The global economy continues to be quite tentative. The situation with Greece and the implications for the eurozone as well as the slow recoveries in North American markets and elsewhere have investors walking on eggshells. Agriculture doesn’t seem to be exempt from that vulnerability either. Markets have been quite volatile, with commodity prices bouncing up… Read More
Category: Wheat
The corn and soybeans are off to a great start in Ontario. Some farmers are concerned that spring has gone “too well” and are waiting for everything too balance out. For those farmers that tend to think more positively, the opportunity for yield is very high this year. Ontario farmers have had ideal planting conditions,… Read More
It was just over a year ago that parts of Manitoba experienced major flooding as heavy rains caused rivers to overflow their banks and fields to become unworkable. In a few areas farmers are still dealing with the effects of those wet conditions, in other areas life is back to normal. We decided to turn… Read More
The decision to apply a fungicide to your wheat crop can be made a little easier if understand the return on your investment. Yield equals dollars and if you’re in an area that’s at risk for disease. Protecting your crops yield potential is benefit number 1. Fungicides first and foremost provide a preventative level of… Read More
With all of the cold weather in April keeping a large portion of winter wheat producers out of the field for that initial herbicide/fungicide pass, it’s natural to start wondering if you missed the boat on some yield potential. As worrisome as that may be to the roughly 50% of Ontario farmers that weren’t able… Read More
Life is an amazingly resilient thing. With all the time, effort and money we put into protecting our crops we sometimes forget how well they can adapt and recover from things we wouldn’t expect them to. Take the winter wheat crop for example. The fact of the matter is that it should have been extremely… Read More
Spring wheat and barley growers, especially those in the black soil zones, may appreciate a new Axial brand from Syngenta. Axial Xtreme combines the broad-spectrum annual grass control of Axial Herbicide with the broadleaf herbicide fluroxypyr. Axial should deliver a high level of control of common annual grasses such as wild oats, green and yellow… Read More
As soybean planting begins there is a lot discussion about the potential for some acres swinging into soybeans. Peter Gredig and I had a great discussion on it this morning over the phone. Peter indicated to me that from his discussions with retailers and other farmers most of the swing into soybeans will be from… Read More
The difference in bushels per acre of wheat from country to country is larger than you might think. On the surface that may seem fairly obvious when we see a drastic difference between climates or access to technologies, but when we look to level the playing field in these areas it begs the question: Can… Read More
How important is protecting the flag leaf in the early stages of your wheat crop? The flag leaf is critically important in determining your yield. Any damage done to that leaf will have a direct and dramatic impact on your crops potential. Disease can be one of those damaging factors. Assessing your risk for disease… Read More
August is coming and with it the end of an era on the prairies. August 1, 2012 officially marks the end of the Canadian Wheat Boards marketing monopoly in the West. The end of that monopoly means a lot of adjustments for producers and industry alike. How that individual marketing freedom will change the landscape… Read More
Timing is everything when it comes to weed control in Ontario winter wheat. Spraying at the wrong time can be ineffective and can damage your crop. Spraying your weeds at just the right time can have not only immediate benefits, but can help you to gain the upper hand heading into winter wheat planting. In… Read More
On-farm trials are an exercise not widely pursued by farmers in general. What’s unfortunate about that is the fact that most farmers could stand to benefit greatly from adopting some type of on-farm trial. The reason being that a lot of manufacturer trials are limited in scope for financial reasons. They may perform fewer location… Read More
I have written before that the future is in seed treatments and fungicides for the traditional crop protection companies. The additional point that I should of included is the growth potential for the biological market in the seed treatment product area. The interesting point is that biologicals are designed to work in conjunction (stacking) with… Read More
Applying seed treatment isn’t what it used to be. Long gone are the days when someone would yell “turn up the red!” as the seed came out of the treater. There is a lot more than just a visual O.K. that goes into treating your seed properly. Over application isn’t cost effective and under applying… Read More