Breaking yield records has become routine for modern corn hybrids. Much of the credit goes to new and improved genetics, but those bin-busting yields also require more nutrients, and that demand extends well beyond N, P, and K. “As we continue to raise the yield bar we need to start looking at micronutrients with a… Read More
There’s a good chance you don’t test your soil temperature as much as you should. Crop extension specialist with Saskatchewan Agriculture, Cory Jacob says most farmers will test their soil here and there, but could benefit if they make it a habit. In this episode of the Pulse School, Jacob goes over why knowing your… Read More
There’s some tough-looking winter wheat across Ontario and many producers are wondering whether they can save their crops. In some instances, growers have forward-contracted wheat for delivery at $7 a bushel. That’s difficult to walk away from, says RealAgriculture agronomist Peter Johnson. “We will lose some acres on the heavy clays, but where we can,… Read More
There’s more reason than ever to make sure you’re setting your wheat seeding rate in weight or seeds per acre versus a “bushels per acre” rule of thumb. That’s because of a few things, says Dr. Brian Beres, with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada Lethbridge. First off, the genetic yield potential of wheat has improved over… Read More
Traditionally, when the soil is fit for planting, growers fill the planter with corn seed and start to roll. But is it time to rethink that time-honoured approach? Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA) soybean specialist Horst Bohner believes so. He says there’s plenty of evidence to suggest early-planted soybeans deliver a… Read More
Variable seed size, seed costs, and unique seeding equipment can make recommending a canola seeding rate nearly impossible except on a farm-by-farm basis. What agronomists can do is help farmers work backwards from the desired plant stand count to get where they need to be, but what if that number proves very expensive? The Canola… Read More
If you always wait for the calendar to hit late April or early May before seeding wheat, you could be leaving yield on the table or at the very least making the seeding season more hectic than it has to be. Multi-year ultra-early seeding research out of Alberta suggests that early March seeding and maybe… Read More
As the 2019 planting season draws near there’s one thing we know for sure — it will be different from last year. That’s just the way things go, of course, but there are lessons from last year that growers can take to the field for 2019. The first thing growers need to be mindful of… Read More
The Saskatchewan Ministry of Agriculture has been hosting meetings this winter to help farmers keep up with the most current science and best management practices to deal with clubroot. Many of the meetings have been conducted with the participation of Canola Council of Canada agronomists and other industry specialists. Allie Noble, crops extension specialist with… Read More
Quite often, growers discover herbicide resistant weeds on their farm after an effective herbicide fails to take out a targeted weed. After some testing and reviewing past herbicide application records, growers might realize that the resistance problem is the result of repeated use of a particular herbicide or a history of not following best management… Read More
Corn is moving into new territory — mainly west and north — but the agronomic information farmers in these new areas rely on is still largely based on data from places such as Illinois and Iowa. This has provided a basis for new corn farmers to get started, but there are a lot of differences… Read More
Farmers live and work in the real world, so real world events like weather can make a huge difference to a crop. We all know this, but sometimes we forget that the weather in the year prior to the current growing season also needs to be taken into account. Andrew Reid understands that crops grow… Read More
Will strip tillage find a home in Ontario soybean fields? AGRIS Co-operative agronomist Dale Cowan certainly believes there’s a fit. Last June on RealAgriculture Soybean School we visited Cowan in a field of strip tilled soybeans near Mount Brydges, Ont., where Cowan’s brother, Larry and Larry’s son, Chris, of Chimo Farms, had created an integrated strip till program… Read More
One of the big stories in the Canadian wheat industry this year has been re-emerging demand for Hard Red Winter (HRW) wheat in Ontario. Hard Red Winter used to occupy up to 18 percent of wheat acres in the province, but that number has dropped to an estimated 7 per cent in recent years and… Read More
Imagine planting corn hybrids that could produce 40 to 80 percent of their nitrogen requirements. It’s only 10 years away, says University of Wisconsin–Madison researcher Dr. Vania Pankievicz. The breakthrough comes from a Mexican corn variety called Sierra Mixe. At the recent Innovative Farmers Association of Ontario conference in London, Ontario, Pankievicz explained that the 15-foot tall variety,… Read More