Air seeders are getting bigger at the same time that farmers are applying more total product per acre. Is the distribution system that worked well on a 36-foot air seeder up to the task of evenly distributing 300-plus pounds of seed and fertilizer across an 86 foot air drill? Not likely. Dale Leftwich, RealAgriculture’s Saskatchewan… Read More
Farmers are planting too much soybean seed. That’s a conviction agronomist Pat Lynch is firm on. “What we’re doing is determining the population based on the poor parts of the field because we don’t want to have these thin spots.” says Lynch. While high seeding rates help populate under-performing areas of the field, they produce… Read More
With a little luck, RealAgriculture agronomist Peter Johnson believesOntario farmers could still plant one million acres of winter wheat this fall. In this episode of RealAgriculture’s Wheat School, Johnson says it’s not too late to plant wheat in most of the province. Late-planted wheat can still deliver strong yields, but growers have to pay strict… Read More
The concept of ‘flex’ corn hybrids has been talked about in seed circles for several years. The idea is quite simple: these corn hybrids have the ability to flex and create larger ears with more girth at lower populations. They produce higher yields when planted in the 28,000 seeds per acre range. The idea of… Read More
It might seem counter-intuitive, but slowing down corn emergence may actually boost yields. Plot results are in, and it would seem that optimum distance between corn plants matters far less than uniform emergence. And achieving perfectly uniform emergence takes planting deep. We already know that even emergence is key to top yields, but the mechanism… Read More
There are not one, but two Alert! Alert! Alert! segments in this week’s Wheat Pete’s Word, and that’s just how she goes in a wet, snowy, long, drawn out harvest. Host Peter Johnson is talking wheat storage woes, mycotoxin trouble, and strip tillage tips and tricks in this early October edition of the Word. You’ll… Read More
The New Holland’s P2082 double shoot disc drill takes seed and fertilizer placement seriously. This new drill is designed for accurate one-pass placement of seed and fertilizer for uniform emergence, better stands and higher yields, says New Holland. It’s available in seeding widths of 30, 40, 50 and 60 feet with available 10-inch row spacing…. Read More
Farmers are always thinking of ways to be more efficient: why make two or three passes through the field if you only need one? Degelman developed its Pro-Till to work land that had to be brought into shape, but farmers started asking if they could do more with this piece of equipment, explains Laird McLeod,… Read More
The Canadian Seed Trade Association (CSTA) welcomed their new president, Todd Hyra, this past month. As the presidency term only lasts for one year, Hyra says the nice part is that you still get to see projects you’re passionate about go forward as you’re part of the board two years leading up as vice president… Read More
All farmers want to get their crops off to a good start, and the right amount of phosphate gives canola that pop-up effect that farmers just love to see. There is, however, such thing as too much of a good thing. It turns out that although much research has been done on safe rates of… Read More
With growing interest in using planter technology to improve seed placement in canola, Väderstad has introduced a new 24-row high-speed planter designed specifically for small-seed crops. The Tempo L 24 made its debut at Canada’s Farm Progress Show at Regina, Saskatchewan, last week. “This is the first time we’ve had 24 row units on this style… Read More
Seeding rates are always a hot topic, and for good reason. The only thing more expensive than buying and planting too much canola seed is not having enough seed in the ground and losing yield potential. Canola Council of Canada agronomist Ian Epp is often asked, “Can I lower my seeding rate?” as farmers are… Read More
What’s the ideal depth for planting corn? What happens if you plant too shallow? In this episode of RealAgriculture’s Corn School, PRIDE Seeds agronomist Aaron Stevanus digs into a seeding depth trial to show how planting depth can impact early-season growth. We catch up with Stevanus at the company’s Elmira, ON, research site where he evaluates the… Read More
What’s your strategy when scouting a newly emerged soybean field? When Agromart Group agronomist Steph Kowalski walks into a soybean field this time of year, the first thing she looks to assess is final emergence and population. “It’s important to know how well we got that seed into the ground,” Kowalski tells RealAgriculture’s Bernard Tobin… Read More
It’s an established fact that seeding depth and plant spacing are critical factors in maximizing yields and uniformity in some crops. That’s why corn and soybeans are planted with planters designed to singulate each seed and place it at a precise depth. Wheat isn’t generally seeded with a planter, but as part of this Wheat… Read More