Keep it simple and deliver field performance. That’s the message Great Plains is sharing with growers taking a look at the manufacturer’s PL5700 planter for 2024. The planter features 5000 Series row units, and Air-Pro meters, and a positive air system that sets it apart from the competition by providing more accuracy with fewer headaches… Read More
Category: Agronomy
A good portion of Ontario is nearing the end of what has been a very mild winter. Bare and sometimes thawed ground has many farmers asking if it’s too early for clover, for frost seeding, for tillage, and for patching in wheat crops. There’s also a saying that goes, “just because you can doesn’t mean… Read More
Orange wheat blossom midge — or simply, the wheat midge — devastated spring wheat yields in the ’90s. Since then, wheat breeders have been working hard to build protection into wheat varieties. To help with tips to scout for the pest, why spraying is a limited option, how Field Heroes help, and what’s new in… Read More
Wheat yield is made up of many yield components ranging from thousand kernel weight to head size and kernels per head. But when it comes to driving higher yields, all those components take a back seat to the number of heads per square metre. It’s the big data point emerging from three years of data… Read More
A Canadian seeding success is heading overseas, as Vaderstad is bringing its Seed Hawk air drill to European farms for 2024. In this report from Agritechnica ’23 in Hanover, Germany, Vaderstad’s Bernt Martensson explains how the company has modified the machine to fit the specific needs of smaller European farms. In Canada, the air seeder… Read More
Round balers come in many sizes with a wide range of capacities and capabilities, but it’s important for farmers to find the right baler for their operation and a service dealer they can rely on to keep them running through harvest. In this report from Agritechnica, RealAgriculture’s Shaun Haney and Krone territory manager David Taylor… Read More
When it comes to improving fertilizer application and utilization, growers are encouraged to focus on the 4Rs — the right source, right rate, right time, and right place. Former Manitoba Ag soil fertility specialist John Heard won’t argue with that strategy but he would also like farmers to think about the ‘4Ls’ — lift-off, leftover,… Read More
Amazone is touting its new boundary spreading feature as a tool that gives crop growers the confidence to spread full fertilizer rates to the edge of the field. In this report from Agritechnica, Amazone’s Jeff Schott illustrates how the company has modified its AutoTS spreading system by adding BorderTS — a deflector, operated hydraulically, that… Read More
What’s one thing you love about agriculture in Canada? Peter “Wheat Pete” Johnson wants us all to celebrate and share whatever that is next Tuesday on Canada’s Ag Day! Johnson’s got some thoughts on how to best share our thoughts about agriculture in this week’s podcast, but don’t worry, there’s also plenty of agronomic questions… Read More
CLAAS is celebrating 50 years of Jaguar self-propelled forage harvesters. The company launched its first Jaguar in 1973 and have produced 45,000 machines over the last half century. Last November at Agritechnica, CLAAS showed off a new special edition of its Jaguar 990 Terra Trac with an exclusive anniversary colour scheme. In this report, CLAAS… Read More
For years, even decades, one crop’s boost in productivity because of following a different crop was put down as the “rotation effect.” As we begin to unravel what the rotation effect actually is, it’s clear that rooting depth and type, root exudates, and microbial population shifts all play a role in contributing to the bigger… Read More
A Saskatchewan based start-up is deploying a combination of cameras and machine learning to automate and dramatically reduce the time it takes to grade a sample of grain. Ground Truth Ag has developed a machine with a vision detection model that can assess around 50 different grading factors for Canada Western red spring wheat, as… Read More
Drones are flying everywhere these days but farmers can’t use them to spray pesticides on their crops. It’s illegal to fly unmanned aerial vehicle (UAVs) for applying crop protection products in Canada and it’s likely to stay that way for a couple of years. Why are drones still grounded for spray application? The answer is… Read More
You can learn a lot about reducing tillage in 35 years. That’s the combined number of years Horst Bohner and Rob Templeman have spent leading Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA) soybean research and extension efforts. On the first episode of the 2024 season of RealAgriculture’s Soybean School, OMAFRA’s current and former… Read More
Pop quiz: does water vapour insulate, and do cover crops cost yield? The answers: yes, and sometimes. To dive into to how cover crops might cost in yield potential but still save fuel, Peter “Wheat Pete” Johnson kicks off another episode of the Wheat Pete’s Word podcast. Also on the episode: how a milder winter… Read More