Understanding when a crop is most vulnerable to stress is key to maximizing yield potential. While corn is most susceptible to stress at pollination and cereal crop yield is highly sensitive to stress in the early stages, the most critical period for both making and breaking yield in soybeans occurs late in the growing season…. Read More
Category: CropConnect
The idea that tractors used in broadacre farming may have peaked in size and will someday be replaced by groups of smaller, autonomous machines has been kicking around for at least a decade. In theory, there’s certainly still a case to be made for smaller machines that cost less and reduce soil compaction, while having… Read More
Risk management is by no means a new concept for farmers and people working in agriculture, but as farms become digital operations, cyber security has become a critical area of risk management. Digital business assets should be identified and protected the same way a rancher protects livestock from coyotes sniffing along the fence, says agri-food… Read More
The European Union’s Farm to Fork strategy has been all but abandoned following large-scale farmer protests in many European capital cities. The protests gained massive public support, with polls showing 70 to 90 per cent of non-farmers backing the demonstrations. What led to EU governments reversing their course on the Farm to Fork initiative? Were… Read More
Weeks can turn into months, and months into years when it comes to getting the ball rolling, and keeping it rolling, on a farm succession plan. To simplify what can feel like an overwhelming project, the chair of the Winnipeg chapter of the Canadian Association of Farm Advisors (CAFA) recommends coming up with answers to… Read More
Startup culture meets farming culture, at scale. Getting on farms to do in-field testing and due diligence is often one of the largest costs for startup companies in the agtech space. A network of farmers that started in Tennessee and has since expanded to other regions across the U.S. is working to provide an efficient,… Read More
While the number of spray drones sold for use in Canadian farmers’ fields is climbing, there are still no agricultural pesticides approved for application by drone in Canada heading into the 2025 growing season. It’s up to crop protection companies to pursue changes to their product label through Health Canada’s Pest Management Regulatory Agency —… Read More
Tracks certainly don’t eliminate compaction, and they usually cost substantially more than wheels, but research at The Ohio State University shows there are several specific applications where tracks offer a productivity or yield advantage in the old tracks-versus-wheels debate. Scott Shearer of The Ohio State University stopped by to chat following his presentation on compaction… Read More
A valuable tool for managing insect pests, such as flea beetles and grasshoppers, is back in the toolbox for 2025. As reported earlier this month, Health Canada’s Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA) has effectively lifted a two-year ban on spraying insecticides containing lambda-cyhalothrin on crops that could be destined for livestock feed. Lambda-cy products, sold… Read More
The unpredictability of what’s going to happen on the tariff front has put Canadian businesses and government officials in a situation where it’s difficult to know what, if any, steps can be taken to alleviate the uncertainty around U.S. business in the immediate future. With so much up in the air, maintaining cross-border communication is… Read More