Tar spot has moved through the U.S. Midwest, into Michigan and Wisconsin, and now officially calls Ontario home. Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs’ plant pathologist Albert Tenuta has seen the evidence in a field near Ridgetown, Ont., and there are also reported sightings of the corn leaf disease in Lambton and Essex… Read More
Corn fields across Ontario are full of variable plant development and that should be a concern for growers, says University of Guelph crop researcher Dr. David Hooker. Fields are littered with areas of yield-compromising backward and slow-to-develop plants. Hooker believes corn variability is even more apparent this year due to significant weather challenges; with cold… Read More
All the “knee-high by the first (or fourth) of July” photos have been posted on social media, with the crop looking nice from above; but what’s going on below the canopy? Now is the time to check weed populations and assess herbicide performance, says Jeanette Gaultier, senior technical services specialist with BASF, joining us for… Read More
Every corn crop is different. The year-over-year variables really play into a fungicide timing strategy, but the most important question to ask when strategizing for fungicide timing may be: “What is your corn crop doing right now?” Ken Currah, with BASF Canada, joins RealAgriculture’s Bernard Tobin for this episode of the Corn School to walk… Read More
With June arriving this week, corn is rushing ahead and growing rapidly. Now’s the time for growers to get out and scout fields to identify planting issues, determine yield potential and start fine-tuning your management plan, says Kinburn, Ont., agronomist Paul Sullivan. On this episode of RealAgriculture’s Corn School, Sullivan notes that stand assessment and… Read More
Should you go ground or air? That’s the question many growers struggle with as they try to determine the best method of applying disease-fighting fungicide to their growing corn crops. On this episode of RealAgriculture Corn School we tackle that question with two of North America’s leading plant pathologists — University of Kentucky’s Kiersten Wise… Read More
Strip tillage for corn continues to gain momentum as more growers cultivate strips to reduce total tillage and place seed and fertilizer in soil that warms faster prior to planting. But what about weed control? How do growers keep yield-robbing weeds at bay in these cultivated strips and optimize the potential of the growing environment… Read More
It’s mid-April and the weeds are growing in eastern Canada. Overall, good weather has many fields one month ahead of schedule, and in some cases, two months ahead of backward 2019 spring conditions, notes BASF agronomist Rob Miller. That means it’s time for growers to tackle perennial weeds and winter annuals like Canada fleabane before… 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
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
Corn growers in the mid-south and Midwest U.S. are being asked to take a closer look at diseased corn leaves as re-emerging diplodia leaf streak pushes into major corn growing states. The disease looks very similar to northern corn leaf blight (NCLB), a leaf disease Canadian growers typically identify based on its characteristic cigar-shaped lesions…. Read More
Changing weather patterns played havoc with corn planting and harvest in 2019 and they also affected insect cycles and how pests impacted the crop. Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs entomologist Tracey Baute notes that the cold, wet spring had a big impact on western bean cutworm (WBC). A significant reduction in early-season… Read More
The good news is tar spot — a new corn leaf disease — has yet to be found in Ontario cornfields. The bad news is it’s only a matter of time before the yield robber is confirmed in the province, says Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs plant pathologist Albert Tenuta. On this episode… Read More
Testing for DON in Ontario’s 2018 corn crop was an incredibly frustrating process for growers. With gibberella ear rot infecting a wide swath of corn in the province, many growers were exasperated when samples from the same load of corn taken from a field would show wide variation in DON levels — sometimes from 3… Read More
One of the big questions surrounding the Ontario corn crop of 2019 is whether plant roots can push through tough planting conditions and continue to feed the plant throughout the growing season. On this episode of the RealAgriculture Corn School, agronomist Peter Johnson takes a look at the challenges root systems faced in one of… Read More
Register for a RealAgriculture account to manage your Shortcut menu instead of the default.