Saskatchewan-based Croptimistic Technology Inc. has announced $3.5 million in Series A investment from Forage Capital Partners to complement an additional $1.7 million in funding from the founders and institutional debt. The new capital will help accelerate the growth of Croptimistic’s SWAT MAPS technology, which provides farmers and partners with high resolution foundation maps to execute… Read More
Early-season corn scouting requires a little bit of time and attention, but can really pay off for the rest of the year and even into the next. Sara Meidlinger, market development specialist with Pride Seeds for Western Canada, joins Kara Oosterhuis for this Corn School episode. Scout representative areas of the field including good and… Read More
Will nozzle type solve the problem of getting efficacy while spraying T3 fungicides? There’s plenty of work done on the right nozzle for this job, but what are the other factors that lead to an efficacious application for controlling fusarium? In this Wheat School episode, our resident agronomist Peter “Wheat Pete” Johnson is fired up… Read More
Widespread late-May frosts across Ontario have many growers assessing soybean crops for injury and wrestling with the question of whether replanting is necessary. On this episode of the Soybean School, Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs soybean specialist Horst Bohner is preaching patience when it comes to determining whether a replant is necessary. He… Read More
Huge areas of Ontario saw frost over the weekend, in some cases as low as -7 degrees C. The full impact of the lighter frost in other areas is still being assessed, but there are replants already happening on plenty of soybean acres. Wheat Pete’s Word host Peter Johnson talks about that this week, and… Read More
Plant growth regulators (PGRs) are used to control or modify plant growth processes. In the case of wheat and barley, PGRs are used to influence the hormones responsible for cell elongation, which results in a crop with thicker, shorter stems. “Right now there are two plant growth regulators available for wheat in Western Canada,” says… Read More
Two, and in some cases, three nights of frost in Ontario has hit the soybean crop quite hard. In some eastern counties, re-planting is already underway. The corn crop did not escape unscathed either, though some agronomists and farmers are more hopeful that many corn acres will recover. Paul Hermans, area agronomist for Corteva, covers… Read More
A Tuesday morning run up in the grain markets caught many market watchers by surprise. What’s at play so early in the growing season? Jon Driedger with Leftfield Commodity Research says that, yes, this really does seem to be a weather related rally for the most part, and that’s a bit of a surprise. Coming… Read More
Early planted corn is starting to emerge in Ontario and usually when digging around, a nice straight plant can be seen coming out of the ground. This year, though, a few plants are a little wonky. Down in Lambton County, Ont., agronomist Ryan Benjamins is seeing quite a bit of corkscrewing in corn this year,… Read More
Red Leaf Pulp, developer of a proprietary wheat straw-based pulp mill, has announced the company will locate its initial facility on the west side of the city of Regina, Sask. The initial plant will have the capacity to produce approximately 182,000 tonnes of market pulp annually from waste wheat straw collected and aggregated from local… Read More
Scouting soybeans is a big part of any Ontario agronomist’s year. Emergence, a consistent plant stand, and seeding depth are the first few things to scout for in the field. Ryan Benjamins, who owns and operates Benjamins Agronomy Services, gives tips for scouting soybeans and what to consider further along in the growing season, in… Read More
In an ideal situation, farmers could identify field pests, look up a predator or parasitic foe of that pest, and make an order for delivery. While that isn’t exactly the case currently, bringing predatory or parasitic insects into an area does happen, and the practice is likely to gain traction as the knowledge of beneficial… Read More
When the drill gets parked, it’s time to hook up the land rollers. Ken Wall, grow team advisor at Federated Cooperatives Ltd., says there are two reasons why you’d want to roll lentils (and other pulse crops); one of which is to smooth out the ridges from seeding. Lentils in particular are a low growing… Read More
If a robot could perform any job on your farm, what would it be? We’ve asked this question before and picking rocks is a common answer — often said with more than hint of disdain for the task. Now, a company founded by a farm kid-turned-tech executive is taking a shot at the concept. TerraClear, led… Read More
After a week away, we’re glad to be back! This episode of The Agronomists focuses on something we don’t always talk about: forage! Host Lyndsey Smith is joined by Christine O’Reilly, forage specialist with Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA), and Peter Johnson’s alter ego: Peter “Wheatgrass” Johnson. Catch a new episode… Read More