When it comes to feeding soybeans, investing in potash will give growers the best bang for their fertility buck. On this episode of the RealAgriculture Soybean School, Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Soybean Specialist Horst Bohner looks at potash soil test values to determine how soybeans respond economically to the nutrient. Bohner… Read More
Category: Crop Schools
Every year, adzuki beans grown in Ontario fields find their way to markets in southeast Asia where they are synonymous with sweet treats — everything from pastries to candy bars and even adzuki-flavoured Pepsi. On this episode of the RealAgriculture Edible Bean School, host Bernard Tobin discussed adzuki end uses, market opportunities and agronomics with… Read More
Do you have canola stored on-farm? If so, it’s time to check those bins. It’s likely been a fair amount of time since the crop came off, and even if conditions were perfect at harvest (but let’s face it, they rarely are) it’s time to check in. As Courtney Boyachek, agronomy specialist with the Canola… Read More
What happens when you precision plant wheat? There’s a growing body of evidence indicating that better seed singulation, metering and depth control has the potential to improve uniformity of emergence, growth and crop canopy. That precise approach can also add up to higher yield potential and more grain in the bin. But many growers have… Read More
How does adding 100 crop heat units to the maturity of your corn hybrids impact the yield and profitability of the crop? Agronomist Peter Johnson tackles that question on this episode of the RealAgriculture Corn School with help from University of Guelph associate professor David Hooker. Earlier this year, Hooker took a deep dive into… Read More
First found in 2014 in Manitoba, verticillium stripe has become a more common disease found in canola. In parts of Manitoba, the season started with an excess of moisture and was hot, which led to the perfect breeding ground for the disease. Which is why it was the heaviest year on record in Western Canada… Read More
Why is there an irrigated corn crop growing in the middle of the University of Guelph’s Ridgetown campus? On this episode of the RealAgriculture Corn School, host Bernard Tobin takes a trip into the research maze to get a look at what happens in this corn misting nursery. Tobin first encounters University of Guelph associate… Read More
Ontario set a new record for average winter wheat yield this year at 99.7 bu/ac. And as winter finally settles in on the province, RealAgriculture agronomist Peter “Wheat Pete” Johnson says conditions are ripe for the fall-planted crop to break more records in 2023. But Mother Nature will have a lot to say about that… Read More
Winter is not always kind to fall-planted wheat. Sometimes thin stands and winter kill make for a poor economic outlook and growers need to take it out and plant another crop. What do growers need to think about if they decide to switch to soybeans? Are there implications if a cereal herbicide had been applied… Read More
The ground may freeze and the plants stop growing, but there’s no “off season” for good agronomy. Just because the crop is in the bin, doesn’t mean we should stop thinking about how to improve production. The way to do that, says Leighton Blashko of BASF, is to think of the 5 Ws of planning… Read More
What’s the number one disease problem in edible beans in Ontario? That’s a question University of Guelph associate professor Chris Gillard asked in a recent grower survey and the answer wasn’t surprising, says the edible bean researcher. Sixty-seven percent of growers named white mould as their biggest disease problem, and an even higher 75 percent… Read More
This episode of Soil School is an interview with Jodi DeJong-Hughes, of the University of Minnesota, discussing how best to adopt strip tillage and avoid some of the common pitfalls farmers face when changing practices. DeJong-Hughes examines optimum season of application, controlled traffic farming, crop type, and trafficability when it comes to strip tillage. Listen… Read More
From moisture to nutrients, plant roots play a critical role in feeding corn throughout the growing season. On this episode of the RealAgriculture Corn School, Sullivan Agro agronomist Paul Sullivan looks at some of the problems growing plants can run into as they push down into the soil looking to feed the plant, fuel cob… Read More
It appears in 2022 that Ontario growers have little to worry about when it comes to corn ear moulds such as gibberella contributing to elevated levels of mycotoxins in the corn crop. In late October, the annual Ontario corn ear mould and deoxynivalenol (DON) mycotoxin survey found 98 percent of samples tested low — less… Read More
Two herbicides are better than one, right? That’s the goal when products are tank-mixed together, but they don’t always deliver better weed control when antagonism occurs. Antagonism takes place when two or more herbicides are combined and results in lower weed control than if they had been applied separately. This most often occurs when a… Read More