July has hit Ontario hot and dry; a continuation of the dry bias, but a welcome change from the unseasonably cool start to the season. While corn and soybean fields aren’t as negatively impacted by dry weather this early in the season, much of the wheat crop and spring cereals are either filling or about… Read More
Do you remember 1966? You can be forgiven if you don’t, but Drew Lerner, weather guru with World Weather Inc., says the first half of 2020 is shaping up to be very similar to that year. What does that mean for crop growing weather, hail, rainfall amounts, and more? Listen/watch below to this Tuesday, June… Read More
Mother Nature is perhaps not always that motherly, but every now and again she does throw us a bone. This last week in Ontario was pretty good on the average, with some timely rains in some areas and some first-cut haylage wrapping up. But the timely rain has also brought along some storms, and heat,… Read More
This year has been a real struggle for huge parts of the Prairies due to the extreme dry bias. July rains have saved some of the acres, and given them a fighting chance. Even though crop conditions have improved, they are by no means out of the woods yet. Recently on RealAg Radio, Megz Reynolds,… Read More
Canada’s Farm Progress Show (CFPS) is well underway, and, with it, a much-needed rain for southern Saskatchewan, where crops are struggling. “Probably the first thing that I’ve seen in a long time is our first seeded crops are actually our worst looking crops, and our last seeded crops look fantastic,” says Decisive Farming’s Garth Donald,… Read More
Parts of the Prairies have received decent rainfall recently, though some areas are still waiting on even a drop. For those who were blessed with a little moisture, if you’re wondering whether or not to top up nitrogen on the wheat crop, listen up. Peter Johnson, agronomist for RealAgriculture, says that for those that backed… Read More
The lack of rainfall in some of the major pasture growing areas in Western Canada is extremely taxing on cow-calf producers. According to Chad MacPherson, general manager of the Saskatchewan Stock Growers Association, Saskatchewan is going into its third year of a major drought, and producers are running out of options. While in some years… Read More
Bryce Anderson has reported on a lot of weather over the years and when he says it’s cold, he doesn’t just mean it feels cold— he can tell you why it is cold, if it’s colder than it should be, and what that cold will mean for the start of the growing season. Anderson is… Read More
The 2018 Ontario soybean crop is one for the record books, but you never would have predicted that back in July when much of the crop was desperate for rain. Not only did the 2018 Ontario crop set a record yield average at 54 bu/ac, it smashed the previous record of 48.3 set in 2012… Read More
Improvement of soil moisture conditions were not widespread as some would like it to be, but the good news is there was increased precipitation for much of Western Canada, according to the latest report via the Canadian Drought Monitor. Looking at the latest report (see below), producers will see a big change in southern Saskatchewan… Read More
The Canadian government has announced a new livestock tax deferral program which covers some, but not all, major cattle areas within the country. Although both the Agricultural Producers Association of Saskatchewan (APAS) and the Saskatchewan Cattlemen’s Association (SCA) agree it’s a good start, neither believe it will cover everyone who needs the program. “Livestock producers… Read More
The time is now for the federal government to take action and help livestock producers affected by dry conditions with a tax deferral program, according to Todd Lewis, president of the Agricultural Producers Association of Saskatchewan (APAS). Lewis notes feed shortages are top of mind for most producers and there’s plenty of uncertainty right now if… Read More
It’s July and that means two things: sunburns and field tour season! Our apologies for this week’s Wheat Pete’s Word being posted a day late, but it was actually a field tour (and plot harvest) that pushed host Peter Johnson right to deadline. We promise it’s worth the wait, however, as this week’s episode is… Read More
After a scorching hot week in Ontario that ended with some much needed rain for parts of the province, will we see a return to more average temperatures? That’s the question Shaun Haney puts to Environment Canada’s David Phillips, and the answer might not be what you want to hear. With warmer than normal weather… Read More
Much of Ontario’s winter wheat has fallen victim to hot, dry, June growing conditions, and yields will likely suffer, reports RealAgriculture agronomist Peter Johnson. On this episode of the Wheat School, Johnson describes how drought-like growing conditions that brought high temperatures (34 degree days, 24 degree nights) and high winds for the better part of a… Read More
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