Visual damage to wheat kernels might look cringe-worthy, but it’s the damage you can’t see that’s causing downgrading this harvest season. Jeremy Boychyn, agronomist with the Alberta Wheat and Barley Commissions, says wet harvest weather even before the late September snow storm is negatively impacting falling number — a key measure of milling quality. Some… Read More
Western Canada got absolutely hammered by snow this last week, which brings up questions on lifters, stripper headers, and more. For Ontario, soybean harvest is late but rolling, and that means the questions about winter wheat seeding are also rolling in to Wheat Pete’s Word host, Peter Johnson’s mailbox! From when to bump seeding rates,… Read More
Soybean harvest is underway in Ontario as the crop matures rapidly. It’s good news for winter wheat growers looking to get the crop planted on soybean ground, says RealAgriculture agronomist Peter Johnson, but there are still plenty of late-planted green soybeans that are a long way from the bin. The prospect of another year of… Read More
Welcome to another edition to Wheat Pete’s Word with your host and RealAgriculture’s resident agronomist, Peter ‘Wheat Pete’ Johnson! This week, Johnson is on the Soil Network tour, but even the cross-Ontario trek couldn’t keep him from recording this week’s Word. On this episode, learn about a new worm issue in corn, how the grain… Read More
If you’re a farmer trying to figure out how to get a handle on fleabane populations, you’re not alone. Last week, it was a top discussion at a grower meeting — Wheat Pete’s Word host Pete Johnson is using that as inspiration to tackle the topic in this week’s podcast. Listeners will also hear a… Read More
What happens when you put two past colleagues with a shared passion for agronomy extension, quizzes, and talking into headsets together, then hit record? You get 20 minutes of banter about canola, of course, but also calling a baseball game, why faba beans need more love, six-year crop budgets, and over-sized banana statues. True story…. Read More
There are plenty of questions and feedback rolling in for host of Wheat Pete’s Word, Peter Johnson. This week, Johnson is sharing some of the top marketing feedback he’s heard, what has worked and not worked for some with establishing, alfalfa, and he shares some insight into disease risks for the winter wheat crop following… Read More
It’s time for farmers to be thinking about seeding winter wheat, but many questions still remain around the crop such as: when do I seed it? What sort of yields can I expect? How frost resistant is the variety? Always top of mind for this crop, too, is fertility — how much is enough and… Read More
What are those black spots on the corn stalks? And if I’ve got to choose between two types of fertilizer — how do I know which is worth it? This week’s Wheat Pete’s Word is full to the brim with questions and answers (just like host Peter Johnson likes!). You’ll hear about yield averages rolling… Read More
Ontario’s challenging 2019 spring weather left almost 200,000 acres unplanted in the province, but those acres now present a tremendous opportunity to plant a high-yielding wheat crop. That’s the message agronomist Peter Johnson shares with growers on this edition of the RealAgriculture Wheat School. “Planting early is the number one way to make great yields,”… Read More
Farmers are watching the 14-day forecast like hawks in both Western Canada and Ontario, as cool conditions have slowed down crop development. Cereals in the west need time to mature, and the Ontario corn crop is weeks and weeks away from mature. Even with harvest underway, some are thinking about next year….because the winter wheat… Read More
Cooler temperatures across Western Canada have brought about some challenges — one of them being a delay in wheat maturity. Crops are at variable stages, even within a single field. Producers considering a pre-harvest glyphosate application on the wheat crop are faced with a tough call — some of the crop is ready, and some… Read More
From frost risks in the west, to nitrogen deficient corn in the east, and insect and weed issues in between, there’s no shortage of agronomic questions to tackle this week on Wheat Pete’s Word. In this edition, host Peter ‘Wheat Pete’ Johnson shares some of what farmers are seeing in their fields this week as… Read More
August marks the beginning of the crop year, and for many farmers in Western Canada, it marks a significant anniversary — the removal of the Canadian Wheat Board monopoly in 2012. The Conservatives had two minority governments leading up to eventually winning a majority in 2011. As Gerry Ritz, then federal minister of Agriculture and… Read More
Ah, August in Ontario, when the days are hot and the nights are…well, a little cool, to be honest. As a slightly delayed winter wheat harvest nears its end, all eyes are turned to the corn crop that’s just not fully tasseling in most parts of the province. Tasseling has more than a few farmers… Read More