
• How do you get a plow unstuck? (Don’t take it out in the first place?) See below.
• Plugged sieves with snow at corn harvest means it’s actually not cold enough to harvest…but even at -10 degrees Celsius or colder, it will still plug, apparently. What’s going on?
• Six years of hay, then beans, then into wheat. Random tiled ground. The wheat is yellow! Which is interesting, because you’d think it would have great soil structure and water movement
• What about sorghum-sudangrass in the killed out areas in early May? Nope, not until June, if you do it at all
• What about single-cut clover?
• It’s a good option, but order that seed early
• Soybean seed supply issues? There will be enough, but pay attention to germination and vigour scores
• The secrets of soybeans with Shawn Conley! Check it out here. Biggest yield trigger? Planting date.
• Beans before corn might end up being a thing
• Magical manure? Sometimes, but not for N. Research from Dr. Joann Whalen out of Quebec
• It can take years to rev up the soil with manure, says Don Flaten, now retired from the University of Manitoba
• Not as much benefit in the first 8 years, but in year nine — huge value!
• Availability of N out of cattle manure is less available. Beware the one-year application

Shout out to @MdMcLean1 for the life line tonight.
It’s a bit slippery between the tiles. #mud #towrope pic.twitter.com/lWbC9XCkrJ

— Dan Hayden (@Dungannon_Dan) November 30, 2021

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