Inoculating soybeans properly and with the appropriate product is one of the top two important decisions that factor into the success of the crop (variety selection for your region is the first). A 40-bushel an acre crop will require roughly 200 pounds of nitrogen per acre — properly inoculated soybeans will fix the lion’s share… Read More
Category: Crop Schools
The advent of glyphosate resistant weeds has and will continue to complicate pre-plant weed removal. Farmers need to match herbicide resistance management and control options with targeted weed species to ensure not only an effective kill, but also to avoid limiting control options later. Glyphosate-resistant giant ragweed has been confirmed in Ontario, and farmers set… Read More
Canada Fleabane can be the menace of menaces in your soybean crop IF you don’t hammer it down early. The truth is that the weed is so hearty — between its resistant characteristics and its ability to firmly root itself down — if you don’t deal with it while it’s young, you’ve got a problem… Read More
For some farmers, including wheat in rotation comes with a second decision — what type of wheat to grow? There are good options from hard red spring, winter wheat, CPS and even soft wheat. Depending on your area and marketing opportunities, each can be a profitable alternative to hard red spring. CPS wheat can be… Read More
Getting your corn crop off to a good start sets the tone for yield potential down the line. In our last episode, we talked about getting your seed down in the right conditions. This episode we’ll look at providing your crop with the right elements to get it firmly established in the field. When you’re… Read More
Remember this feeling, it happens every year. It’s that edgy, ready-to-go feeling that shows up every year around early April. The later it gets, the more the feeling gets amplified. Then you read stories (sorry) about the guy down the road that hit the perfect window in early April and absolutely nailed it at harvest…. Read More
There are few things more frustrating than not being able to pin down what’s eating your canola. Knowing which pests feed when and their tell-tale damage cues is the first step in narrowing down the perpetrator list. Cutworms, a general category that includes several pest species, feed in the early season (late May to June)… Read More
As more Manitoba farmers add soybeans into the crop rotation, it stands to reason that pests that attack the crop will begin showing up as well. Root rots — and there are so very many species that cause this — already exist in prairie soils, but just which species are here and what to do… Read More
As if a late spring and cold weather weren’t bad enough, current planting conditions in some areas of Ontario are ripe for a millipede feeding frenzy. Millipedes prefer cool soil temps and will stay deep in the soil profile, munching away on organic matter, as long as surface soil temps are warm and increasing. But… Read More
The s-tine field cultivator isn’t the most complicated piece of equipment you’ll have on the farm, but it sure can prove handy, especially in a less than ideal spring planting season. As Jim Boak, with Salford Machinery, explains in this Corn School video, the s-tine unit’s unique vibration pattern means it’s well suited to working… Read More
Just when you think you’re getting somewhere on disease management, the disease population shifts just enough to stay competitive. Fusarium, with its many strains and staying power on residue, is a constant thorn in the side of many Manitoba farmers, but it’s also increasingly an issue for Alberta and Saskatchewan farmers as well. What’s more,… Read More
Only a few months ago, soybeans were the darling crop of nearly every farmer from Manitoba to Alberta. The crop could do no wrong, it seemed, and everyone wanted a piece of this nitrogen-fixing pie. Acres in Manitoba were set to surpass a million if you asked someone in January, but here we are in… Read More
The drive to get on the field to plant in a timely manner can sometimes overshadow the importance of planting only when the soil is ready. What’s more, if there’s any tillage to be done before planting, a late start can start feeling very late indeed. But if you head out planting before the soil… Read More
As planting (eventually) gets under way, a little planning and moving of skids of seed can go a long way in not only increasing the efficiency of planting, but also ensuring that refuge requirements aren’t missed. Some seed variety packaging has made meeting the refuge requirements easy with the RIB (Refuge In a Bag) system,… Read More
Each seed treatment product protects against a specific list of diseases or insects, but it’s the overall impact of early season protection on stand establishment that has much more far-reaching impacts than simply avoiding disease infection. In this Pulse School episode, Wes Anderson, agronomy manager for Richardson Pioneer, does outline which seed treatments will protect… Read More