Not only are there environmental benefits to improved soil biology, but there are economic incentives as well, says a farmer from Ohio who spoke about cover crops and a systems approach to microbiology at the SoilSmart conference in Waterloo, Ont., in late January. Jeff Rasawehr joined Bernard Tobin to discuss six steps for establishing healthy soil, which… Read More
Category: Agronomy
While the Groundhog Day forecasters across Canada are sending mixed messages about what kind of weather to anticipate for the next six weeks, the senior meteorologist with World Weather Inc. says farmers in Western Canada should expect more of what they’ve been getting. For the eastern side of the prairies, that means surges of cold… Read More
There’s a robust corn research project in the works in Manitoba looking at not just the agronomic impact of corn in rotation, but the economics of adding the crop being used for food, feed and — sometimes — fuel. If you check out the CropConnect agenda (here), you’ll find a list of names associated with… Read More
A joint federal-provincial funding announcement has pledged $250,000 in research funding and $969,000 for equipment for a Manitoba lab aimed at identifying and addressing problems caused by canola diseases and pests. Research funding is provided under Growing Forward 2 – Growing Actions and will be used to take samples from across the province to determine… Read More
These aren’t your daddy’s corn hybrids. If you think modern corn hybrids are leaps and bounds more productive than what you were planting 15 or years ago, you’re right. But thinking so and knowing so (and how) are two different things, and for that you need research. Tony Vyn, of Purdue University, has looked at… Read More
Sometimes it’s the little things that go unnoticed that actually have a big impact. Who hasn’t been waylaid by one tiny little part that breaks or goes missing? Big-picture considerations are important too, but the devil, as they say, is in the details. When it comes to spraying, details can easily be overlooked. When’s the… Read More
Consistent droplet size and canopy penetration are two key points of getting the most out of your spray application (assuming you’re after leaf coverage, of course). Sending spray droplets where you actually want them to go is much harder than it sounds — part of the reason for that is air movement and turbulence as… Read More
Plant disease is a somewhat different beast than other crop pests, in that your best offense is a solid defense. It’s rare that any fungicide available to you has any curative effect — the best you can do is slow down development of a disease, once established. Under the heading of ‘better to have it… Read More
The Ontario Federation of Agriculture (OFA) has published its full comment on the Ontario government’s pollinator health proposal — a proposal that singles out neonicotinoid seed treatments of corn and soybean crops as a key factor in pollinator health risks. OFA’s response includes four key points, including: the need for and content of a pollinator… Read More
Cigi’s (Canadian International Grains Institute) applied research work into optimizing the nutritional quality of pulse flours got a significant funding boost today with the Government of Canada committing nearly $1 million for a four-year project. Cigi’s Advancing Pulse Flour Processing and Applications project will receive $959,918 from the Canadian Agricultural Adaptation Program (CAAP). The project… Read More
The hangover of 2014’s long, drawn out, wet harvest has already taken a toll on seed supplies of certain crop types for 2015, says Holly Gelech, Biovision Seed Lab’s business development manager. The full fallout, however, has likely not been realized. “Farmers did a great job this fall getting seed samples in early,” says Gelech,… Read More
Four additional seeds per plant can result in a five to ten percent bump in soybean yield — every little bit adds up. That was the message from Tony White, St. Louis-based technology development lead with Monsanto, speaking at the Southwest Ag Conference in Ridgetown earlier this month. “When you look at where we’ve come over the… Read More
Canterra Seeds has announced it is going to be releasing the first canola hybrid with any level of resistance to the new 5X clubroot pathotype for planting in 2015. The new race of clubroot disease was discovered in a field north of Edmonton in 2013. Testing by Dr. Stephen Strelkov of the University of Alberta showed… Read More
While research shows fungicide applications in wheat and corn can often be justified by higher yields, the yield response to fungicides in soybeans is not as clear cut. Timing of fungicide application might be part of the formula for getting better than break-even returns, says Dave Hooker, field crop agronomist and assistant professor at the University of… Read More
A joint federal and provincial commitment of $443,000 in research funding for Manitoba’s soybean sector was announced today at Manitoba Ag Days by Manitoba Agriculture, Food and Rural Development Minister Ron Kostyshyn and Member of Parliament Larry Maguire, on behalf of Federal Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz. The funds will be leveraged by industry, which is… Read More