A high-quality wheat crop starts before the seed is even planted, by choosing the best seed lot possible. A seed with excellent germination, strong vigour, and freedom from and protection against key pathogens is more likely to achieve strong emergence and a healthy plant establishment.This year’s seed quality reflects the growing conditions of the previous… Read More
Category: Wheat School
Despite an extremely dry September that played havoc with plant establishment, the winter wheat crop across Ontario appears to be packing plenty of yield potential as it heads into the dormant winter months.RealAgriculture agronomist Peter “Wheat Pete†Johnson says the crop is not as big as he had hoped — estimates peg it between 1.06… Read More
Weather is one of the many, but main, factors that determines yield outcomes at harvest. It’s also a factor that is completely beyond a grower’s control. Or is it?While farmers can’t make the rain fall or the sun shine, there are plenty of things that can be done to mitigate the stress that a wheat… Read More
With herbicide resistance on the rise, the need for more tools in the toolbox is higher than it has ever been, because as Dr. Breanne Tidemann of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada says, there are no magic bullets.While any single management strategy is unlikely to be the final solution to herbicide resistance and weeds generally, using… Read More
The Great Lakes Yield Enhancement Network (YEN) program for winter wheat has expanded from 43 farms in 2021 to 184 farms across Ontario and a growing number of U.S. states in 2024.In four short years, the program has identified key agronomic and management strategies that consistently drive higher yields for YEN grower participants. On this… Read More
A fungicide application can have a significant impact on final winter wheat yields. That’s according to the latest report from the Ontario Cereal Crops Committee (OCCC) which reveals that fungicides, in 2024 trials, delivered an average 12 to 13 bushels per acre yield advantage when compared to the same variety without a fungicide application.University of… Read More
With so many factors going into yields, it can be difficult to know whether farmers are reaching the potential of their wheat seed. It can be even more difficult to figure out how to increase yields and whether those increases can be accomplished through management decisions.Dr. Brian Beres, research scientist with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada… Read More
It’s time to plant winter wheat and we’ve asked Peter “Wheat Pete” Johnson to give us his top five planting recommendations on this episode of RealAgriculture’s Wheat School.Planting date is at the top of Johnson’s tip list. When it comes to planting date there are no shortcuts, he says. Hitting that optimum window is essential… Read More
In 1996, fusarium devastated the Ontario wheat crop. More than 90 percent of the crop was downgraded to feed, or sample, or simply dumped in the bush thanks to high deoxynivalenol (DON) levels.In 2024, fusarium was back in Ontario fields, but the crop, with help from improved genetic resistance and improved fungicides, was much better… Read More
Many farmers are excited to not have to worry about soil moisture this growing season, as recent drought conditions have broken for many areas of the Prairies. While rain truly is a good thing, it is also one of the things that is likely to trigger fungal diseases, such as fusarium head blight (FHB).Frequent rainfall,… Read More