A timely rain after seeding can erase plenty of sins, but a pounding rain can do the opposite, and lead to punishment for small canola seedlings that have to break through crusted soil. Crusting has hampered emergence and forced some reseeding in canola fields in parts of Western Canada again this year. Of course, there’s… Read More
John Deere has recently announced not only the new X Series of combine coming to North America, but also an entirely new header lineup including drapers, corn heads, and a belt pickup. Hot on the tails of the X9 announcement, RealAgriculture’s Bernard Tobin sits down with John Deere’s Harvesting Product Manager Matt Badding to talk… Read More
Do you remember 1966? You can be forgiven if you don’t, but Drew Lerner, weather guru with World Weather Inc., says the first half of 2020 is shaping up to be very similar to that year. What does that mean for crop growing weather, hail, rainfall amounts, and more? Listen/watch below to this Tuesday, June… Read More
If there are any outliers in the rather bearish grain complex right now, Brennan Turner, founder of FarmLead and the Combyne marketplace, says wheat and maybe even soybeans deserve the title. Even though the latest WASDE says we’re set for record global ending stocks for the yea, the COVID-19 pandemic has meant a boost in… Read More
Concord has announced a new 39-foot model of its Precision Shank Drill (PSD) for 2021. The new size model offers the same benefits of the previously released PSD, but with a lower horsepower requirement to reach its potential seeding speed of 8 mph—originally 500 horsepower was required, but the new model only needs 425. “We’re… Read More
In the last couple of years, aster leafhoppers have arrived around the third week of May, perhaps on the same wind that diamondback moths fly in on from the U.S. The aster leafhopper is a small, bullet-shaped insect that doesn’t directly damage the plant; instead it is a vector for the disease aster yellows. In… Read More
When planting soybeans after corn does the oilseed benefit from pre-plant tillage? A little spring tillage certainly enhances yield, says Horst Bohner, soybean specialist for the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA). Based on accumulated OMAFRA trial data, growers can expect plant stands to be 10 per cent higher and fields to… Read More
The hangover effects from a wet fall are giving farmers in parts of Western Canada a headache this spring. Saturated soil conditions right until freeze-up forced fieldwork that normally happens in fall to be delayed until spring. As a result, heavy harrows, vertical tillage machines, traditional cultivators, and even fire — all the tools in… Read More
An answer to a follow up question on a conference call by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada minister Marie-Claude Bibeau struck a nerve last week. Bibeau said that the carbon tax on fuel used for grain drying wasn’t a significant enough percentage of operating costs to qualify for an exemption to the “price of pollution.” In… Read More
Enhancing existing crops, creating novel uses for traditional crops, and developing new crops in Western Canada has been the consistent effort of the Crop Development Centre (CDC) for the last 50 years. Curtis Pozniak has been appointed by the CDC as new director at the University of Saskatchewan. Pozniak says as new director, he will… Read More
Fusarium head blight (FHB), caused by the fungus Fusarium graminearum, is a major concern for wheat growers across the Prairies. The fungus affects grain yield and produces mycotoxins such as deoxynivalenol, or DON, that accumulate in grain. The presence of DON leads to a downgrade in quality when that grain enters the market. Victoria Linden, director… Read More
While Canadian farmers maintain access to over-the-top use of dicamba herbicides in herbicide-tolerant crops, American farmers are dealing with significant uncertainty regarding access to the product not just this season, but for next year and years to come. The 9th Circuit Court in the U.S. vacated dicamba’s over-the-top registration June 3rd, 2020, ruling that the… Read More
You’ve finished seeding, and now you’re getting curious as to how the crop’s looking and what kind of plant stand you’ve got. Getting an idea of how many plants per square foot or square meter is a really good idea, but more importantly, an early emergence evaluation helps diagnose any plant stand issues and what… Read More
Corn is king in the commodity markets, and right now there’s probably more than a few farmers who wish the king would abdicate the throne. If fund buying is an indicator of upside potential, there’s most certainly not much reason to be bullish with corn, says Wendy White, manager of grain marketing for Viterra’s central… Read More
Plant growth regulators (PGRs) are used to control or modify plant growth processes. There are a few products on the market, and in the case of cereals, the most common PGR is used to influence the hormones responsible for cell elongation, which results in shorter, thicker stems. Alberta Agriculture and Forestry, Agronomic Research Scientist, Sheri… Read More