2018 marks the first growing season where farmers across Canada can apply the plant growth regulator chlormequat chloride — a.k.a. “Manipulator” — to wheat without having to worry about problems marketing the wheat after harvest. The U.S. established a maximum residue limit (MRL) for chlormequat chloride in cereal crop imports this spring, clearing the way… Read More
Category: Crop Schools
It is important to get into fields often to monitor plant development and growing conditions, but for the pea crop it’s especially important at early flowering. In this episode of RealAgriculture’s Pulse School we talk to Wendy Schatz Leeds, lead agronomist with Sharpe’s Crop Services, about why early flowering is a critical time to scout pea fields…. Read More
On the first day of summer how many soybean plants per acre are required to maintain 100 percent yield potential? The answer is simple – 150,000 plants per acre. But there are many management factors to consider when trying to hit that number. In this episode of the RealAgriculture Soybean School, Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food… Read More
All farmers want to get their crops off to a good start, and the right amount of phosphate gives canola that pop-up effect that farmers just love to see. There is, however, such thing as too much of a good thing. It turns out that although much research has been done on safe rates of… Read More
Average yields of 110 to 115 bushels per acre on soil that is often more than 60 percent clay? That’s impressive. And that’s why Parkland Farms is featured on our latest episode of ‘Real’ Wheat Farmers. In this video, RealAgriculture agronomist Peter Johnson peppers Parkland Farms agronomist Clark Aitken with questions on how the Lambton… Read More
Wheat has been progressing rapidly thanks to seasonally high temperatures in many areas over the past few weeks, quickly moving into and through the early flowering stage. Early flower is when a fungicide application to prevent fusarium head blight (FHB) is recommended. “Typically we’d expect flowering to start three days after head emergence, and flowering… Read More
Strip tillage in corn is growing in popularity in Ontario, but we don’t often see the tillage strategy employed in soybeans. On this episode of RealAgriculture’s Soybean School, AGRIS Co-operative agronomist Dale Cowan takes us to a strip-tilled field, which features twin row, 7.5-inch soybeans planted on 30-inch centres. In the field, Cowan’s bother, Larry… Read More
Each July canola growers are faced with the difficult question, “Should I or shouldn’t I spray for sclerotinia?” In the more humid parts of Western Canada, sclerotinia is a huge yield robber. It usually strikes on the years when the canola crop has its greatest yield potential, but spraying is expensive and proper timing can… Read More
Dry conditions across much of Western Canada have some growers wrestling with the decision on whether or not to apply a fungicide — or to go with one application instead of two — to prevent leaf disease and fusarium head blight infection. There are several factors to consider, says Kelly Turkington, with Agriculture and Agri-Food… Read More
It’s been 10 years since the presence of western bean cutworm (WBC) was confirmed in Ontario. Since then, the yield-robbing pest has moved beyond provincial hotspots such as Bothwell, Thamesville, and the sandy soils of Tillsonburg, and it continues to march eastward through to Quebec and into the Maritime provinces. Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food… Read More