Will precision planting winter wheat pay for Ontario growers? That’s a question RealAgriculture agronomist Peter Johnson and OMAFRA cereals specialist Joanna Follings are determined to answer with a new research trial they planted last week at Follings’ home farm at Ayr, Ont. At the 2020 CerealSmart conference last February at Kitchener, Ont., Michigan State University… Read More
You’ve seeded it, sprayed it, watched it grow, harvested it, and now you’re putting the canola in the bin. On paper, storing canola may seem simple, but as per usual, the actuality of storing canola successfully is a lot more complex. There are many factors to consider to properly storing canola and in this episode… Read More
The number of soybean acres in Western Canada has declined to less than half of what it was when acreage peaked in 2017 — dropping every year since then — but there are expectations that acres have likely hit a floor in 2020. In this follow-up episode to our last Soybean School on soybean maturity… Read More
A pre-harvest interval is the amount of time that’s required between a product application and cutting the crop in anyway — not just harvest. A PHI can always be found on a product label, and following the recommendation can help the crop dry down faster and keep product residues within maximum residue limits. “When it… Read More
We have a different kind of Pulse School episode for you — it’s market focused this time, instead of agronomy focused. The export destination of peas is shifting, and some of the patterns in pricing are changing too, which may mean opportunities for farmers when they go to market their pulse crops, especially yellow peas…. Read More
The better the job done at planting the better the yield potential of a corn crop. That much we know, but when planting into less-than-ideal conditions, like the spring of 2020, environmental factors can really wreak havoc on your end yield potential. Luckily, paying attention to seed singulation at planting time can help. “There’s no… Read More
Frost can be highly variable and the damage it does all depends on how cold it gets, how long it stays cold, and how far it penetrates the crop canopy. If you do get some frost, it’s generally recommended to assess your canola crop, to see what’s happening in your own fields, but to be… Read More
It’s a colourful time of year as leaves start to turn yellow, then brown, and then drop to the ground — not only on trees, but also in soybean fields. When moisture has not been a limiting factor, differences in days-to-maturity between varieties can be quite eye-catching heading into the final weeks of the growing… Read More
When it comes to getting ready to combine soybeans and applying a pre-harvest burndown to your crop, there are two parts to the conversation — desiccation and weed control. There are some important things to know about each part and in this episode of Soybean School, Bernard Tobin is here to cover both of them,… Read More
Sudden death syndrome (SDS), caused by a fusarium species in soil, needs cool and moist conditions to thrive. It also needs an entry point, and soybean cyst nematodes (SCN) make those for the pathogen in roots of soybean when they attack the crop. Effectively managing SCN, therefore, is just one part of the puzzle in… Read More
Have you ever wondered just exactly how your corn develops in the cob? Understanding how corn makes a cob, successful kernels, and packs in starch can be a key component of an agronomic plan. “This top part is the tassel, and that is the male part of the plant,” says Sara Meidlinger, market development agronomist… Read More
As many soybean growers are well aware, soybeans have a unique ability to biologically fix their own nitrogen (N) in a symbiotic relationship with the bacteria, Bradyrhizobium japonicum. Inoculant containing the bacteria can either be applied on the seed or to the soil at planing, and then as the crop is putting on vegetation and… Read More
Walking into a green, fully-podded canola field isn’t easy — it’s actually more like swimming if you’ve got a good stand and your plants are well knit together. But, it’s important to really get into the field to scout for bertha armyworms. Before you wade in to your canola to look for this pest, Gregory… Read More
Throughout the growing season, you might be making mental notes of all the things you liked or didn’t like about your soybean crop. It’s never too early to be thinking about next year’s variety decisions. In this episode of Soybean School, Allan Froese, product selection lead for Syngenta, joins Kelvin Heppner in the field to… Read More
If you’ve been regularly scouting soybeans and noticed some potassium deficiency symptoms — yellowing on leaves — now is a good time to check the number of pods in those spots. “What we often don’t do is compare the number of pods later on, and of course that’s what yield is made of — pod… Read More