Real Agriculture’s Corn School provides you with everything you need to increase your corn yields. Each week we bring you the latest news and information from the corn market including corn futures, videos, articles and more. Join our Corn School email list and never miss a beat!
One of the keys to a high-yielding corn crop is even, uniform emergence. Growers can achieve this management goal in early-planted April crops when soil conditions are fit, but what happens when the weather turns bad and soil conditions take a turn for the worst at planting? On this episode of Corn School, Ken Currah,… Read More
What’s the secret to growing those gigantic corn yields that turn a select few U.S. farmers into corn yield contest kings? Purdue University corn guru Dr. Bob Nielsen has been pouring over National Corn Yield Contest data and crop input and management summaries from winners for almost two decades. What has he learned? After all… Read More
When it comes to marketing grain crops, we all seem to have different strategies, and there isn’t necessarily one ‘correct’ answer. In the late 2020 oilseeds market, we are seeing highs that haven’t been experienced in years. And the prices just keep climbing. Those that sold weeks ago at what they thought were the highs,… Read More
Corn rootworm, manure, and soybeans — farmers don’t often hear those three words in the same sentence but we’ve come to expect the unexpected in 2020. With growing resistance to corn rootworm traits in Ontario, many farmers who typically plant continuous corn will look to control the pest by expanding rotations to include soybeans. But… Read More
Sixty-inch spacing for corn is sure not for everyone, but the math and soil conservation rewards can work for farmers who have limited rotations and can benefit from extended grazing for livestock on well-established cover crops. That’s Sunderland, Ontario, farmer Ed Hanson’s takeaway from the first year of growing corn in 60-inch rows on his… Read More
Resistance to Bt corn rootworm hybrids has developed in Ontario and growers are asking: what’s the best strategy to control the yield-robbing pest if in-seed technology fails? Resistance has been confirmed in several fields in Huron, Perth and Durham Counties in Ontario and the problem is likely even more widespread, says Tracey Baute, Ontario Ministry… Read More
Selecting the right hybrids can make or break the profitability of a corn crop. There are a multitude of factors that combine to produce high-yielding, profitable harvests, but if growers make the wrong hybrid choices they’ll need some luck and good fortune to produce a successful crop, says University of Guelph associate professor Dr. David… Read More
Tar spot has moved through the U.S. Midwest, into Michigan and Wisconsin, and now officially calls Ontario home. Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs’ plant pathologist Albert Tenuta has seen the evidence in a field near Ridgetown, Ont., and there are also reported sightings of the corn leaf disease in Lambton and Essex… Read More
The better the job done at planting the better the yield potential of a corn crop. That much we know, but when planting into less-than-ideal conditions, like the spring of 2020, environmental factors can really wreak havoc on your end yield potential. Luckily, paying attention to seed singulation at planting time can help. “There’s no… Read More
Have you ever wondered just exactly how your corn develops in the cob? Understanding how corn makes a cob, successful kernels, and packs in starch can be a key component of an agronomic plan. “This top part is the tassel, and that is the male part of the plant,” says Sara Meidlinger, market development agronomist… Read More
Grain corn acres in Western Canada this year might be down, but there’s potential for some big yields, assuming the crop can avoid late season pitfalls. “For growers who held onto those acres, they’re going to be rewarded, no doubt. Grain corn crops here in southern Manitoba look especially strong,” says Alana Serhan, market development… Read More
A three-year trial conducted by Farming Smarter on grain corn production under dryland conditions in four Alberta locations is yielding some interesting results. The trial at Lethbridge, Vauxhall, Bow Island, and Medicine Hat, was conducted between 2015 and 2017, and included agronomic factors that may affect dryland grain corn production, including plant population, row spacing,… Read More
Corn fields across Ontario are full of variable plant development and that should be a concern for growers, says University of Guelph crop researcher Dr. David Hooker. Fields are littered with areas of yield-compromising backward and slow-to-develop plants. Hooker believes corn variability is even more apparent this year due to significant weather challenges; with cold… Read More
Tillers are a totally normal physiological process in corn — since it is a grass like wheat or barley — and they’re nothing to be concerned about. They’re also nothing to get excited about either, as unlike wheat or barley, tillers don’t contribute to yield. In this episode of Corn School (this time in the… Read More
All the “knee-high by the first (or fourth) of July” photos have been posted on social media, with the crop looking nice from above; but what’s going on below the canopy? Now is the time to check weed populations and assess herbicide performance, says Jeanette Gaultier, senior technical services specialist with BASF, joining us for… Read More
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