The 2019 Ontario wheat crop can best be described as a dog’s breakfast…and that’s perhaps being kind. What’s left in the fields varies from not bad, to not too bad but with dead patches, to relatively uniformly poor and stagey. Depending on the field, the challenges are different. Uniform fields are easy to manage when… Read More
Category: Crop Production
For a large part of the corn growing area of Ontario the deadline to plant corn is fast approaching, however Agricorp — the crop insurance vehicle in the province — has announced several extensions and exceptions for the 2019 cropping year. Depending on the area, farmers may have up to June 17 to plant corn… Read More
FMC Canada is setting down new roots in Ontario and building its presence across the Canadian crop protection landscape. Two years after closing a deal to acquire a portion of DuPont’s crop protection business when that company merged with Dow AgroSciences to form Corteva, FMC has opened new corporate headquarters in Mississauga, Ont. In this… Read More
Clubroot. Many producers have the viewpoint of “We don’t have it in our area, so we don’t need to sanitize.” This isn’t an alert that clubroot has spread — it’s an acknowledgment that it could come to your area, even if you are in a non-traditional clubroot zone, which is why growers have to be careful… Read More
For several weeks the message has been that growers need be adjusting their corn variety heat units based on late planting. For some growers, it has become too difficult to drop much further based on hybrid availability in certain heat unit ranges. RealAg Agronomist Peter Johnson recognizes the challenge. “As you move into the lower… Read More
This very wet, cool Ontario spring is still presenting challenges with the winter wheat crop. Once winter finally moved out, concerns over the survival of much of the wheat crop were confirmed, and the challenges did not end there. According to RealAg agronomist Peter Johnson, who appeared on RealAg Radio on Monday, “On some of… Read More
The USDA has released its planting progress report, confirming what everyone has been seeing out their window. As of June 2, an estimated 31 million acres of intended corn remains unplanted. In the last week, U.S. growers only gained 9 per cent in corn planting progress, and of the planted acres, 46 per cent of… Read More
According to Agriculture and Agri-Food Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau, regulations are now in place for the changes to the Advanced Payments Program (APP) announced at the beginning of May. The original changes were an increase to the APP cap from $400,000 to $1,000,0000 for all producers in an effort to help farmers in the face of… Read More
The first week of June is a chance for people across Ontario to celebrate the fresh, grown-close-to-home food produced by the province’s farmers. It’s also a chance for farmers to share on social media about what goes on behind the scenes to bring Ontarians’ their food. Dubbed Local Food Week, June 3 to 9, 2019,… Read More
Another weekend of rain in most of Ontario has left Ontario growers wondering what is the best strategy in the most challenging spring in recent memory. There were some areas that were able to get some planting done, but time is really of the essence. Some dust did fly, but on the eastern side of… Read More
When it comes to canola crops, it’s important to keep the field clean from the start, in order to ensure your canola has the best possible chance at growing to its full potential. In this episode of RealAgriculture’s Canola School, Kara Oosterhuis talks to Keith Gabert, agronomy specialist with the Canola Council of Canada, about… Read More
As temperatures warm, fields across the west are starting to see flea beetle emergence, and cotyledon defoliation. And that has producers wondering about when to take action. “There’s been some discussion about different threshold levels,” says Errin Willenborg, agronomist with Federated Co-op Ltd. The discussion stems from confusion around two listed thresholds — the 25… Read More
It’s decision time for many Ontario farmers. As wet, cool weather maintains its grip on the province, do you listen to the markets and plant corn, or is it too late? How many heat units should you drop if you’re sticking with the king? Is it better to plant soybeans? How do you get your… Read More
If you’re in Western Canada, you are most likely looking forward to one of the crop tour highlights of the summer: canolaPALOOZA. Hosted and organized by the three canola organizations across the prairies — Alberta Canola, SaskCanola, and Manitoba Canola Growers — canolaPALOOZA brings three days of education, and fun across the prairies on three… Read More
For any grower, the decision when to seed canola is determined not only by moisture conditions and soil temps but also the potential for frost. This year, farmers in parts of western Canada have had to worry about frost later in the year (end of May), compared to the usual mid April and beginning of… Read More