Growing pulses can be tricky at times, and getting proper emergence keeps the crop competitive. Ensuring the crop has the proper amount of nutrients is key to a high and healthy yield, and that means choosing the right type and amount of inoculant. But inoculants aren’t like other crop production products, as they have a… Read More
After wreaking havoc in the U.S. and parts of Ontario, herbicide-resistant waterhemp has arrived on the scene on the eastern side of the Canadian Prairies. Patches of the prolific weed — a cousin to Palmer amaranth — were found in multiple fields in five municipalities in Manitoba last year. In one case, over 30 acres… Read More
When it comes to small plot trials, sometimes producers wonder how the data can be implemented onto their fields and used in a “real-life” format. Alberta Wheat and Barley Commissions are headed into the first year of their Plot 2 Farm program, which will conduct trials on wheat and barley on a larger scale. On… Read More
Mark Burnham is doing his best to promote more wheat acres in Ontario. It can be a tough sell, but there’s no disputing the soil health benefits of having wheat in the rotation. The Cobourg, Ont.- farmer, who runs a mixed farm with his family, believes a corn-soy-wheat rotation, with some hay and cover crops,… Read More
What’s your nitrogen strategy for winter wheat? When it comes to spring nitrogen applications, the first thing growers need to consider is their planting date, says RealAgriculture agronomist Peter Johnson. That planting date typically correlates with a specific amount of fall growth, which growers can use to guide them in their spring nitrogen applications. On… Read More
If you’re a wheat grower, chances are you’ve heard about thousand kernel weight (TKW) and how you should be using the number to fine-tune wheat seeding rates. Seeding will be here before we know it – now is a great time to figure out TKW on each seeding lot. On this episode of RealAgriculture’s Wheat… Read More
If you haven’t prepped your planter for 2020, there’s still time to get the job done. On this episode of RealAgriculture’s Corn School, Kearney Planters service manager Shaun Dilliott walks us around a typical corn planter and offers tips on key areas where growers should focus maintenance efforts. The frame segment is the first stop…. Read More
It’s early spring and you’ve pegged the yield potential of your wheat crop at 125 bu/ac and now you have to manage it through the season and get it in the bin. What should you do? For the next six minutes you should watch the latest episode of RealAgriculture’s Wheat School with agronomist Phil Needham,… Read More
First there were strobilurins, then came triazoles, and now we have succinate dehydrogenase inhibitors or SDHIs. That can be a bit of tongue twister, but it also adds up to three classes of fungicides and multiple modes of action that more growers are stacking up to bring stronger disease protection to their cornfields. That’s the… Read More
During planting season, Kearney Planters service manager Shaun Dilliott gets plenty of calls from growers asking for seed meter management advice. Most of those calls come from soybean growers looking for tips on two types of meters — a John Deere radial meter or a Kinze brush meter. On this episode of RealAgriculture’s Soybean School,… Read More
When Bloomfield, Ont. farmer Tyler Lester started planting cover crops, the goal was to help keep livestock out of pea crops to address food safety concerns raised by vegetable crop customers. With a healthy deer and wild turkey population that too often ventured into the crops, Lester and his family hatched a strategy to plant… Read More
Have you noticed doubles and skips in your corn fields? Poor-performing meters on planter row units are the likely culprits and they’re costing you money. With the 2020 planting season quickly approaching, we asked Kearney Planters service manager Shaun Dilliott to share some tips on meter maintenance and testing. Dilliott and his team work on… Read More
What’s the yield potential for winter wheat in Ontario? If you see 150 bu/ac pop up on a well-calibrated yield combine monitor in part of a field, that’s likely your upper-end yield potential, says agronomist Phil Needham of Needham AG Technologies. Typically, however, your monitor will flirt with that big yield number for only moments… Read More
Knowing your soil and accepting your climatic challenges for what they are is key to choosing the right crops, cover crops, and soil amendments that will perform best. That said, sometimes it takes a major event to push for significant changes to the current status quo. Jenn Doelman farms at Douglas, Ont., and is a… Read More
Tar spot, a new corn leaf disease, has moved through the U.S. Midwest, into Michigan and Wisconsin, and now sits at the doorstep of Ontario’s corn growing region. Characterized by tar-like speckling on the upper surface of corn leaves, the fungal pathogen has been delivering yield hits ranging from 20 to 60 bushels per acre… Read More