Edible bean breeders have a lot of boxes to check when developing new varieties. From yield and maturity to quality and end use market considerations, breeders need to develop varieties that flourish in the field and also please palates when they appear on dinner plates. On this episode of RealAgriculture’s Edible Bean School, Hensall Co-op… Read More
Author: Bernard Tobin
Bernard Tobin is RealAgriculture's Ontario Field Editor. A Ryerson University journalism grad, @AgBern was raised on a dairy farm near St. John's, Newfoundland. For more than two decades, he has specialized in agricultural communications, working for numerous farm media outlets, communications agencies and ag consulting companies. He is based in Georgetown, Ontario.
When the weather is warm early in the season, everyone starts talking winter wheat. This spring in Ontario, the winter wheat crop is awake and no one is more excited than RealAgriculture agronomist Peter Johnson. On this episode of the Wheat School, Johnson is walking a wheat field near Georgetown, Ont. The crop is greening… Read More
Precision Planting made its first venture into the sprayer technology market in North America in 2022 when it unveiled several products focused on improving sprayer operation and data collection. Fast forward to 2024 and Tremont, Illinois-based company is now forging into the European spraying market with its Symphony nozzle control system — designed to maintain constant… Read More
The jewel in the 2025 John Deere lineup crown was unveiled at Commodity Classic at Houston, Texas, this week. The new 9Rx line up available with 710, 770, or 830 horsepower, four tracks and heaps of new features turned heads and had the whole crowd talking. Our own Bern Tobin was at the John Deere… Read More
Crop scientists know a lot more about nutrient uptake in corn and soybean than winter wheat. That’s something RealAgriculture agronomist Peter Johnson and a host of researchers, technicians and industry stakeholders have been working to change. On this episode of the Wheat School, Johnson shares data from a new wheat study on nutrient uptake and… Read More
In recent years, many corn growers in Ontario have wrestled with gibberella ear rot in the crop and the high levels of deoxynivalenol (DON) levels it can produce in the grain. It’s made for stressful harvest seasons, especially in 2018 when mycotoxins produced by the gibberella fungus in some fields climbed well above safe feeding… Read More
Every year soybean growers make seed choices based on a host of factors. One of the key decisions is whether to plant long-season varieties, full-season varieties or choose a shorter-season variety. Many growers target longer-season varieties and an early planting date to try to optimize yield potential and put more bushels in the bin, but… Read More
How does an on-farm biodigester and 2,200 beef cattle merge to make a farm more profitable and sustainable? On this episode of RealAgriculture’s Profitable Practices, Carl Frook shares how Frook Farms and Mar Creek Renewables have come together to help him manage manure, his cattle, his crops, and boost the bottom line for the family… Read More
How do you convert a snow removal machine into an efficient silage compactor? At Agritechnica, RealAgriculture’s Shaun Haney spotted Maisraupe’s Leitwolf Agripower silage distributor and compactor and couldn’t resist asking that question. In this report, Maisraupe’s managing director Georg Schuler shares how the converted snow machine, powered by a 530-horsepower Mercedes engine, creates the required… Read More
2023 was a roller coaster for edible bean growers in Canada’s two biggest growing regions. After record-breaking yields in 2022, Manitoba endured some dry summer growing conditions to produce a good crop with most growers harvesting above-average yields, reports Manitoba Ag pulse and soybean specialist Dennis Lange. In Ontario, the crop emerged well despite dry… Read More
Southwestern Ontario is home to some of Canada’s most productive farmland. In recent years, land values have climbed to dizzying heights with competition for top acres driving sales for some farms into the $40,000-per-acre range. But some of the air was let out of the value balloon in 2023, says Ryan Parker from London, Ont.-… Read More
Wheat yield is made up of many yield components ranging from thousand kernel weight to head size and kernels per head. But when it comes to driving higher yields, all those components take a back seat to the number of heads per square metre. It’s the big data point emerging from three years of data… Read More
When it comes to improving fertilizer application and utilization, growers are encouraged to focus on the 4Rs — the right source, right rate, right time, and right place. Former Manitoba Ag soil fertility specialist John Heard won’t argue with that strategy but he would also like farmers to think about the ‘4Ls’ — lift-off, leftover,… Read More
Drones are flying everywhere these days but farmers can’t use them to spray pesticides on their crops. It’s illegal to fly unmanned aerial vehicle (UAVs) for applying crop protection products in Canada and it’s likely to stay that way for a couple of years. Why are drones still grounded for spray application? The answer is… Read More
You can learn a lot about reducing tillage in 35 years. That’s the combined number of years Horst Bohner and Rob Templeman have spent leading Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA) soybean research and extension efforts. On the first episode of the 2024 season of RealAgriculture’s Soybean School, OMAFRA’s current and former… Read More