Crop input decisions would be made so much easier if only one year’s weather would predict the next. But we know that one dry year doesn’t make a trend, so while 2018 is looking dry in Western Canada will it stay dry for the growing season? Will crop disease be less of a threat because… Read more »
Category: Fusarium
Toxins in the feed — Identifying and managing mycotoxins
We often focus our efforts on what to add to a total mixed ration in order to offer our animals the highest plane of nutrition necessary for their life stage. But, what about the substances that could create serious health concerns, or even death? “Moulds are a fungal growth, and the mycotoxins are actually a… Read more »
Wheat School: A new tool for assessing fusarium head blight risk
Fusarium, fusarium, fusarium. It’s certainly on many minds right now, with fungicide season underway and all too fresh memories of fusarium-infected grain from 2016 Since you can’t really scout for the disease, we have to use models, such as the brand new risk tool launched by the Alberta Wheat Commission and the Alberta Climate Information… Read more »
Wheat School: New FHB1 varieties offer better fusarium control, agronomics and yield
The FHB1 gene for fusarium head blight (FHB) resistance has been around for some time, but now it’s available in stronger agronomic varieties that deliver yield punch. That’s good news for North American wheat growers, says Bryan Gerard of Indiana-based Gerard Seed Solutions. In this episode of RealAgriculture Wheat School, Gerard explains that the FHB1… Read more »
Pulse School: Assessing the culprit(s) causing a root rot problem
For parts of Western Canada, the rain keeps on pouring. Early wet conditions could be conducive to root rot problems in pulses. Fortunately, for three of the four main culprits —rhyzoctonia, fusarium and pythium, the plants will generally grow through the vulnerable early seedling stage if a seed treatment has been applied, notes Robyne Bowness-Davidson, pulse… Read more »
Wheat School: Can you do more to control fusarium?
Are you looking to step up your fusarium control measures this spring? In this episode of RealAgriculture Wheat School, resident agronomist Peter Johnson reviews the basics of managing fusarium in Ontario’s wheat crop and also offers some tips on how growers can elevate their control efforts. For Johnson, effective fusarium control starts with the basics:… Read more »
The Cost of Mycotoxin in Feed, Plus Feeding Strategies to Ease Heat Stress
Summer may feel a long way off, but being prepared to manage heat stress in dairy cattle goes a long way in warding off the production losses that go along with it. We’re also well into the 2016 feed crop, and there are reports of several farmers struggling to keep mycotoxin (specifically DON/vomitoxin) levels low enough… Read more »
Wheat School: Rating Fusarium Tolerance Performance
Do wheat varieties perform in line with the ratings provided during the registration process? When it comes to fusarium head blight tolerance, the short answer is yes, but the long answer is it depends on the year. Holly Derksen, plant pathologist with Manitoba Agriculture, explains that the province has been tracking resistance performance of wheat… Read more »
Wheat School: The Fusarium Story of 2016
The rain that helped Western Canadian farmers grow big wheat yields in 2016 also created some quality problems that are complicating the marketing of the 31.7 million tonne crop. Almost half (48.6 percent) of the Canada Western Red Spring wheat samples received by the Canadian Grain Commission in its voluntary harvest sample program were downgraded… Read more »
Corn School: Harvest Quickly to Fend off Steep Downgrades
Ontario’s corn crop is showing high vomitoxin levels and growers are being urged to harvest as quickly as possible to preserve corn quality. Last week, the OMAFRA Field Crops team revealed that 26% of the samples taken in its annual vomitoxin survey had DON concentrations of 2.0 ppm or greater. At these levels, vomitoxin produced… Read more »
Wheat Pete’s Word, Sept 7: Hot & Humid Weather, Sprouting Corn, & Wheat Planting No-Gos
Harvest is rolling along in many areas of the province, including the first reported grain corn coming off earlier this week. This week, RealAgriculture’s Peter Johnson tackles your toughest questions on troubled corn, late hay, and wheat variety selection in this September 7th edition of Wheat Pete’s Word. (Highlights below). Listen or download below! And of… Read more »
Wheat Pete’s Word, July 27: Knee-High Tasseling Corn, Emergency Oatlage & 3 Things to Do After Wheat Harvest
The drought continues to take a toll on corn and soybeans with nutrient deficiencies showing up. There’s nothing that can be done about the lack of rain, but there are some management opportunities for future years, explains Peter Johnson on this week’s Word. He also outlines three steps that need to be taken after wheat harvest… Read more »
Wheat School: Ready, Aim…Delivering FHB Fungicide to Its Target, Through the Awns
As disease pressure mounts, fungicide applications to prevent fusarium head blight (FHB) have started in wheat across Western Canada. Effective FHB suppression comes down to timing and knowing where your target is, explains AgriMetrix spray application specialist Tom Wolf in this Wheat School episode. “We are specifically after the wheat head. We need an angled spray, typically a twin… Read more »
Wheat School: Are We Winning The Fusarium Fight?
Ontario farmers continue to wage war with fusarium head blight (FHB). The battle is far from over, as evidenced by the disease’s impact on the provincial wheat crop in 2013. But with an ever-expanding management toolbox farmers are now in a much better position to defend their crops, says University of Guelph Associate Professor David Hooker. Vivid… Read more »
Wheat Pete’s Word, June 30: Wettest June Bumps White Mould Risk, Complicates N Apps
(We’re a day early with this week’s Word, because, hey, it’s Canada Day and our audio editor’s birthday. Happy Birthday, Rhett!) If you’re sick and tired of rain and wet conditions, you’re not alone — Ontario has recorded its wettest June in over one hundred years. Which means, with apologies to Western Canada facing a… Read more »