Will Western Canada’s winter ever end? Well, yes, of course it will, it’s just taking its jolly sweet time moving on out and letting spring begin in earnest. While current conditions seem very dire, somehow Drew Lerner manages to turn all this snow and cool weather into a positive, as you’ll hear in this RealWeatherWatch… Read More
Category: Crop Production
Patience is the name of the game for plant ’13 it would seem. That’s according to Drew Lerner, founder of World Weather, Inc. In this RealWeatherWatch episode, Lerner cautions that Ontario farmers hoping for a straight-forward, dry planting season are likely to be disappointed. Cool, wet and unsettled weather is likely the norm for much… Read More
Just when you think you’re getting somewhere on disease management, the disease population shifts just enough to stay competitive. Fusarium, with its many strains and staying power on residue, is a constant thorn in the side of many Manitoba farmers, but it’s also increasingly an issue for Alberta and Saskatchewan farmers as well. What’s more,… Read More
Developing an opinion on crop prices and the direction they’re headed is not an exact science. Once you can move beyond expecting to be right all the time, it’s time to start putting some fundamental analysis to work for you. While many farmers are familiar with that term and supply and demand discussions, understanding how… Read More
Last week’s ice storm most certainly didn’t help to get planting season going. Worse still was the two days of rain prior to the storm. A small glimmer of warmer weather earlier this week has faded to more rain for much of the Ontario farming heartland. While there are certainly some tactics to planting in… Read More
The Barley Council of Canada (BCC) was formally incorporated today, according to a press release. The first of its kind in Canada, the council will speak on behalf of barley industry members and farmers. “This is the first time in history the entire value chain has been brought together from coast to coast on a… Read More
Only a few months ago, soybeans were the darling crop of nearly every farmer from Manitoba to Alberta. The crop could do no wrong, it seemed, and everyone wanted a piece of this nitrogen-fixing pie. Acres in Manitoba were set to surpass a million if you asked someone in January, but here we are in… Read More
The drive to get on the field to plant in a timely manner can sometimes overshadow the importance of planting only when the soil is ready. What’s more, if there’s any tillage to be done before planting, a late start can start feeling very late indeed. But if you head out planting before the soil… Read More
China’s decision to open another of its crushers to Canadian canola seed improves market access, according to the Canola Council of Canada. The authorization of three new crushers in the last few months means China now has the capacity to import an additional 1 million tonnes of canola seed from Canada, Canola Council of Canada… Read More
Flea beetles, those tiny, hungry pests, feed on seedling leaf tissue in your canola fields almost every season. Their feeding on young canola plants causes the most economic damage. Understanding the pest and its lifecycle can help determine when control may be necessary, even if you’ve used a seed treatment. The two dominant species of… Read More
I’m sitting looking at a giant white wall of snow and wind blow around my window. While I’ve seen far worse snow days, it’s one of the colder, wetter, whiter April 15ths I’ve seen. Twitter was a-buzz this morning with predictions of when seeding will start for most of Western Canada. That date pushes farther… Read More
#ABbugchat will make its debut on Twitter tomorrow, Tuesday, April 16 at 10 am (11 am central). Many of us may be unfamiliar with this communication venue so perhaps it is best to do some preparation ahead. #ABbugchat will run weekly from mid-May to Mid-August. This year that means May 14 to August 13. It… Read More
As planting (eventually) gets under way, a little planning and moving of skids of seed can go a long way in not only increasing the efficiency of planting, but also ensuring that refuge requirements aren’t missed. Some seed variety packaging has made meeting the refuge requirements easy with the RIB (Refuge In a Bag) system,… Read More
Each seed treatment product protects against a specific list of diseases or insects, but it’s the overall impact of early season protection on stand establishment that has much more far-reaching impacts than simply avoiding disease infection. In this Pulse School episode, Wes Anderson, agronomy manager for Richardson Pioneer, does outline which seed treatments will protect… Read More
The cool and sometimes downright cold conditions of spring can really throw a wrench in the seeding schedule. The seed treater isn’t immune to the cold either, and working in less than ideal conditions takes a bit of a different approach. There’s also general maintenance and calibration that should be done every year. In this… Read More