Bigger is sometimes better, but everything comes at a cost. Choosing bigger tractors and wider implements may mean a faster planting season, but can the farm shoulder the cost? The idea of finding the right size of machinery for your farm was tackled by John Molenhuis, business analysis and cost of production program lead, with… Read More
Search Results for: fusarium
As we gear up for the busy farm meeting season, farmers can be sure to learn about a few new product releases from their favourite crop protection company. 2014 appears to be no different with many new options coming out for growers in the area of seed treatments. Earlier in 2013, I was at a… Read More
Understanding how different crop varieties may react to various management practices or situations is something that doesn’t seem to get enough attention. We often hear about the “best” varieties, but how are they performing in one situation compared to another or under a different product application? Here are a two reasons building an understanding of… Read More
Planting in to cool and especially cool and wet soils is not ideal for soybeans. But that description applies to most planting conditions in Ontario and perhaps most of Canada. Because of this reality, fungicide seed treatments are an invaluable tool in the establishment of healthy, vigorous, soybean stands. Albert Tenuta, provincial field crop pathologist… Read More
The twin fan, or double, nozzle concept is not new, but several new design tweaks on this nozzle had many farmers asking some great questions at Canada’s Outdoor Farm Show. Tom Wolf, spray application specialist and Wheat School regular, hosted a sprayer demo at the show in early September, to compare the coverage differences between… Read More
Harvest is a great time to choose next year’s canola variety, and not just because the seed booking season seems to start earlier and earlier each year. The yield monitor is one way to evaluate how varieties perform on your farm, and being wowed or disappointed might be the first step in selecting next year’s… Read More
If you’re still seeding wheat by “about two bushels per acre”, it’s time to revisit your seeding strategy. Not only does the old bushels per acre rule-of-thumb not take into account a targeted plant population (the cornerstone of the crop year), it also ignores seed lot differences of size and weight. While varieties may perform… Read More
If you’ve been talking to your neighbours about spraying, chances are you’ve heard that double nozzles are one way of increasing the number of droplets sprayed. Not necessarily, says spray application specialist Tom Wolf. “The unstated assumption behind that is that droplets are getting smaller when you have two nozzles instead of one,” Wolf says…. Read More
With high fusarium levels threatening the quality of this year’s wheat crop, Peter Johnson, cereal specialist with the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Food, is urging farmers to take the grain off early so as to minimize the growth and spread of the disease. That’s all good and well, say farmers, but the crop is… Read More
Regardless of the disease pressure mix on your farm, maintaining a disease-free flag and penultimate leaf is a key means of ensuring max wheat yield. Early season leaf disease can seem benign enough, but in the right conditions diseases like tan spot and septoria can move up through the canopy quickly and eventually begin compromising… Read More
Protecting the almighty flag leaf of a wheat crop is paramount, as this single, fat leaf contributes the vast majority of energy to fill those kernels. Timing a fungicide application to protect against leaf diseases like tan spot or septoria must happen before heads emerge to really benefit the crop. Of course, as heads start… Read More
The most important pass a farmer makes every year is the one with the seeder. There’s no way to add yield or plants if you make a big mistake on that first pass — no amount of fungicide, herbicide or specialty product is going to come to the rescue. But seeding conditions in Western Canada… Read More
Fusarium head blight. It’s one nasty disease that most of the Prairies was happy to consider a southern Manitoba problem. The troubling reality, however, is that the disease has been steadily marching west for quite some time, and while it’s not news that the disease has been found in Alberta and Saskatchewan, the incidence of… Read More
Earlier this week, I lined up an interview with Dr. Jeannie Gilbert, a plant pathologist at AAFC’s Cereal Research Centre, Winnipeg, Man. I wanted to speak with her about the threat of fusarium head blight for 2013 and what farmers can do now to prevent or manage the disease. When I arrived, I soon learned… Read More
There are almost always new seed treatment options each year, but not every year offers significantly different products. This year, however, there are new several new offerings that offer something new or completely different than past years. It’s useful to have a handy up-to-date guide on what the real differences and new products are for… Read More