Tag: Dave Hooker

Difficult planting conditions across Ontario this spring are set to test growers yet again as corn fungicide application timing approaches. On this episode of the RealAgriculture Corn School, Ridgetown College, University of Guelph professor Dave Hooker explains that growers looking to control gibberella ear rot can expect a 50 per cent reduction in DON when… Read More

Harvest woes aren’t just limited to Western Canada, as, while there hasn’t been snow (yet!), wet field conditions are keeping Ontario farmers out of the fields as well. Soybean harvest has hardly advanced since last week, and disease pressure continues to build in standing corn. This week’s Wheat Pete’s Word covers a harvest update, but… Read More

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

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

Ontario farmers continue to wage war with fusarium head blight (FHB). The battle is far from over, as evidenced by the disease’s impact on the provincial wheat crop in 2013. But with an ever-expanding management toolbox farmers are now in a much better position to defend their crops, says University of Guelph Associate Professor David Hooker. Vivid… Read More

Ontario crop yields have exploded over the last 35 years. Corn yields have increased by 80% during this time and soybeans are not that far behind at 65%. Those big yield gains create a much greater draw on soil nutrients. In the case of corn, for example, the average corn crop now removes 63 lbs… Read More

How do specific corn hybrids respond to intensive management practices? Do they deliver higher yields? Are those extra bushels profitable for growers? Those are some of the questions the Ontario Corn Committee (OCC) is trying to answer with its new intensive management corn trials. At the SouthWest Agricultural Conference in early January, OCC’s Dr. David… Read More

Tough conditions last fall resulted in fewer acres of wheat being planted than planned in Ontario. Some of those fields could end up defaulting back to soybeans for 2015. In this Soybean School episode, Dave Hooker, field crop agronomist and assistant professor at the University of Guelph-Ridgetown, and Bernard Tobin discuss the implications of back-to-back soybean crops, and… Read More

While research shows fungicide applications in wheat and corn can often be justified by higher yields, the yield response to fungicides in soybeans is not as clear cut. Timing of fungicide application might be part of the formula for getting better than break-even returns, says Dave Hooker, field crop agronomist and assistant professor at the University of… Read More