A timely rain after seeding can erase plenty of sins, but a pounding rain can do the opposite, and lead to punishment for small canola seedlings that have to break through crusted soil. Crusting has hampered emergence and forced some reseeding in canola fields in parts of Western Canada again this year. Of course, there’s… Read More
Concord has announced a new 39-foot model of its Precision Shank Drill (PSD) for 2021. The new size model offers the same benefits of the previously released PSD, but with a lower horsepower requirement to reach its potential seeding speed of 8 mph—originally 500 horsepower was required, but the new model only needs 425. “We’re… Read More
The hangover effects from a wet fall are giving farmers in parts of Western Canada a headache this spring. Saturated soil conditions right until freeze-up forced fieldwork that normally happens in fall to be delayed until spring. As a result, heavy harrows, vertical tillage machines, traditional cultivators, and even fire — all the tools in… Read More
Rolling right after planting has become a common practice on soybean fields in Western Canada over the last decade, but there are some good reasons to consider delaying the timing of rolling until after the crop is up. Rolling right behind the planter or drill improves seed-to-soil contact and is definitely less unnerving than rolling… Read More
Weed control questions, millipede feeding, and a crusting quandary — it must be early June! This week’s Wheat Pete’s Word is a little longer than usual because there is just so much going on and so many great questions rolling in. Host Peter Johnson has got the answers this week to everything from tufted vetch… Read More
Should you plant soybeans shallow to get them out of the ground quickly, or plant deeper into more stable soil temperatures? The correct answer is likely somewhere in the middle says Horst Bohner, Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, soybean specialist. He’s monitoring a series of planting date and seeding depth trials at… Read More
Drier weather over the last few years has taken some of the wind out of soybeans’ sails in Western Canada, but there’s a case to be made that fundamental climate trends on the Prairies still support good soybeans yields in the longer term. Especially if growers are on the ball with planting when the soil… Read More
This week’s Wheat Pete’s Word has got some good news, some good ideas, and finally a discussion on just how terrible timothy really is as a forage option. Host Peter Johnson answers questions on a crop’s first drink of water, how much starter fertilizer you can pack into strip-till strips, and reminds growers that armyworm… Read More
Sometimes a small gesture can go a long way to improve your day. So, lucky Wheat Pete’s Word fans, host Peter Johnson has a special gift for you — not one, but TWO podcasts this week. There’s just that much to cover, friends. For this Part A of the April 15th edition, Johnson shares some… Read More
As a cover crop, cereal rye brings a lot to the table. It improves soil structure, builds organic matter, and protects against water and wind erosion. It’s also relatively inexpensive, can be seeded late, enhances weed control and is easy to kill. That makes it a nice fit for cash crop producers looking for a… Read More
IntelliDrive, the variable rate seed metering system, is expanding its Canadian footprint. The company, which uses 12-volt electric motors to control individual sections of seeding equipment to enable variable rate planting, initially focused its efforts on John Deere central commodity system drills. Two years ago, IntelliDrive made its first foray to Canada as an exhibitor… Read More
If you’re a wheat grower, chances are you’ve heard about thousand kernel weight (TKW) and how you should be using the number to fine-tune wheat seeding rates. Seeding will be here before we know it – now is a great time to figure out TKW on each seeding lot. On this episode of RealAgriculture’s Wheat… Read More
During planting season, Kearney Planters service manager Shaun Dilliott gets plenty of calls from growers asking for seed meter management advice. Most of those calls come from soybean growers looking for tips on two types of meters — a John Deere radial meter or a Kinze brush meter. On this episode of RealAgriculture’s Soybean School,… Read More
Wheat Pete’s Word host Peter Johnson is a lot of things — dynamic and opinionated for starters — but he’s also rather humble. This episode marks 250 episodes of this podcast and he’s likely not going to make a big deal of it, but the rest of the RealAgriculture team is! In this 250th episode,… Read More
A new frame-mounted seeding system from Bourgault Industries promises to give farmers added manoeuvrability in tight, restricted traffic areas. The Saskatchewan-based company rolled out the seeder at the National Farm Machinery Show (NFMS) earlier this month at Louisville, Kentucky. Bourgault U.S. sales and marketing manager Perry Weisberg notes that the new CD872 frame-mounted seeder is… Read More