It pays to manage corn stalks. That message was heard loud and clear when agronomists Pat Lynch and Jonathan Zettler asked farmers why they till soil following a corn crop. The pair publish The Cropwalker — a weekly agronomy newsletter, and heard from 372 respondents in a Twitter poll. The top reason for tillage, cited… Read More
Information, knowledge, and data can be paramount when maximizing yield potential, and when talking about utilizing fertilizer to its highest potential, accurately measuring nitrogen loss can translate to net dollars at the end of the year. On this Corn School episode, we talk about how measuring nitrogen volatilization is the first step in determining how… Read More
How much fertilizer do farmers lose when they apply nitrogen in season? Is volatilization a significant problem? Could 4R nutrient management and urease inhibitors help? On this episode of the RealAgriculture Corn School, University of Guelph researcher Josh Nasielski shares what he and his collaborators are learning about the best way to minimize in-season losses using… Read More
In Ontario, corn growers are approximately six weeks into the growing season and now is a great time to do a couple tests to reassess the nitrate levels and decide on what the best plan is to sidedress nitrogen, on a field by field basis. Deb Campbell, agronomist with Agronomy Advantage, joins us for this… Read More
When it comes to determining the right rate of nitrogen for your farm there’s nothing better than on-farm data. After a winter of talking with growers about escalating nutrient prices and the most economic rate of nitrogen (MERN), Ben Rosser, corn lead with the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA) is encouraging… Read More
2021 was a big year for corn yield in Ontario. Although not official, the average yield is expected to check in at just over 200 bu/ac — a new record. On this episode of RealAgriculture’s Corn School, we take a closer look at where this yield is coming from with Purdue University agronomy professor Dr…. Read More
With high fertilizer prices heading into 2022, corn growers can’t afford to over-apply nutrients. But they also can’t risk losing money by shorting the crop of its fertility needs. On the season-ending episode of RealAgriculture’s Corn School for 2021, University of Guelph associate professor Dr. David Hooker returns to comment on this conundrum and share… Read More
It’s November and Ontario corn growers continue to push through a harvest that will likely smash the provincial yield record. But there’s also lots of talk about the 2022 season, especially when it comes to fertilizer prices and what impact the cost of nutrients will have on growing corn when the calendar turns to next… Read More
Splitting nitrogen in a corn crop can increase profitability and benefit the environment, but to be successful on both counts growers need to keep a sharp eye on the weather. That’s the conclusion drawn by University of Guelph researchers Tasmia Kabir, Aaron Delaporte, Joshua Nasielski, and Alfons Weersink after looking at 19 years of weather data… Read More
How does strip tillage impact a corn plant’s ability to access and take up nutrients? On this episode of RealAgriculture’s Corn School, Ben Rosser, corn lead at Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, looks at fertility research plots that compare how corn performs in both conventional tillage and spring strip tillage systems. In… Read More
A lack of late-season nitrogen and denitrification has been a concern this year, which is causing less than optimal growth in corn crops in parts of Ontario. Matt Chapple, market agronomist at PRIDE Seeds, has been getting plenty of calls this growing season about the issue, and in this Corn School episode, Bernard Tobin joins… Read More
When it comes to strip tilling, is it better to plant corn into fall strips or spring strips? Ben Rosser, corn lead with the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, has been working on this question for a while now, and in this Corn School episode, Bernard Tobin catches up with him in… Read More
What if corn, like soybeans, could fix its own nitrogen? It’s a question agronomist Dale Cowan and his team at AGRIS Co-operative are tackling this summer as they test a biological product that promises to help corn plants fix nitrogen, when applied directly on the seed, in pop-up fertilizer, and through foliar application between the… 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
Corn rootworm, manure, and soybeans — farmers don’t often hear those three words in the same sentence but we’ve come to expect the unexpected in 2020. With growing resistance to corn rootworm traits in Ontario, many farmers who typically plant continuous corn will look to control the pest by expanding rotations to include soybeans. But… Read More
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