Wheat yield is made up of many yield components ranging from thousand kernel weight to head size and kernels per head. But when it comes to driving higher yields, all those components take a back seat to the number of heads per square metre. It’s the big data point emerging from three years of data… Read More
Category: Wheat School – East
When a field of winter gets knocked down, don’t count it out. RealAgriculture agronomist Peter Johnson says the 2022/23 crop is a perfect example of how winter wheat can absorb multiple agronomic and environmental blows and still get off the mat to deliver a big yield punch. On this episode of RealAgriculture Wheat School, Johnson… Read More
Ontario’s winter wheat crop has come through the winter in good condition and is packed with yield potential. But there is concern: a crop with big stem- and head-counts carries a much higher risk of lodging. To reduce this risk, growers will be looking to apply a plant growth regulator (PGR) to help the crop… Read More
In 2022, the top 20 growers in the Great Lakes Yield Enhancement Network (YEN) harvested 50 bu/ac more wheat than the bottom 20 growers in overall yield rankings. What’s really surprising, says RealAgriculture agronomist Peter Johnson, is that this gap exists despite there being only a five percent difference in yield potential between the two… Read More
Winter is a great time to recalibrate your approach to managing wheat diseases and applying fungicides. That’s the message Penn State University plant pathologist Alyssa Collins shared with agronomists attending the Ontario Certified Crop Advisors annual meeting earlier this month. It’s a dormant period for humans and also for fungi and plants, says Collins. “So… Read More
How can growers push wheat yields to new levels? That’s a question we asked many times on RealAgriculture Wheat School during 2022. Throughout the season wheat researchers, agronomists and growers weighed in offering insights from research sites and farms in eastern and western Canada. Here’s a look back at what we learned. On our first… 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
Is it safe for winter wheat growers to tank mix a herbicide, fungicide, and plant growth regulator in a spring application? It’s a question Syngenta Canada agronomist Marijke Vanderlaan says she’s hearing more often from wheat growers as they look to make spring more efficient and actively manage the crop. And it’s likely a question… Read More
Planting winter wheat research plots at C&M Seeds near Palmerston, Ont. proved challenging during the difficult 2021 fall conditions. On this episode of the RealAgriculture Wheat School Peter Johnson and C&M research agronomist Mike Holzworth tour the plots and share what the challenging conditions revealed about winter wheat planting dates. The research plots were planted… Read More
Work continues on training computer algorithms to unlock the potential of green-on-green spot spraying systems to identify and target the weeds found on Canadian farm fields. The goal of green-on-green spraying systems is to detect and apply herbicide to weeds that are growing within a green crop. Where green-on-brown spot spraying systems used for burnoff… Read More
How can growers set themselves up for high yields when planting winter wheat this fall? Typically, the conversation revolves around planting early, phosphorus, weed control, and planting depth, but RealAgriculture agronomist Peter Johnson says growers need to add a new management consideration to the conversation — heads per square foot. On this episode of the… Read More
As tillering winter wheat moves into stem elongation it’s time to assess the lodging potential of the crop and determine whether a plant growth regulator (PGR) should be applied. On this episode of RealAgriculture’s Wheat School, Syngenta agronomic service representative Marijka Vanderlaan offers tips on identifying plant growth stages and how plant growth can be… Read More
A difficult fall, with too much rain, late planting and reduced acres, made for a tough Ontario wheat crop heading into winter. As we move into late March, the crop is looking good and RealAgriculture’s resident wheat guru Peter “Wheat Pete” Johnson is enthusiastic about prospects for the crop. On this latest Wheat School episode, Johnson notes… Read More
Attention to detail and some help from Mother Nature earned Simcoe, Ont., grower first place in the 2021 Great Lakes Yield Enhancement Network (YEN) overall yield category. On this episode of RealAgriculture’s Wheat School, Van Netten speaks with agronomist Peter Johnson and shares how he grew 152.8 bu/ac to earn the Gold award in the pilot year for the Great Lakes… Read More
Fine-tuning nitrogen and managing lodging are two key strategies that helped earn London, Ont., wheat grower Jeff Cook a third place finish in the 2021 Great Lakes Yield Enhancement Network (YEN) overall yield category. On this episode of RealAgriculture’s Wheat School, Cook speaks with agronomist Peter Johnson and shares how he grew 148.6 bu/ac to earn the bronze… Read More