2021 will certainly be remembered for the drought in Western Canada, but there were other factors, such as late frost, damaging winds, and new pests that also challenged the soybean crop on the eastern side of the Prairies. Despite all of those stresses, there was still a crop to harvest in most cases, with yields… Read More
Drought in 2021 has caused some crops to not use all of the available nutrients in soil, and soil tests suggest that some fields have elevated soil nitrate levels. High soil nitrate levels can pose a problem for next year’s soybean crop, as they can prevent nodulation from happening which could prove a problem later… Read More
Adequate root nodulation is critical for filling soybean pods with seed, as there’s a strong correlation between the number of nodules on soybean plants’ roots and yield. But in a dry year, the number of nodules might not matter quite as much, as soybeans can compensate for reduced nodulation by producing larger nodules. As part… Read More
It’s often noted that soybean yield is made with rain in August, but moisture has been scarce throughout the entire growing season for soybeans on the Prairies this year. While there are areas that have received more moisture, many fields in Manitoba are showing tell-tale signs of drought stress as they move through the critical… Read More
A spring of extremes — first cold, dry and windy, then hot, dry and windy — has resulted in weeds getting a head start in many soybean fields in the soybean-growing areas of Western Canada. While wind and cold temperatures delayed burnoff applications at the start of the season, questions about when to spray in… Read More
Resistance to Group 2 herbicides has been common and assumed in many cases with kochia in Western Canada for years, but weed survey results show glyphosate (Group 9) resistance in the invasive tumbleweed species has exploded in recent years. In 2013, less than 1 per cent of kochia populations sampled by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada… Read More
Whether you’re an experienced soybean grower, or are looking to get into this interesting leguminous oilseed crop, there’s always something to learn. In this episode of Soybean School, we take a look back at the past year’s soybean season in Manitoba — what went right, what went wrong, and what kind of knowledge we gleaned… Read More
The number of soybean acres in Western Canada has declined to less than half of what it was when acreage peaked in 2017 — dropping every year since then — but there are expectations that acres have likely hit a floor in 2020. In this follow-up episode to our last Soybean School on soybean maturity… Read More
It’s a colourful time of year as leaves start to turn yellow, then brown, and then drop to the ground — not only on trees, but also in soybean fields. When moisture has not been a limiting factor, differences in days-to-maturity between varieties can be quite eye-catching heading into the final weeks of the growing… Read More
Sudden death syndrome (SDS), caused by a fusarium species in soil, needs cool and moist conditions to thrive. It also needs an entry point, and soybean cyst nematodes (SCN) make those for the pathogen in roots of soybean when they attack the crop. Effectively managing SCN, therefore, is just one part of the puzzle in… Read More
Throughout the growing season, you might be making mental notes of all the things you liked or didn’t like about your soybean crop. It’s never too early to be thinking about next year’s variety decisions. In this episode of Soybean School, Allan Froese, product selection lead for Syngenta, joins Kelvin Heppner in the field to… Read More
After a challenging spring that saw getting the crop planted take precedent over pre-seed weed control, soybean growers in Western Canada have had to be diligent in catching up with potentially yield-robbing kochia, lamb’s quarters, volunteer canola, and other weeds in-crop. To keep yield losses down to less than five per cent, most soybean varieties… Read More
When planting soybeans after corn does the oilseed benefit from pre-plant tillage? A little spring tillage certainly enhances yield, says Horst Bohner, soybean specialist for the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA). Based on accumulated OMAFRA trial data, growers can expect plant stands to be 10 per cent higher and fields to… Read More
Rolling right after planting has become a common practice on soybean fields in Western Canada over the last decade, but there are some good reasons to consider delaying the timing of rolling until after the crop is up. Rolling right behind the planter or drill improves seed-to-soil contact and is definitely less unnerving than rolling… Read More
Drier weather over the last few years has taken some of the wind out of soybeans’ sails in Western Canada, but there’s a case to be made that fundamental climate trends on the Prairies still support good soybeans yields in the longer term. Especially if growers are on the ball with planting when the soil… Read More