The agronomic impacts of what has been a wild year for the Ontario growing season are beginning to accumulate, in the form of rock hard soil, fuzzy white plants, and double cobs. For this early August episode of Wheat Pete’s Word, host Peter Johnson tackles the big question of making oat hay after wheat, if… Read More
Dr. Harvey Brooks, long-serving general manager of the Saskatchewan Wheat Development Commission (Sask Wheat), has announced his retirement. Brooks served as the general manager for Sask Wheat since 2014, and has seen the development of the organization from start-up commission to its full operations today. During Brooks’ tenure, Sask Wheat has matured into a major… Read More
Buckle up, it’s time for Day 2 of Ontario Diagnostic Days! The annual Ontario field crop diagnostic days held at Ridgetown, Elora, and Winchester are again virtual in 2021. Cover crops, forage and wheat management is the focus of this episode. We get started with Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs soil management specialists… Read More
From October 1965 to March 2002, Dr. Phil Williams worked at the Canadian Grain Commission’s Grain Research Laboratory. Needless to say, Williams had a significant impact on the Canadian wheat industry over those four decades. In 1970, he was appointed as the first chemist-in-charge of protein testing and organized the testing and monitoring procedure for… Read More
Success in certain crop systems can sometimes translate to other cropping systems; for example, using a planter in corn adds precision and accuracy to maximize yields and improve agronomic management. In recent years, not a lot of progress has been made in the area of irrigated durum wheat yields, and Farming Smarter is looking at… Read More
It’s possible Ontario could set a new wheat record for 2021, and that’s saying something, as reports are that many fields are yielding smaller than average seeds. Also this week on Wheat Pete’s Word, host Peter Johnson tackles if corn will yield double cobs, why you need to be out scouting the soybean canopy, and… Read More
Spraying a fungicide requires considering the stage of plant a bit differently than when spraying a herbicide. At herbicide timing, the canopy of the crop is a lot shorter and less dense. “For fungicides, we’re now talking about a taller canopy, a canopy that’s probably closed in, and a canopy that’s a little bit diverse… Read More
The annual Ontario field crop diagnostic days held at Ridgetown, Elora, and Winchester will again go virtual in 2021. The organizing committees of these three highly successful in-field education and learning events are again partnering with crop researchers and extension, along with support from RealAgriculture and a host of sponsors to bring you a series… Read More
Harvest weather and the forecast have not been kind to Ontario’s wheat growers, and calls are coming in from several counties looking for advice on what to do with a stranded wheat crop. Joanna Follings, cereal specialist with the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, says that a few oddities are showing up… Read More
What’s the weirdest colour you’ve ever seen a crop turn? This week in Ontario, at least one farmer is reporting very dark straw where the wheat crop was touched by frost in late May. An agronomist also reports purple stems in another area. What the heck is happening here? Never fear, as Peter “Wheat Pete”… Read More
Farmers in Ontario interested in joining the Great Lakes Yield Enhancement Network can now apply to the program. 100 spots are available, 50 of which are open to Ontario wheat growers; the balance of spots will be offered to American growers in the Great Lakes region. Farmers participating in the Great Lakes YEN will agree… Read More
Everyone enjoys a good spirit or two, and many Canadians, when looking for a bottle of their favourite spirit, will check to see if it’s been produced from Canadian grains. A recent policy change in Alberta could lead to fewer markets for Alberta cereals and more imports of the raw materials from elsewhere. Jan Westcott… Read More
Recent weather events in parts of Ontario have really flattened some wheat crops. There’s an awesome crop out there, but harvesting it will now be much more difficult. In this episode of the Wheat School, Peter “Wheat Pete” Johnson talks about combine set-ups, the possibility of applying a pre-harvest burndown, and is later joined by… Read More
The weather continues to deliver some real disappointment but also hope for farmers across Canada. In Ontario, a late May frost was bad enough, but mid-week saw night time temps dip low enough again to hurt crop on muck soils. Other areas hard up for moisture got perhaps too much rain all at once. For… Read More
Should growers sell their wheat straw after 2021 harvest? That’s a question RealAgriculture agronomist Peter Johnson has been asked often in recent weeks. With fertilizer prices up 125 per cent and straw prices hovering around three cents per pound, many growers say they would rather blow the straw back on the field, take the nutrient credit… Read More