Can Ontario winter wheat growers mix ammonium thiosulphate (ATS) with herbicides and fungicides to address sulphur deficiency symptoms or should they apply it separately with streamer nozzles? That’s a question Mike Cowbrough and Joanna Follings wanted to answer with 2018 research plots. The Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs weed specialist and cereals… Read More
Nature is pretty amazing, but that wonder and adaptability can translate to a huge problem in a crop. Wireworms, for example, can determine they don’t like what is on the menu when you seed your crop in the spring, wait until the following spring, and attack a more vulnerable crop instead. What’s more, they can… Read More
Agriculture and Agri-food Canada (AAFC) at Lethbridge, Alta., is a big sprawling facility that does a wide variety of research. That being said, they are particularly known for their wheat research, and for good reason. They do innovative work, and the research team has bred many stalwart wheat varieties for Canadian farmers. In this episode… Read More
Every year is different when it comes to growing a crop. The summer growing conditions are unpredictable and, as we have seen this year, harvest can go from great to brutal in one weather event. The same is true with seed: every sample can offer its own surprises. RealAgriculture’s Dale Leftwich recently attended the Western… Read More
Wheat midge is still a significant threat to wheat in Western Canada. While the threat has subsided a bit because of the discovery and use of the SM1 resistance gene, it’s important to remember that there is only one bullet in the chamber, and if it gets spent wheat crops will be, once again, at… Read More
The phone is ringing off the hook at PAMI. Some very difficult questions are being asked by farmers as a result of the late harvest and the cool, damp weather. There are no easy answers, of course, but luckily PAMI has done a lot of research over the years and although they can’t change the… Read More
Agriculture and Agri-food Canada (AAFC) has, until now, never developed an app. Until now, that is, with the launch of a new app called CAM. The Cereal Aphid Manager (CAM) is the first app ever developed by AAFC. Dale Leftwich, RealAgriculture’s Saskatchewan field editor, met with Tyler Wist, field crop entomology research scientist with AAFC,… Read More
Over the last decade, the average yield increase for corn tips the scale at five bushels per acre, per year. During the same period wheat yield gains have averaged a meagre one bushel per acre, per year. What is the future of wheat if it can’t match the yield gains of crops like corn and… Read More
Canadian wheat has long been known for its high quality — as a premium wheat for blending into lower quality grain to meet minimum requirements for baking. But how does Canadian wheat stack up when it comes to cost of production, yield, and farmgate prices? Where does Canadian production fit in the context of increasing… Read More
Wheat breeding is a poor cousin when you compare it to the investment and resources corn and soybean plant breeders have at their disposal to develop new and improved plant genetics. The arrival of CRISPR technology, however, is giving wheat breeders hope that they may finally get a leg up on their big-crop cousins. At… Read More
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
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
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
Winter wheat can yield up to 45 percent more than spring wheat, so why don’t more Western Canadian growers crank up the seeder and get more in the ground before the snow flies? Winter wheat is grown across the Prairies, but unless there is a large amount of a certain class grown, it’s difficult for… Read More
Hot days and warm nights have produced lots of head snag in Ontario winter wheat fields. RealAgriculture agronomist Peter Johnson explains that a string of 30-degree days and 20-degree nights earlierthis spring promoted rapid growth in wheat fields just as the wheat crop was heading out. Those are perfect conditions for head snag. “Some of… Read More