Many farmers are familiar with consulting economic threshold charts when it comes time to control insects, but many may be surprised to learn that there are economic thresholds for other pests, too. Gregory Sekulic, agronomy specialist with the Canola Council of Canada, explains in this Canola School episode that although spraying is an important tool,… Read More
Alfalfa is so cool, it can run ice in its “veins.” Or at least, that’s the best explanation we’ve got for the crop making it through extremely cold weather earlier this month. In this week’s Wheat Pete’s Word, host Peter Johnson discusses both alfalfa and wheat’s adaptability, swapping corn varieties based on the calendar, inoculating… Read More
It’s time for a very spring edition of RealAg LIVE! Q&A and for it, we’ve go the crowd-pleasing Peter “Wheat Pete” Johnson to talk about, well, just about everything. Check out the summary and video below! The best thing we can have at seeding and planting is a drought. And for eastern Ontario, they’re looking… Read More
When it comes to stress on a canola crop, there are two ‘buckets’ that it can fall into: abiotic stress and biotic stress. Biotic stressors can include things such as harmful insects — flea beetles, for example — and abiotic stressors have to do with factors dealing with the environment, such as frost. This time… Read More
Soybean growers in many regions were teased with an early spring, only to have the weather turn very cold for at least two weeks. Some growers are getting worried about the cold soil conditions and overall cool weather that may have knocked the crop back. To answer questions about cold weather and general soybean agronomy,… Read More
When it comes to emergence of the wheat crop, producers often have many hopes of what that should look like — without necessarily knowing how to manage those expectations. Often, stand emergence is judged on seedling vigour. However, as Jeremy Boychyn, agronomy research extension specialist with the Alberta Wheat and Barley Commissions explains in this… Read More
The weather feels more like mid-April than mid-May, and many farmers in Ontario are worried about corn and soybean seed in the ground and wheat heads above ground. There are reasons to be concerned, as nighttime temperatures over the last week have dipped very low and sometimes for the entire night. In this week’s Wheat… Read More
What effect will extreme cold temperatures have on early-season weed control? That’s a question University of Guelph, Ridgetown College weed scientist Dr. Peter Sikkema has been hearing a lot lately. With farm fields across Ontario being punished by extreme cold temperatures that have dropped to nighttime lows of minus 5 degrees C, many growers are… Read More
With extreme cold temperatures continuing across Ontario, when should growers resume planting soybeans? Planting came to a halt late last week as Ontario finds itself in the grip of extended cold daytime and nighttime temperatures. Snow covered parts of the province during the weekend and into Monday. And there’s more to come — some areas… Read More
There was a time when many people thought of field insects like weeds — all bad. Weeds steal yield, so we try to eliminate all or mostly all of those weeds. Now through many years of research, the way we look at insects in a crop has begun to shift away from this all-bad, all-must-go… Read More
By Peter Johnson, RealAg Agronomist, @WheatPete It is COLD! There are lots of questions right now about how low nighttime temperatures in the forecast might impact Ontario’s awesome wheat crop. I am hoping this is just another one of those times that growers like to “kill” the wheat crop, but the reality is that there… Read More
After a decent start to the spring season, Ontario’s weather has done a bit of a 180 and turned cool and damp. What does it mean for planting and spraying? In this week’s episode of Wheat Pete’s Word, host Peter Johnson covers why tank contents might be more important than temperature when it comes to… Read More
Drier weather over the last few years has taken some of the wind out of soybeans’ sails in Western Canada, but there’s a case to be made that fundamental climate trends on the Prairies still support good soybeans yields in the longer term. Especially if growers are on the ball with planting when the soil… Read More
Before any crops go in the ground, many producers are already thinking, “How can I make my harvest go smoothly?” When it comes to growing pulse crops — especially peas and lentils — one of the ways you can get ahead is by land rolling. This is done to ensure uniformity in the field, by… Read More
Producers across the country are beginning to get into the fields and getting that corn seed in the ground. When it comes to planting corn, getting that seedbed prepped is imperative to ensuring a steady start — whether you are growing silage or grain corn. A key to this is ensuring your soil temperature is… Read More