Farmers rely on science to find solutions to crop stresses, such as resistant varieties against disease or pests or new active ingredients to attack weeds and diseases. While using Mother Nature’s own flora and fauna in our favour is not a new concept (think inoculants), using naturally occurring bacteria and fungi to combat pests is… Read More
The economics of farming naturally put “high yield” at the top of every plant breeders list, but something like yield is interwoven with a number of other factors. Just to allow a plant to maintain its intrinsic yield potential you have to develop it to be able to compete with weeds, stand well and have… Read More
A little trouble now may help you deal with a lot of trouble down the line. That’s exactly what happened when corn in Ontario went through a dry spell in late May and early June. That dry period caused corn in those fields to develop deep and dense roots. Fast forward now to the six-week… Read More
Lentils are the main crop that will get hit with Reglone (diquat) and I will touch on them first. Ideally the staging is so that the lowest third of the plant pods are rattling and the seed itself is hard and doesn’t split; the middle third of the plant will be hard and not juicy,… Read More
After a chemical manufacturer discovers a new crop protection chemical family, the normal response within the industry is to focus research on better versions of the same chemistry. This typically results in several new brands being launched, each claiming to be slightly better than the last. This seems to be the case with DuPont’s new… Read More
BASF Canada Inc. announced this week the registration of Xemium as an active ingredient. It’s an interesting roll-out of a new active, as it’s not actually available in any fungicide formulations for broad acre crops as of yet. The fungicide, a carboxamide, is however now registered for use on a number of row crops and… Read More
One of the key components involved in cultivating a 300-plus bushel corn crop is establishing a good, uniform stand. Unfortunately for producers in drought affected regions of Ontario, those conditions have taken their toll in that area. Despite an early season that helped to foster good root development, stress from hot and dry conditions kept… Read More
When we talk about the total package approach in any crop breeding program, we mean that every effort has to balance a number of key elements, not taking away from any of them while trying to add to all of them. In chickpea, as with most crops, those efforts are directed at the areas of… Read More
Clubroot is gaining traction in Alberta and continues to spread each year. The first line of defense against the spread of clubroot is awareness. That has to include information on identification and prevention in order to be truly effective. That’s why events like the Canola Galla are important. The event was all about getting producers… Read More
Any crop breeding program is a balancing act. For every problem you look to address, you potentially open the door to new and unexpected ones or risk losing desired traits. The more traits you try and breed into a crop, the more you have to think about how those traits affect each other. That’s the… Read More
There really is no substitute for getting into your fields. You hear agronomists constantly banging that drum. That’s because there really is no substitute for getting into your fields. This is especially true when you’re trying to make a decision on when to swath your canola. A drive-by appraisal of the field just won’t cut… Read More
The threat of glyphosate resistance continues to plague growers with weeds like glyphosate resistant Canada fleabane spreading throughout Ontario. If left unchecked, the weed has the potential to become a much bigger problem in Ontario and eventually other parts of Canada as well. That’s where a “big picture” approach has to be brought in at… Read More
The last six weeks have been extremely dry throughout parts of Ontario. Crops across the board have suffered as hopes for bumper yields have been deflated by the stress of prolonged hot and dry conditions. Corn in particular started with a great deal of promise, but now sits in a grey area as to how… Read More
I was combing through my Twitter feed last night and thought that it felt a little like Y2K — would the stroke of midnight bring certain doom as many monopoly supporters would have had us believe or would the sun rise, just like any other day? Of course, today — the first day of the… Read More
Canola acreage has shot up over the past couple of years and with the price right now it can be one of the most profitable crops on the farm. The research that goes into canola is phenomenal and has allowed yield averages to soar in the last few years. But there are still some myths… Read More
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