If your idea of a beneficial insect is one that sits back and waits for dinner to crawl on by, you’ve likely never heard about the secret lives of lacewings. Green lacewings are nothing short of ferocious, and, as Dr. Tyler Wist of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada explains, they’re more like aphid-hunting lions than laid-back… Read More
Mitigating pests will always be a top priority for many, but how much of a role can Mother Nature play in that process? In our season premiere of the Pests & Predators podcast, we’ll be talking about the relationship between unwanted pests and insects. This time we’re adding in a third element: weather. Host Shaun… Read More
Normally a week or so behind the winter barley crop, Ontario farmers are nosing into the wheat harvest a little early as the two crops are ready at about the same time. From an aphid alert on soybeans, to sneaky root rots, and potash deficiency showing up in corn, Peter “Wheat Pete” Johnson has the… Read More
Surprise! Shaun Haney is hosting this episode after Lyndsey’s internet decided to give up the ghost. On this episode of The Agronomists, Haney is joined by Steph Berlett with Brussels Agromart, Ont., and Jennifer Otani with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada at Beaverlodge, Alta., to talk about current insect issues, integrated pest management, scouting tips, and… Read More
Huge areas of Ontario saw frost over the weekend, in some cases as low as -7 degrees C. The full impact of the lighter frost in other areas is still being assessed, but there are replants already happening on plenty of soybean acres. Wheat Pete’s Word host Peter Johnson talks about that this week, and… Read More
It’s been a challenging year on many fronts, but here we are, yet again, gearing up for the new season. And that’s exciting! Rootworm, western bean cutworm, and flea beetles are just a few of the insects that are on the watch list for Tracey Baute, field crop entomologist with OMAFRA. James Tansey, entomologist with… Read More
The cannabis industry has taken investors and producers on quite a ride since it was legalized in Canada in 2018. What exactly does it take to grow this unique crop, and what challenges do licensed producers face in this industry? Bill MacDonald, professor and coordinator of the Commercial Cannabis Production Program at Niagara College Canada,… Read More
Peter “Wheat Pete” Johnson talks a mile a minute in this one folks, buckle up! In this week’s episode of Wheat Pete’s Word, host Peter Johnson answers all the agronomy questions about wheat seeding, cover crops, and weed control, in a Farmer Rapid Fire style. We see what you did there, Johnson, trying to be… Read More
For this special Canada Day edition of Wheat Pete’s Word, host Peter Johnson has got answers to your timely agronomic questions. The good news is there are no alerts this week, but that doesn’t mean you can let the throttle off scouting — there are insect pests creeping in and populations can grow very quickly!… Read More
From cereal aphids to armyworm, Ontario growers have already seen significant pest pressure in 2020 crops and there’s more on the way. As the calendar turns to July and hot, dry conditions persist, soybean growers need to be on the lookout for both spider mites and aphids in their crops, says Ontario Agriculture, Food and… Read More
It’s time for T3 fungicides to control fusarium head blight in Ontario’s winter wheat, but growers may also have another troublemaker in the cereal crop that they’ll need to tackle this time of year. There have been growing reports of cereal aphids in the Ontario winter wheat crop this spring, and growers need will to… Read More
Weed control questions, millipede feeding, and a crusting quandary — it must be early June! This week’s Wheat Pete’s Word is a little longer than usual because there is just so much going on and so many great questions rolling in. Host Peter Johnson has got the answers this week to everything from tufted vetch… 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
There are several species of aphid that are a pest on several crop types, but on the bright side, there’s only one species of aphid canola farmers need to worry about. As Sean Prager, assistant professor of plant sciences at the University of Saskatchewan explains, it’s the green peach aphid, or Myzus persicae, that causes… Read More
Will 2019 be a soybean aphid year? With a short, late-developing crop that lacks a dense canopy, growers will have to be on the look out for the minuscule, light green, pear-shaped pests, says Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs entomologist Tracey Baute. With smaller plants, it doesn’t take as many aphids to… Read More
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