On this week’s episode of Wheat Pete’s Word, learn about making the call on not just starter fertilizer rates for corn (and maybe soybeans) but also on what product differences to consider when deciding on rates and placement. Host, Peter ‘Wheat Pete’ Johnson also shares some insight on plant breeding advancements overseas, how a soil… Read More
If you’re like many western Canadian grain farmers, you put the bulk of the year’s fertilizer on in the spring. That practice means you need the most informed data in front of you before the growing season to determine how much of which nutrient goes where — preferably as close as possible to amount needed… Read More
Can we officially call it the dead of winter? Extremely cold temperatures across most of Canada have most everyone hunkering down and dreaming of warmer temps and a return of the growing season. Winter is also a time to learn, and Peter “Wheat Pete” Johnson is here to answer your production questions, concerns, and challenges…. Read More
Should I or shouldn’t I plant soybeans this spring? This is a question on the minds of many farmers as we head into spring of 2019. For a few years, it looked like soybeans were going to take over many acres across the southern Prairies, but a couple of bad years for soybeans have caused… Read More
When the weather is fine, it’s frost seeding time. Wait, are we talking about Ontario? Nope! A mild winter in many parts of Western Canada has farmers wondering… could frost seeding wheat work here? To field that question, RealAg Radio host, Shaun Haney goes to the Wildman himself Peter “Wheat Pete” Johnson. Let’s be clear,… Read More
Happy New Year, listeners! Peter ‘Wheat Pete’ Johnson is back with the 191st episode of Wheat Pete’s Word and it could be the very first episode in months not to use that dreaded three-letter word (DON). Instead, this episode talks soil sampling and nutrient recommendation philosophies, dealing with ruts and wet fall conditions, winter manure… Read More
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