Since early October canola has been the story for many Western Canadian farmers. In the fall some farmers were talking about seeding their whole farm to canola in total disregard for rotations in the quest to maximize profit. Talk of 20-22 million acres of canola was very popular speculation. Turn the clock forward to… Read More
There is a movement afoot in cereal growing world to push farmers to wider row spacing. Some researchers say that this is a great way to prevent a covered canopy which will naturally minimize crop leaf disease while others are more skeptical. One of the skeptics is David Bergen from GEN Manufacturing. GEN engineers openers… Read More
Trying to maximize the yield of wheat, corn, canola and soybeans is obviously a key focus of growers. According to Phil Needham, Needham Ag Technologies uniformity is the key for farmers across North America. The idea of uniformity applies to seeding depth, seeding rates, plant emergence and residue management. According to Phil, uniformity is the… Read More
Last year in Ontario the weather provided an almost perfect spring and summer season. I heard many Ontario corn farmers say that, “this is the earliest that I have ever seeded corn.” Many wondered at the time what would be the results and if the crop would get hammered by a spring frost. Early seeding… Read More
It would amaze you how many farmers don’t go through the proper initial prep on their seed drill before they go out to the field. Just filling the cart tank and running wild it is not necessarily the best way to proceed. In this weeks episode of the Wheat School, Dean Jackson, Stoltz Sales and… Read More
If you haven’t noticed seed companies are just as interested in the things being applied to the seed as the seed itself. This is due to the continued push towards looking at the full production cycle instead individual unconnected mutually exclusive events in the production cycle. At Canada’s Outdoor Farm Show I discussed this trend… Read More
Its time to seed winter wheat and there are several different considerations that you need to make in order to make sure you have success this season. In many ways the steps that you take today are crucial to what your yield results are next August. Too many people make some crucial mistakes at fall… Read More
One of the special things in agriculture is the knowledge that is passed down from one generation to another. In most cases this is a possible experience but sometimes poor information slips through the cracks. A great example of this is the calculation of wheat seeding rates. Whether you are in Eastern or Western Canada… Read More
Spring has been a nightmare and the toll it has taking on farmers in Western Canada is huge. With a speculated 10 million acres being left unseeded, many farmers are wondering what they should be doing with their bare land. Many people are talking about winter wheat to try and get some cover for winter… Read More
The stress of spring has been brutal in many parts of the west. It does bring to my the saying, “if farming was easy everyone would do it!” The weather is definitely testing the nerves of everyone that is involved in this chaos. With some farmers not having turned a wheel yet in 2010, the… Read More
As we mentioned last week, we are dealing with abnormal rainfall and cool temps in Alberta and Saskatchewan and that has pushed canola seeding back further than desired. Now that the calendar has entered June, many farmers have started hiring floaters to broadcast seed the canola seed. This is not ideal but the unfortunate reality… Read More
Okay I will say it…..this spring has been a real challenge. Crop staging is quite varied. We have plants battling frosty conditions and there is thousands of acres that have not been planted yet. If have crop up it feels like it is standing still in the water or colder temperatures and if you are… Read More
It is easy to talk about seeding depth pre-planting but it is even more critical to review planting depth after emergence. It is no different than any other business process. PLAN – EXECUTE – REVIEW – IMPROVE – REPEAT THE CYCLE. The stand above ground tells only part of the story though. You also need… Read More
The weather in Western Canada this spring has really been unbelievable. With portions of March that felt like June and an April that felt like January, farmers have been stalled in the field. Many tractors and seeders were trapped in snow drifts for a couple weeks and many people were without power a couple times…. Read More
Have you ever heard the phrase the early bird gets the worm? This year the early bird may have reseed….or maybe not. It is probably to early to tell until the weather warms up but it is hard to be that patient. For areas of Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta that have been seeded the crops… Read More
Register for a RealAgriculture account to manage your Shortcut menu instead of the default.