Some soybean varieties produce higher pod counts and more beans while others produce heavier beans but fewer pods and fewer beans. When it comes to choosing soybean varieties how should growers factor seed weight and pod count into their variety selection decisions? That’s a question the Maizex Seeds agronomy team has been looking at in… Read More
Category: The Sharp Edge
Over the past 20 years, advancements in corn genetics have helped produce an average yield gain of better than two bushels per acre, per year. What does the future hold for further yield advancement and where might genetic improvement take the king of crops? On this episode of the The Sharp Edge, host Bernard Tobin… Read More
What’s the best planting depth for corn? There’s lots of research that points to a two-inch depth, but there’s growing evidence that planting corn up to three inches deep is a better choice if the seed can access optimum moisture levels at that depth. On this episode of The Sharp Edge, Maizex Seeds agronomist Henry… Read More
Split application, variable rates, stabilizers and a side-dresser with Y-drops: it all adds up to better nitrogen use for Binbrook, Ont., corn grower Nik Oreskovic. On this episode of The Sharp Edge, Oreskovic tells Maizex agronomist Henry Prinzen how he has parlayed Ontario On-Farm Climate Action Fund (OFCAF) cost-share funding into an advanced nitrogen management… Read More
Research from Purdue University agronomy professor Shaun Casteel indicates that early sulphur applications broadcast pre-plant or right at planting can deliver a soybean yield bump in specific conditions. On the season debut of The Sharp Edge, Maizex agronomist Henry Prinzen takes that knowledge to the field to compare notes with Simcoe, Ontario, grower Kyle Sowden… Read More
James Hammerton is looking for innovative ways to increase crop production efficiency. Hammerton, who farms with his family at Sweaburg, Ont., first appeared on The Sharp Edge in 2020 to share how he uses a stripper header to harvest and prepare wheat fields for double crop soybeans. In 2023, he returns to the program with… Read More
Covering 40,000 acres a year with a sprayer is a big job. At Shawridge Farms, a large cash crop and commercial grain elevator operation located in Arthur, Ont., that responsibility falls primarily to sprayer operator Matthew Musselman. So how does one guy get over all those acres? He gets a lot of help from the… Read More
Weed control in organic soybeans can be challenging but new technology is helping Brandon Jantzi and his family keep it clean at Janlan Farms near Baden, Ont. On this episode of The Sharp Edge, Jantzi and Maizex Seeds agronomist Henry Prinzen dig into the farm’s weed control strategy, which is designed to deliver high-yielding organic… Read More
Is it efficient to use autonomous vehicle in row crop agriculture in southwestern Ontario? That’s a question cash crop farmer Mark Richards is wrestling with on his Dresden, Ont. farm. In 2022, he used a solar-powered FarmDroid robot to plant sugar beets. That machine found it challenging to adapt to the widespread use of strip… Read More
How do you cover acres quickly during planting season with big equipment without causing compaction and compromising yield? Cliff Horst and his brother, Dale, make it happen with a 24-row Harvest International planter and a Fendt 1038 tractor. The brothers farm in Perth County, Ont., and also operate Country Custom Ag, providing custom services to… Read More