There’s always plenty of attention paid to getting grain corn off to a great start, and the same principles apply when it comes to the finer points of planting corn for silage. With seed deliveries underway and planting season around the corner, Alana Serhan, market development agronomist for Pride Seeds in Western Canada, takes us… Read More
Precipitation, in both the frozen and liquid form, has been scarce in a large part of the northern corn growing areas of North America, creating the prospect of planting into a possible drought. There are several choices a grower can make to help maximize water use and mitigate drought risk, explains Alana Serhan, market development… Read More
With help from precision technology, corn growers are fully capable of conducting well-designed, logistically simple field trials that can help improve yield and profitability. When it comes to on-farm research, “that’s the beauty of today versus 30 or 40 years ago when I started in this business,” says Purdue University corn expert Bob Nielsen. On… Read More
One of the keys to a high-yielding corn crop is even, uniform emergence. Growers can achieve this management goal in early-planted April crops when soil conditions are fit, but what happens when the weather turns bad and soil conditions take a turn for the worst at planting? On this episode of Corn School, Ken Currah,… Read More
What’s the secret to growing those gigantic corn yields that turn a select few U.S. farmers into corn yield contest kings? Purdue University corn guru Dr. Bob Nielsen has been pouring over National Corn Yield Contest data and crop input and management summaries from winners for almost two decades. What has he learned? After all… Read More
Sixty-inch spacing for corn is sure not for everyone, but the math and soil conservation rewards can work for farmers who have limited rotations and can benefit from extended grazing for livestock on well-established cover crops. That’s Sunderland, Ontario, farmer Ed Hanson’s takeaway from the first year of growing corn in 60-inch rows on his… Read More
Resistance to Bt corn rootworm hybrids has developed in Ontario and growers are asking: what’s the best strategy to control the yield-robbing pest if in-seed technology fails? Resistance has been confirmed in several fields in Huron, Perth and Durham Counties in Ontario and the problem is likely even more widespread, says Tracey Baute, Ontario Ministry… Read More
Selecting the right hybrids can make or break the profitability of a corn crop. There are a multitude of factors that combine to produce high-yielding, profitable harvests, but if growers make the wrong hybrid choices they’ll need some luck and good fortune to produce a successful crop, says University of Guelph associate professor Dr. David… 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
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
The hangover effects from a wet fall are giving farmers in parts of Western Canada a headache this spring. Saturated soil conditions right until freeze-up forced fieldwork that normally happens in fall to be delayed until spring. As a result, heavy harrows, vertical tillage machines, traditional cultivators, and even fire — all the tools in… 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
How many crop heat units (CHU) does corn need to emerge? That’s a question many growers are asking as their corn seed shivers through the cold spring 2020 growing conditions. On this episode of RealAgriculture’s Corn School, we put that question to Dale Cowan, AGRIS Co-operative agronomist. He says that corn seed typically requires 165… Read More
Producers across the country are beginning to get into the fields and getting that corn seed in the ground. When it comes to planting corn, getting that seedbed prepped is imperative to ensuring a steady start — whether you are growing silage or grain corn. A key to this is ensuring your soil temperature is… Read More
If you aren’t in the field yet, chances are you are itching to get out there and get the tires rolling. This is probably especially true if you are fearing early frost come harvest season. Alana Serhan, market development specialist with PRIDE Seeds, says that before you even consider taking that corn seed out of… Read More
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