The concept of ‘flex’ corn hybrids has been talked about in seed circles for several years. The idea is quite simple: these corn hybrids have the ability to flex and create larger ears with more girth at lower populations. They produce higher yields when planted in the 28,000 seeds per acre range. The idea of… Read more »
Category: Soybean Disease, Weeds & Insects
Soybean School: A fall plan for tough-to-kill weeds
Pre-harvest is actually a great time to get a handle on tough-to-kill weeds in the soybean crop or ahead of next year’s crop. But fall weed control takes a careful mix of planning, timing, and proper product selection or tank-mixing. For those of you with weed escapes or poor control as a hangover from this… Read more »
Soybean School: Tips to keep soybeans free from volunteer canola
When glyphosate-tolerant soybeans made their appearance on the Prairies people were very excited about the crop and the potential for good weed control. It turned out, though, that there was one fly in the ointment, and that was volunteer glyphosate-tolerant canola. Although early attempts at soybeans sometimes looked more like canola fields, there are some… Read more »
Soybean School: Trade the hula hoop for boots and a measuring tape
What’s the gap between your soybean seeding rate and final stand count? It’s a key management consideration if growers want to get a handle on what’s happening in their fields and increase yields, says Syngenta agronomic sales rep Marijke Van Andel. When growers discover there’s a 20 percent gap between seeds planted and the final… Read more »
Soybean School: Assessing your plant stand as summer arrives
Summer has officially arrived, and it’s time to get out and assess soybean plant stands. In this episode of RealAgriculture’s Soybean School, we catch up with Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs soybean specialist Horst Bohner as he surveys plots at a research site in Bornholm, Ontario. As Bohner surveys a stand planted… Read more »
Soybean School: Bean leaf beetle making a comeback
Many Ontario farmers will remember when they routinely sprayed soybean crops to control bean leaf beetle. That changed 10 years ago with the introduction of neonicotinoid insecticide seed treatments, which helped suppress populations of the pest in Ontario and many U.S. states. But the pest is mounting a comeback as neonic use continues to decline and… Read more »
Soybean School: Why tackle herbicide resistance with multiple modes of action?
Many agronomists talk about the importance of multiple modes of action when planning a weed control program. In this episode of RealAgriculture’s Soybean School, Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs weed specialist Mike Cowbrough shows you why. We catch up with Cowbrough as he surveys a patch of Canada fleabane that has survived… Read more »
Soybean School: Scout to evaluate your stand and when to go rolling
What’s your strategy when scouting a newly emerged soybean field? When Agromart Group agronomist Steph Kowalski walks into a soybean field this time of year, the first thing she looks to assess is final emergence and population. “It’s important to know how well we got that seed into the ground,” Kowalski tells RealAgriculture’s Bernard Tobin… Read more »
Soybean School: Does row orientation impact weed pressure and yield?
By François Tardif Many master gardeners would tell you that to maximize your vegetable yields, rows need to be oriented in a north-south manner. This is supposed to maximize light interception by the crops, which in turn maximizes photosynthesis. In contrast, east-west rows have more shading and this negatively impacts yields. Is the same true… Read more »
Soybean School: Mind your fencerows to reduce weed resistance
Are we doing enough to reduce the herbicide-resistance weed seedbank on Ontario farms? That’s a question AGRIS Co-operative agronomist Dale Cowan wants farmers in the province to consider when they’re planning their weed control programs for this year. Cowan recently attended the Commodity Classic in Anaheim, California, where he talked with farmers from Mississippi who… Read more »
Soybean School: Preparing to battle SCN when (not if) it is found in Western Canada
Soybean growers in Western Canada have not yet had to face a soil-borne pest that has hurt yields in other soybean growing regions, but it’s only a matter of time. Soybean cyst nematode (SCN) has steadily spread north along the Red River and has been found in soils on at least two farms near the… Read more »
Soybean School: New coalition tackles growing nematode resistance
Soybean cyst nematode (SCN) is the crop’s number one yield-robbing pest, and the problem is only going to get worse as the pest continues to breakdown the defence provided by SCN-resistant soybean varieties. It really is a case of the pest becoming “resistant to the resistance,” says Iowa State nematologist Greg Tylka. About 95 percent… Read more »
Soybean School: How do researchers unlock higher yields?
Does throwing the kitchen sink at your soybean crop provide an economic yield response? The answer is a definitive “No” says University of Minnesota associate professor Seth Naeve. His conclusion is based on the the results of a huge three-year U.S. study that he shared with growers attending the Southwest Agricultural Conference in Ridgetown, Ont.,… Read more »
Soybean School: How wide is your spring burndown window?
If you have weeds pop up prior to planting soybeans you can control them with a burndown herbicide application. But what happens when rain and wind conspire to prevent you from applying a burndown and you have to control weeds after planting? In this episode of the Soybean School, OMAFRA weed control specialist Mike Cowbrough… Read more »
Soybean School: Investment needed to fend off nematodes
Soybean cyst nematode (SCN) is the leading cause of yield loss for the oilseed crop across North America. And unless a new source of resistance is found to fend off the pest, growers can expect to see SCN gobble up an increasing percentage of their yield in the years ahead. That was the message delivered… Read more »