Kathleen Wynne was sworn in as Ontario’s premier yesterday, and, as expected, assumed the role of agriculture minister in addition to her role as premier. What surprised many, however, was that she didn’t take on OMAFRA — she just took on OMAF, as the Rural Affairs portion of the ministry was handed to Jeff Leal,… Read More
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Is fall a good time to look at weed control in your winter wheat? Pre-plant weed control is an option that most farmers don’t exercise. The reason has a lot to do with the business of the season. Harvest is in full swing depending what you’re growing and farmers have to balance that with trying… Read More
Test weights on wheat are down below average in parts of Ontario. Compared to this time last year, yields by test weight alone are down by as much as 10% in areas. There are a couple of reasons behind this. The first involves under-filled kernels from plants surrounding dead zones in the field being… Read More
A big part of a successful pest control strategy depends on pests behaving in a certain way and us basing our control measures on that. When an insect pest deviates from typical behaviour, it can in some cases, negate any control strategy we implement based on that behaviour. Things like emergence patterns, feeding habits,… Read More
This episode of the Wheat School can be summarized as a bit of a fusarium clinic. Peter Johnson, Cereal Specialist with the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture Food and Rural Affairs gives us a first hand look at the difference in resistance between older wheat varieties and some of the newer generations. Here we get confirmation… Read More
With all this wet weather, disease concerns start to come into play, and protection against things like septoria, powdery mildew, and fusarium head blight become very important. As we look at providing that protection, proper application becomes critical. When spraying fungicides there are many considerations that need to be taken into account. Nozzle selection, nozzle… Read More
As we get closer to June, with acres still to be planted and wet weather still on the horizon, farmers begin to think about switching from corn to soybeans. Some Ontario farmers are even considering lowering the CHU’s of the soybeans they will plant. The one thing that makes soybeans different than corn is that… Read More
The enemy of my enemy is my friend. That saying holds true for us at the insect level as well. Cool, wet spring conditions may have impacted some of the traditional parasites that prey on our enemy the true armyworm. Those parasites usually keep the true armyworm population under control, but less than ideal spring… Read More
Farmers looking to kickstart their winter wheat crop are very careful in timing their nitrogen application. Applying nitrogen at the wrong stage in plant development can lead to yield loss down the line. That being said, farmers have to take into consideration the difference in conditions this year vs last year. Whereas last years conditions… Read More
Rain isn’t the only thing those constant storms have been carrying into Ontario. States south of Ontario have reported large captures of black cutworm moths, and some of those same moths have been riding the storm fronts into Ontario and laying eggs. The black moth eggs hatch and the larvae then move from the annual… Read More
There is growing focus on using agronomic practices to improve the in field performance of our crops. One way to do this is through agronomic research within your region or you can look at some of the agronomic practices of other regions of the world. One are area of the world that achieves excellent wheat… Read More
The storage of your crop is one of the most important steps in the cropping cycle but it is one that is quite often mismanaged and not properly executed. Every farmer has a part of a bin before no matter good of a farmer you are. At the Southwest Agricultural conference Helmut Spieser, OMAFRA talked… Read More
Soybean yields in 2010 in Ontario have been outstandings. I have talked to a handful of farmers who have told me that this is the best crop they have ever had on the their farm. With the warm temperatures and timely moisture , the majority of the province has seen the massive benefits right before… Read More
Its time to seed winter wheat and there are several different considerations that you need to make in order to make sure you have success this season. In many ways the steps that you take today are crucial to what your yield results are next August. Too many people make some crucial mistakes at fall… Read More
One of the special things in agriculture is the knowledge that is passed down from one generation to another. In most cases this is a possible experience but sometimes poor information slips through the cracks. A great example of this is the calculation of wheat seeding rates. Whether you are in Eastern or Western Canada… Read More