Can you tell the difference between annual ryegrass and cereal rye? How about radish and kale? If you can’t, it’s time to bone up on your identification skills if you want to get serious about planting cover crops mixes on your farm, says Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs soil management specialist Anne… Read more »
Category: Cover crops
The secret to reducing your corn nitrogen bill by 75 pounds an acre
Want to apply 75 fewer pounds per acre on corn ground next year, and possibly achieve a higher yield? Peter Johnson, agronomist for RealAgriculture, has the answer: apply red clover to the wheat crop now. Wait, you say, you tricked me! This isn’t a secret at all. And you’re right: frost seeding red clover in… Read more »
Treat your soil like an Olympic athlete for peak performance
What do Canadian speed skater Kim Boutin and your soil have in common? They both prosper and succeed when you treat them like an Olympic athlete. Boutin’s Olympic training earned her three medals at the recently-concluded Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea. What would happen if farmers treated their soil like an Olympic athlete? Soil… Read more »
Salford mounts air boom applicator on Deere sprayer chassis
Salford Group has made its first foray into aftermarket equipment with the launch of mounted air boom applicators for common sprayer chassis and floater chassis. The company unveiled its Salford-Valmar 6700 last week at the National Farm Machinery Show in Louisville, Kentucky. The company bills the new release as the world’s only aftermarket chassis mounted air… Read more »
Cover crops and livestock trampling ‘part of the rotation equation’
A ‘good rotation’ is often thought of as a cropping plan that involves diverse species, cultivars, and chemical actives. But that definition may be expanding, thanks to an ever-evolving understanding of soil health. “When you look at that environment, you kind of come down to five principles on soil health,” says United States Department Agriculture… Read more »
Keeping cover crops out of tile drains
Will the growth of cover crops lead to an explosion of plugged tile drains? According to Ohio State professor and farm drainage specialist Dr. Larry Brown, there’s little evidence to suggest that cover crops are going to cause drainage headaches for farmers. At the recent Ontario Certified Crop Advisors annual meeting, Brown says he often gets… Read more »
Dairy School: Cover crops add value to corn silage rotation
Do you plant a cover crop before or after you harvest corn silage? It’s an option dairy farmers should consider, says University of Wisconsin Extension crops and soils agronomist Heidi Johnson, especially when planting corn after corn. Removing corn silage and then leaving the ground bare risks soil erosion, decreases microbial activity, and reduces the field’s ability… Read more »
New research shows cover crops support higher yields
Many farmers understand the benefits cover crops can bring to their operation. From reduced soil erosion to improved soil structure, nutrient recycling, moisture retention and much more – the list of benefits is long and impressive. But how do cover crops impact yield? Do all these benefits add up to higher production and a better… Read more »
Corn School: How long does it take to add 1 percent soil organic matter?
You’ve just finished combining a corn field and you want to know how much organic matter all that corn residue will contribute to your soil. RealAgriculture’s agronomist Peter Johnson tackles that question on our latest Corn School episode. Unfortunately, as Johnson explains, all those stalks and cobs won’t have much of an impact. When it… Read more »
Risk versus reward: thinking critically about cover crops
It’s hard to find a farmer these days who doesn’t see some of the benefits cover crops can bring to their operation. From reduced soil erosion to improved soil structure, nutrient recycling, moisture retention and much more – the list of benefits is long and impressive. But how much is too much? Where and when… Read more »
Are cover crops an option for your forced fallow acres in Western Canada?
This spring has been a challenge for many growers in the northern tier of Alberta and Saskatchewan due to wet conditions continuing from last fall. As it feels like crop insurance deadlines are screaming by, growers have limited choices on what to do with these potentially unseeded acres. There are basically three options: seed a spring… Read more »
Wheat Pete’s Word, May 10: Quality forage timing, cold temp fallout, and two-pass fungicide strategy
This week’s (almost!) cross-Canada Wheat Pete’s Word is packed full of great questions, worries about cold temperatures, solid timely answers on field management, and at least one alert, alert, alert! Your host Peter Johnson tackles questions on harvesting cereal rye (soon! this week!) while keeping compaction in mind, if corn seed is going to be… Read more »
Wheat Pete’s Word, March 29: Seeing Green, Tenacious Wheat, and Replacing P and K
Fresh off the 100th episode of Wheat Pete’s Word, the questions are pouring in, as are the all-in-good-fun “Just how old are you, Peter Johnson?” comments. In this week’s word, we’re talking soil nutrients in snirt (soil/dirt mix), why you shouldn’t worry about brown-leaved wheat just yet, why geese are terrible creatures, when we can… Read more »
Tillage ‘Earthquakes’ and What Farmers Can Learn From a Forest
Mike Dorion calls himself ‘the compost kid’ and he believes farmers should think about their fields like he does his garden. The founder of Calgary-based Living Soil Solutions doesn’t suggest cash crop farmers use tea leaves to improve soil health, but he does preach the benefits of reducing tillage, banking organic matter to help increase… Read more »
Wheat Pete’s Word,March 15: Early Cereal Seeding, Clover Choices, and Too-Early Nitrogen
It may not be the Great One, but this sure is the number 99 episode of Wheat Pete’s Word. To celebrate, your host Peter Johnson answers your questions from the week that was, and there are some great ones. From how early is too early for wheat in Western Canada, to why canola is a… Read more »