No one wants to see crop under snow, especially when that crop is either a) not really ready to harvest or b) most of your acres. Western Canada has been hard hit by snow cover this fall, and it seems the early start to winter now extends to most of Ontario, too. The recent snowfall… Read More
To achieve cleaner fields, identifying the right time to spray is crucial. An early herbicide application is an effective way to get ahead of tough weeds. Using a dicamba-based system like the Roundup Ready Xtend® Crop System offers the flexibility of pre- and post-emergent applications and the ability to keep fields clean longer, thanks to… Read More
There are some surprising yields being reported across much of Ontario — some shockingly good, others disastrously bad. For at least one farmer, a timely rain or two on just half the field means the same surprise happened in the same pass of the combine. In this week’s edition of Wheat Pete’s Word, host Peter… Read More
Canadian edible bean farmers are seeing first-hand what an abrupt loss of pre-harvest glyphosate means for their harvest. For many, it’s been a real challenge. “So, for example, a black bean grower – black beans are typically pretty easy to harvest and you don’t have to worry about staining them because they’re already black, but… Read More
A Canadian company is making headway in the spray world with six-legged applicators. Bee Vectoring Technologies (BVT) uses commercially-reared bees to deliver crop controls through pollination. Its first registered product, Clonostachys rosea CR-7 (CR-7), is an organic strain of an endophytic fungus the company says has many functions, including: Controlling numerous diseases in plants, particularly… Read More
After identifying a need for aerial spraying services on large farms, an Ontario-based start-up has developed a fully-automated unmanned aerial vehicle for the Canadian market. “Typically most drones you see out there for aerial spraying are fairly small capacity… and for North American farms…it’s just not going to cut it,” says Meng Wei, CEO and… Read More
“There’s lots of things to consider when you’re thinking about growing pulses, and the very first thing that comes to mind is rotations.” Sherrilyn Phelps, agronomy manager with the Saskatchewan Pulse Growers, joins us for this Pulse School, where she identifies a few of the key factors to consider when selecting a field for pulses…. Read More
Spray education can be fun — Jason Deveau and Tom Wolf of sprayers101.com often ensure that, in their ever-unique way. Deveau and Wolf caught up with RealAg Radio host Shaun Haney at the Canada’s Outdoor Farm Show in Woodstock, Ont., to chat about their demo at the show: recirculating booms. Wolf explains how current spray… Read More
There are plenty of questions and feedback rolling in for host of Wheat Pete’s Word, Peter Johnson. This week, Johnson is sharing some of the top marketing feedback he’s heard, what has worked and not worked for some with establishing, alfalfa, and he shares some insight into disease risks for the winter wheat crop following… Read More
John Deere is expanding its 4-Series sprayers to increase the power, traction and capacity of 2020 models. Last week at the Farm Progress Show in Decatur, Illinois, the company rolled out the 1,600-gallon (6,057 litre) capacity R4060 sprayer with the new CommandDrive powertrain; R4045 sprayers will also come standard with the powertrain beginning in 2020…. Read More
Farmers are watching the 14-day forecast like hawks in both Western Canada and Ontario, as cool conditions have slowed down crop development. Cereals in the west need time to mature, and the Ontario corn crop is weeks and weeks away from mature. Even with harvest underway, some are thinking about next year….because the winter wheat… Read More
Could 2019 be another ‘gibb’ year for corn growers? That’s a question RealAgriculture agronomist Peter Johnson encounters almost daily. When asked, he says there’s “not a chance” of the widespread gibberella outbreak Ontario growers experienced in 2018. However, he notes that “in isolated areas, we do have a high risk of gibberella ear rot infection… Read More
Chances are you’ve never decanted window cleaner and blue raspberry gatorade side-by-side, but if you did, you’d likely be shocked at the similarity. In fact, many chemicals bear striking resemblances to palatable substances, particularly to a child’s eye. And that was one of the messages brought to Saskatchewan by the Canadian Agricultural Safety Association (CASA)… Read More
Technology and innovations in agriculture are continuously changing and evolving, but over the past while, there has been a bit of a surge in sprayer technology. Due in part to herbicide resistance, cost of chemicals rising, and a need for efficiency, sprayer technology is ever-changing. Tom Wolf, of Agrimetrix and Sprayers 101.com, was at Ag… Read More
Will 2019 be a soybean aphid year? With a short, late-developing crop that lacks a dense canopy, growers will have to be on the look out for the minuscule, light green, pear-shaped pests, says Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs entomologist Tracey Baute. With smaller plants, it doesn’t take as many aphids to… Read More