Harvest is in full swing in Ontario, high-moisture silage pits are seeping (you need to act on this!), winter wheat planting is underway, weakling cover crops may be stronger than you think, and big thanks for your valuable feedback! All that and more in this week‘s episode of Wheat Pete’s Word. The Highlights For the most part,… Read more »
Category: Wheat Pete’s Word
Wheat Pete’s Word, Sep 16 — Stay on Top of Silage Moisture and, For Goodness Sakes, Get Rid of Your Corn
It’s warm and dry, silage moisture is dropping too fast, bean farmers are losing yields, hay producers are losing fertility, and you’ve got to get wheat planting right! All that in this week’s episode of Wheat Pete’s Word. The Highlights: A shortage of corn has prices skyrocketing, but the demand will disappear soon, cautions Peter… Read more »
Wheat Pete’s Word, Sep 9: Planting Wheat into Dust, Harvest Updates and Grabbing Fleabane by the Roots
It’s been a tough growing season for producers across the country; some are still struggling with what to do with dry, dry land. And that’s how Peter Johnson, RealAgriculture’s resident agronomist and host of Wheat Pete’s Word starts of this week’s podcast, mentioning this tweet from Adam Pfeffer: @WheatPete what’s the protocol for planting wheat into… Read more »
Wheat Pete’s Word, Sept 2: Corn Suffers from Weather Whiplash, Velvetleaf Trouble, and Why You Must Stay Out of the Hay Field
Harvest season is well underway for the earlier crops, and this challenging 2015 growing season shows no signs of easing up as farmers are looking at their harvest management options in weedy or too-green crops. The oat crop is coming off boasting tremendous yields, but wow is it work to get this crop harvested, says… Read more »
Wheat Pete’s Word — Aug 26: All About That Wheat, Plus Late-Season Pest Scouting & Perennial Weed Control Tips
It’s taken 20 episodes, but Peter Johnson, a.k.a. @WheatPete, finally gets to dedicate an entire version of the Word to his favourite crop — wheat. But hold on there, Johnson knows he can’t ONLY talk about wheat, and so the format of this week’s Word is somewhat reversed, where Johnson answers questions first, then delves… Read more »
Wheat Pete’s Word, Aug 19: Aphid Watch ’15 Continues, WBC Concerns, Cover Crop Options & A Plan for Giant Hogweed
Believe it or not, the tail end of this growing season is rapidly approaching, and while there aren’t many action items to get done this week in the field, the one that MUST happen is a major one — scouting! Peter Johnson, RealAgriculture agronomist and host of Wheat Pete’s Word, kicks off this weekly crop… Read more »
Wheat Pete’s Word, Aug 12 — Better Wheat, Summer-Seeding Alfalfa and Soil Testing With a Purpose
Much of southern Ontario received another well-timed rain this week — well-timed for filling out corn and soybeans, which has RealAg agronomist Peter Johnson celebrating on this week’s. There’s also good news coming from the wheat harvest, with average to above average yields in “managed” fields north of London — even a report of 135+… Read more »
Wheat Pete’s Word, Aug 5: Hail Fallout on Corn, Spider Mite Warning, Deep Discounts on Wheat, Plus IP Soybean Advice
Does a hailed out crop absolutely need a fungicide pass? Not necessarily, says Peter Johnson, RealAgriculture agronomist and host of Wheat Pete’s Word. It’s a crummy thing to have to discuss, but wicked weather earlier this week means that several fields are ragged and torn. Why isn’t a fungicide always needed? Listen below to find… Read more »
Wheat Pete’s Word, July 29: Corn Pollination Problems, Aphids Exceeding Thresholds & Post-Wheat Weed Control
Can you hear that? That’s the sound of corn growing fast. In fact, parts of Ontario are on track to break heat records this week. What does this mean for the corn and soybean crop yields? That depends. Peter Johnson kicks off this week’s Word with a full report on corn pollination pitfalls — could… Read more »
Wheat Pete’s Word, July 23: Diseased Wheat, A Corn Alert and White Mould Timing(s)
Wheat harvest is underway in southern parts of Ontario, with yields ranging anywhere from an ugly-and-diseased 40 bushels an acre to 110 bushels in areas south of London, as Real Agriculture agronomist Peter Johnson shares leading off his update this week. What’s there to be learned from all the fusarium in wheat this year? It’s that… Read more »
Wheat Pete’s Word, July 15: Messy (But Valuable!) Wheat, Aphids, and High Corn Disease Risk
Wheat should be moving off the field and into the bin by now, but the ’15 wheat crop just seems to be grinding through maturity and not finishing up. As @WheatPete explains in this week’s edition of the Word, this complicates things on a few fronts, as grain fill is likely to be improved (yay!),… Read more »
Wheat Pete’s Word, July 8: Hot Hay, Market Bounces, Greenseeker Tech & Disease Control Tips
The hay crop, white mould, norther corn leaf blight, and nitrogen management tools are all high on farmers’ radars this week as we head into the first full week of July. To kick off this week’s Wheat Pete’s Word, Peter Johnson, RealAgriculture agronomist, has a word of caution about the hay crop. Wet ground is… 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 »
Wheat Pete’s Word, June 24: Excess Water, Funky Coloured Crops, White Mould & An Early Alert for WBC
What a storm that was on Monday night! An incredible light show, tornado warnings, wind and so much rain made for a rather raucous start to the week. Thankfully, no one was seriously hurt, but cut hay and cash crops in the area didn’t need yet another deluge. Excess water is where we’ll start with… Read more »
Wheat Pete’s Word, June 17: Ugly Corn, Side-Dress and Protected N Options, Fusarium Risk, & Armyworms on the Move
Knee-high on the 15th of June doesn’t have the same ring to it, but at least some Ontario corn growers report that they’ve got it. Unfortunately, that advanced corn is growing right next to ugly, short, ragged corn and that’s got farmers asking — is the yield potential still there? That’s where we start this… Read more »