In part one of this cereal seeding piece, I discussed a few important things to keep in mind before letting the drills hit the dirt. It included the importance of starting with quality seed that has been tested and applying a registered seed treatment along with a properly done thousand kernel weight assessment to target… Read More
Pure seed is pure seed, right? Well, yes and no. When it comes to seed testing, purity can take on a few different meanings. Some of the distinctions are set out by CFIA, but other tests are used to confirm the presence or absence of a trait or gene. There are actually four different types of… Read More
At one time when you heard someone talk about precision ag it was about minimizing overlap of the sprayer and driving the planter straight. After a winter of farm shows and meetings I have come to the conclusion in certain regions that precision ag is evolving into being about real planting precision. In the corn and soybean… Read More
Canola is big business in Alberta, so the spread of canola diseases like blackleg, clubroot and most recently, aster yellows is taken very seriously by both industry and producers. How those diseases are transmitted and spread becomes a source of discussion and speculation as well. At this point it becomes incredibly important to separate fact… Read More
The most important pass a farmer makes every year is the one with the seeder. There’s no way to add yield or plants if you make a big mistake on that first pass — no amount of fungicide, herbicide or specialty product is going to come to the rescue. But seeding conditions in Western Canada… Read More
Ah, early spring — the days are getting longer, the snow is starting to melt ever so slightly, and farmers are dusting off the machinery in hopes of an early seeding season. While many are fine-tuning their crop rotations and acreage counts, the savvy farmer is also pouring over seed test results and using the… Read More
It’s one thing to know that you should be scouting for blackleg, sclerotinia, sulphur deficiency and cutworms, for example. It’s another thing entirely to actually scout every field for every pest at the optimal timing during the hectic growing season. What if there was a way to practice insect, disease and nutrient deficiency identification when… Read More
Everyone loves a good challenge. The Grain Farmers of Ontario 2012 spring wheat challenge recently awarded top prize to Del Cressman, from Listowel, Ont., for his 112 bu/ac average crop. Breaking and surpassing 100 bushels per acre while maintaining protein doesn’t happen by chance, of course. In this video, Cressman outlines the management factors and… Read More
Many factors converge in determining the final yield tally of the soybean crop each year, but choosing the highest yielding variety for your area is a good place to start. How do you know which is the highest yielding? Well, on-farm performance is a good indication, but it pays to compare what else is available…. Read More
Investing in a sectional control option on a new seeder isn’t an inexpensive proposition, however, you may change your perception of the true cost once you see just how much it can save you. Chris Morson, with Seed Hawk, took Shaun Haney on a tour of Seed Hawk’s software program that incorporates Google Earth images… Read More
Ken Ferrie wants you to slow the planter down. And then stop. Yes, really. While the planting season is a hectic one, rushing, especially in wet conditions, is a recipe for disaster. Ferrie, an independent agronomist, wants farmers to slow down and better match planter speed to planting conditions. What’s more, he wants you to… Read More
Seeding (or planting for our eastern and southern friends) is the single most important pass you’ll make on your field this year. The piece of equipment you chose to place and pack seeds typically has to work for all the crops in your rotation, and that can mean using something better suited for large seeds… Read More
Peter Johnson, wheat specialist with Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, made quite the splash at Farm Tech last week. A regular in RealAgricutlure.com’s Wheat School, @WheatPete (as he’s known on Twitter) has very set views on maximizing wheat production, and he’s not afraid to tell a farmer, point blank, what that farmer… Read More
Results of a germination test are a must-have before heading to the field in the spring, but what about a vigour test? When should you order one and why? Holly Gelech, business development manager with Biovision Seed Labs, walks us through the major differences between the two tests, and how vigour tests may differ between… Read More
The post CWB monopoly environment has opened up a lot of interest in the CPS wheat class. Internationally recognized as having the high yield and good milling characteristics producers and industry are looking for, the wheat class is still quite small in Canada. The addition of AC Conquer VB to the Canterra Seeds line up… Read More