Farmers in Manitoba know the symptoms of fusarium head blight all too well — bleaching of the grain head, sometimes with a pink tinge, that results in shriveled and shrunk kernels. Sometimes called scab or tombstone, fusarium head blight not only bites into yield, it’s also a downgrading factor of grain. Grain with fusarium damaged… Read More
If you’ve got a GPS-equipped yield monitor in your combine, I have good news. You’re already well on your way to developing a practical precision farming plan for your farm. Well of course I am, you say. But, if we’re all being very honest here, what do you actually do with that yield map beyond… Read More
Every conference season, presentation after presentation reminds farmers of the cost of too-short crop rotations. Increased disease pressure, insect infestations and nutrient depletion of soil all weigh on yields in tight rotations. Agronomic decisions like these commonly play in to the decision on what to seed next on each field, but 2014 is shaping up… Read More
Ever had a soil test come back with some surprising nitrogen levels? While it’s typically lower than expected (don’t we all wish N didn’t just disappear?), every now and then a crop may have left some behind due to any number of factors, like water availability, timing of mineralization or some other something that maybe… Read More
The ability to measure, track and vary inputs and other agronomic data far exceeds most people’s comfort level with data analysis. And if you’re all, whoa, what the heck is she talking about? You’ve made my point. Any new(ish) equipment comes with the fantastic built-in capability to track what its doing, and as farmers add… Read More
What’s your process for tracking what you do in each field? Most farmers have some combination of pen and paper, app, Excel documents and more for recording the activities carried out in each field. But what process do you have in place for diagnostics? For tracking what you’ve noticed, the possible causes, the decided-upon cause… Read More
If you’ve spent any amount of time with me, you’ll likely catch on to two things: One, I really, really like coffee, and, two, I’m a total agronomy nut. In university, I originally intended to pursue some sort of livestock-based arc of study. I took one crop production class and was hooked. Plants fascinate me… Read More