A new Oat Procurement Program from Richardson Pioneer will change which pre-harvest aid products are used on milling oats, which could impact oat producers on the Prairies. Last month, a newsletter to Prairie Oat Growers Association (POGA) members contained a notice that Richardson Pioneer would be focusing on sourcing Canadian oats that have not been… Read More
Bayer has hit a snag with the part of its $10 billion Roundup settlement that applies to future legal claims of the common herbicide causing non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. The massive settlement announced on June 24, 2020 not only addressed thousands of existing court claims regarding Roundup, but it also included a deal regarding future litigation and… Read More
If you remember farming in 1988, this year may seem a little similar, at least for Ontario. That year, the drought broke in mid-July with a torrential downpour — are we in for something like that soon? Well, we won’t know for sure for a few days yet, but this week’s Wheat Pete’s Word does… Read More
All the “knee-high by the first (or fourth) of July” photos have been posted on social media, with the crop looking nice from above, but what’s going on below the canopy? Now is the time to check weed populations and assess herbicide performance, says Jeanette Gaultier, senior technical services specialist with BASF, joining us for… Read More
Wheat stem sawfly can cause a lot of damage to a wheat yield, and there aren’t a lot of options to control it. Enter: Bracon sephi, an orange wasp that is less than a quarter inch long. The way that this small wasp attacks wheat stem sawfly sounds like something out of science fiction, but… Read More
July has hit Ontario hot and dry; a continuation of the dry bias, but a welcome change from the unseasonably cool start to the season. While corn and soybean fields aren’t as negatively impacted by dry weather this early in the season, much of the wheat crop and spring cereals are either filling or about… Read More
Have you ever wondered what the carbon offset value is of those shelterbelts on your land? A new app developed by researchers at the University of Saskatchewan (USask) may soon be able to help you estimate their economic value. “People tend to focus on the negative environmental aspects of farming such as the greenhouse gases… Read More
Early flowering can be a really good check point for canola crops. Scouting at early flower can be very instructive for what to expect further along in the season, and it’s a great opportunity to see what insects are out there or could develop into an issue later in the season. In this episode of… Read More
Every corn crop is different. The year-over-year variables really play into a fungicide timing strategy, but the most important question to ask when strategizing for fungicide timing may be: “What is your corn crop doing right now?” Ken Currah, with BASF Canada, joins RealAgriculture’s Bernard Tobin for this episode of the Corn School to walk… Read More
The questions about wheat harvest are starting to roll in. How do I time a pre-harvest application on my wheat crop? The answer for that question is easy: it’s all about the peduncle! (Check below for a few videos on timing a pre-harvest application correctly). Really, though, the bigger question right now for Ontario farmers… Read More
Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe says the province is making the initial investment in a massive project that would irrigate up to half a million additional acres of farmland with water from Lake Diefenbaker. The entire project is expected to take 10 years to complete, with an estimated cost of $4 billion over three phases. “The… Read More
For this special Canada Day edition of Wheat Pete’s Word, host Peter Johnson has got answers to your timely agronomic questions. The good news is there are no alerts this week, but that doesn’t mean you can let the throttle off scouting — there are insect pests creeping in and populations can grow very quickly!… Read More
From cereal aphids to armyworm, Ontario growers have already seen significant pest pressure in 2020 crops and there’s more on the way. As the calendar turns to July and hot, dry conditions persist, soybean growers need to be on the lookout for both spider mites and aphids in their crops, says Ontario Agriculture, Food and… Read More
It seems to be the summer of storms across the Prairies, with some extreme weather events bringing devastating hail and damaging crops. Many farmers are walking their fields and seeing varied amounts of impact, and are asking the question: What now? Will my crop grow through this? Pulses can be extremely resilient crops, and as… Read More
Wheat midge damage occurs regularly in Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and southern British Columbia. This year in particular it will be important to scout for midge because the ideal conditions — delayed seeding and high moisture — create a high risk situation says Scott Meers, of Mayland Consulting in this episode of Wheat School. The upside… Read More