Stopping the spread of clubroot takes diligence. If you’re in an area where there is a clubroot presence, it’s important to get out and scout your fields regularly looking for signs of infection. If you don’t know you have it, you may unknowingly spread it through soil transfer from equipment moving field to field. If… Read More
Category: Crop Schools
The economics of farming naturally put “high yield” at the top of every plant breeders list, but something like yield is interwoven with a number of other factors. Just to allow a plant to maintain its intrinsic yield potential you have to develop it to be able to compete with weeds, stand well and have… Read More
A little trouble now may help you deal with a lot of trouble down the line. That’s exactly what happened when corn in Ontario went through a dry spell in late May and early June. That dry period caused corn in those fields to develop deep and dense roots. Fast forward now to the six-week… Read More
One of the key components involved in cultivating a 300-plus bushel corn crop is establishing a good, uniform stand. Unfortunately for producers in drought affected regions of Ontario, those conditions have taken their toll in that area. Despite an early season that helped to foster good root development, stress from hot and dry conditions kept… Read More
When we talk about the total package approach in any crop breeding program, we mean that every effort has to balance a number of key elements, not taking away from any of them while trying to add to all of them. In chickpea, as with most crops, those efforts are directed at the areas of… Read More
Clubroot is gaining traction in Alberta and continues to spread each year. The first line of defense against the spread of clubroot is awareness. That has to include information on identification and prevention in order to be truly effective. That’s why events like the Canola Galla are important. The event was all about getting producers… Read More
Any crop breeding program is a balancing act. For every problem you look to address, you potentially open the door to new and unexpected ones or risk losing desired traits. The more traits you try and breed into a crop, the more you have to think about how those traits affect each other. That’s the… Read More
There really is no substitute for getting into your fields. You hear agronomists constantly banging that drum. That’s because there really is no substitute for getting into your fields. This is especially true when you’re trying to make a decision on when to swath your canola. A drive-by appraisal of the field just won’t cut… Read More
The threat of glyphosate resistance continues to plague growers with weeds like glyphosate resistant Canada fleabane spreading throughout Ontario. If left unchecked, the weed has the potential to become a much bigger problem in Ontario and eventually other parts of Canada as well. That’s where a “big picture” approach has to be brought in at… Read More
The last six weeks have been extremely dry throughout parts of Ontario. Crops across the board have suffered as hopes for bumper yields have been deflated by the stress of prolonged hot and dry conditions. Corn in particular started with a great deal of promise, but now sits in a grey area as to how… Read More
The Ontario corn crop was really off to the races. There was optimal planting dates, early timely rains and the crop looked fantastic. And then KABOOM!!!!! The Ontario corn crop is now subject to some of the same stresses as its US counterpart. Dry hot weather has really impacted the Ontario corn crop moving the… Read More
It’s not over till it’s over. That’s the truth behind getting out to scout your canola. Until that crop is off the field and in the bin, you need to be out looking for potential pest problems. Even though canola has an incredible ability to recover, late season pests can still do some damage to… Read More
This long and drawn out stretch of hot and dry weather in Ontario has sucked the potential out of a number of crops. High temperatures and no rain have put the brakes on some great looking early planted crops. For crops that manage to hang on through the stresses of a hot and dry July… Read More
Controlling glyphosate resistant weeds is a challenge. It’s a challenge that can be strewn with complications as well. Timing is a key factor in the control of glyphosate resistant weeds and if that timing is thrown off by any number of factors, a complicated situation can lead to a herbicide injury situation. That’s precisely the… Read More
With recent dry conditions slowly sapping the potential from the Ontario corn crop, producers want to protect their corn in any way they can. Leaf disease on top of heat stress can add insult to injury taking even more of your yield potential. A well timed fungicide application, when it makes good economic sense, can… Read More