Ontario’s winter wheat crop has been fighting an uphill battle ever since last fall and the struggle will likely continue right through to harvest. On this episode of the RealAgriculture Wheat School, agronomist Peter Johnson explains that the highly variable crop will likely mean harvesting headaches. Last week at the University of Guelph’s Ridgetown College… Read More
Category: Harvest
By Sean Mitchell and Dr. Alfons Weersink As wet planting conditions persist across Ontario, many growers have switching on their mind: should they switch to shorter-season corn hybrids or even leave corn in the bag and plant soybeans? From an economic perspective, the best choice is likely to switch to shorter-season corn with lower heat… Read More
The first day of spring has brought with it a flood of calls and questions on managing the wheat crop as it wakes up — and host Peter “Wheat Pete” Johnson couldn’t be happier. In this week’s Wheat Pete’s Word, we have to start with some incredibly sad news out of Nebraska, where farmers and… Read More
Look for more durability and increased reliability from Case IH’s new 3100 Series II rigid and flex draper headers. That’s what the Racine, Wisconsin-based manufacturer is telling growers about the continuing evolution of its draper head lineup. Since the 3100 Series was first introduced, Case has made 118 enhancements to the original model, says Ryan Blasiak, the… Read More
In 2010, Claas set a world record when the Lexion 760 Terra Trac combine harvested 51,153 bushels of corn in a 10-hour period. Claas product manager Jeff Gray drove the combine that day and he was back in the cab last September to help Craig Stewart and sons Bob and Brad set new harvesting records… Read More
From an environmental standpoint, Ontario experienced a perfect storm in 2018 that produced an epidemic of gibberella ear rot in corn and resulting unprecedented DON levels. Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs field crop plant pathologist Albert Tenuta compares the conditions that created the classic silk channel infection in corn hybrids to what… Read More
As 2018 ends, many want to forget about the tough harvest this past year. Everything from drought and high DON levels, to frost in August and snow in September — it all played a major factor of the stress of farming and hampered this year’s crop quality and tonnage. The wonky harvest caused a lot… Read More
It’s nearly Christmas and finally — finally! — corn harvest is done for many, but there are actually many acres of soybeans still yet to be harvested in Ontario. Could soybean seeding be impacted? It’s quite possible given some fields that are still left out are seed crops. Peter Johnson, host of Wheat Pete’s Word, is… Read More
The 2018 Ontario soybean harvest got off to a roaring start in early fall but quickly ground to a halt as poor weather parked combines. In early December, many growers are still struggling to bin their beans. The wet weather has left growers asking how they can manage higher moisture, wet soybeans. Management decisions are… Read More
Ontario grain farmers dealing with high DON (vomitoxin) levels in their corn crop can now apply for funding to cover DON testing. The Ontario Soil and Crop Improvement Association (OSCIA) has announced a new intake for cost-share opportunities to support DON testing under the Canadian Agricultural Partnership (CAP). The initiative will support producers whose corn crop or corn products… Read More
Thousands of acres of Ontario corn will have to be destroyed this fall due to high DON levels. A big challenge growers face when destroying those acres now and into winter is ensuring volunteer corn doesn’t make a mess of next year’s soybean crop. In this episode of RealAgriculture’s Corn School, our resident agronomist Peter… Read More
Air suspension systems are common on vehicles. They provide all kinds of advantages over other systems, including the potential for a wide variety of height adjustments. They can also be a really good fit on a piece of equipment where you might not expect to find them — headers, for example. Honey Bee Manufacturing has… Read More
A difficult harvest will push farmers to figure out ways to allow a little more harvesting done or protect what is already in the bin. Getting grain fit to store safely is always a challenge, but if a dryer is at capacity or not an option, can supplemental heat be enough? Rene Deschamps, with Ag Growth… Read More
MacDon is well known for its header offerings for cereal and pulse crops but, until now, it has not had a presence in the corn industry. That is all about to change. MacDon recently acquired Harvest Tech which the company says will help expanded its product line into some additional areas. RealAgriculture’s Dale Leftwich had… Read More
How can growers adjust their combines to reduce vomitoxin levels when harvesting the 2018 crop? RealAgriculture agronomist Peter Johnson has some answers. In this episode of Real Agriculture’s Corn School, Johnson visits with custom combine operator David Killins, of Killins Custom work, at Dorchester, Ontario. Johnson acknowledges that while cleaning corn does help, it’s not… Read More