That’s a question many growers ask when they see parts of their soybean fields prematurely turning yellow in August and early September. In this episode of Real Agriculture Soybean School, OMAFRA’s Albert Tenuta and University of Guelph researcher Dave Hooker team up to answer the question and provide management tips. When his phone rings, Tenuta… Read More
Category: Weather
Many Ontario growers are witnessing the punishing affect that hot, dry conditions are having on corn crops, but soybeans are better able to weather the stress. In this episode of Real Agriculture Soybean School, Ridgetown College, University of Guelph field crop agronomist Dave Hooker takes a look at the components of soybean yield and explains why… Read More
How much corn yield could Ontario’s hot, dry summer cost growers? In this episode of the Corn School, Ridgetown College, University of Guelph field crop agronomist Dave Hooker explains that drought stress can have a tremendous impact on yield, especially during the two-week period that “brackets” silking. Hooker says that the number of rows on a… Read More
A science textbook will tell you the intense energy surrounding a lightning bolt causes a reaction between oxygen and nitrogen in the atmosphere that results in rain depositing nitric acid on the soil, where it becomes a usable form of nitrogen fertilizer for plants. On Twitter and in coffee shops, farmers sometimes give lightning credit for a field “greening up” after… Read More
Ontario’s corn crop is holding its own as the final days of a hot, dry June slip past. But with moisture stress increasing, some ‘sins of the spring’ are taking their toll on cornfields, says Pride Seeds Market Agronomist Ken Currah. In this episode of Real Agriculture Corn School, Currah explains that much of the… Read More
The cool, wet spring weather in Ontario will likely continue through the planting season, although conditions will be more moderate, says Drew Lerner, ag meteorologist with World Weather Inc. “We’re going to be a little slow getting moving because there is going to be an ongoing tendency for cooler-biased conditions to prevail,” he says. “It’s not… Read More
Soils in much of Alberta and parts of western Saskatchewan are very dry and needing rain as early seeding activity is getting underway. Unfortunately, there doesn’t appear to be widespread relief on the way in the next few weeks. “We are going to be looking for a balance across the majority of the prairies, and I don’t… Read More
Dryness is becoming a serious concern on the western side of the Prairies, as seeding is getting underway. Meanwhile, cold and wet conditions have hampered progress in Ontario. Meteorologist Drew Lerner of World Weather Inc is one of the people we hear from on this week’s podcast. Also, Ontario farmers have lost their court case… Read More
We have many traditions in agriculture. Skills and knowledge in the industry are passed on from generation to generation. This passing of the knowledge torch is one of the mechanisms that makes agriculture special. Sometimes our wisdom is built on the passing of legend. In this case, we’re talking about rain happening ninety days after a… Read More
With not a lot of snow on the ground in Western Canada and mild conditions expected to continue through the rest of the winter, it’s looking like there will be an early start to seeding on the prairies this spring. Speaking at CropConnect in Winnipeg in the video below, consulting ag meteorologist Andy Nadler says above-normal temperatures… Read More
Winter has started to arrive in parts of Canada, although many of the long term forecasts are calling for a milder season thanks to El Nino. Federal and provincial governments are talking climate change policy ahead of the big climate conference in Paris, and new workplace legislation has been rolled out for farms and ranches… Read More
When it comes to long term weather outlooks, water temperatures in the Pacific Ocean are often used to predict what’s to come. For grain markets weighed down by large global supplies, the main Pacific indicators are showing no sign of an imminent weather issue reducing grain production, says a meteorologist who spoke at the Cereals North America market outlook conference… Read More
The developing El Nino weather system that’s been nicknamed “Bruce Lee” for its strength and “Godzilla” for the destruction it could cause has become the biggest weather story in North America. The U.S. National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration has said it could be the strongest El Nino since NOAA started tracking the Pacific weather phenomenon in the 1950s… Read More
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
Smoke from forest fires is blanketing the Prairies for the second time this growing season. This time, thick smoke from fires in British Columbia and Washington has traveled to southern Alberta where residents in this definitely-not-forested area are having to deal with extremely smokey skies. Personally, I cannot remember a time like this. It is… Read More