Tag: Peter Johnson

As far as cover crops go, red clover is a no-brainer. That according to OMAFRA wheat specialist Peter Johnson. It’s a statement that seems to be backed up by a lot of facts. The first being its ability to provide ample amounts of nitrogen and organic matter to the soil. A good stand of red… Read More

Wet weather has really put winter wheat in a hard place for farmers in parts of Ontario. For starters, it pushed the seeding date back and secondly a large portion of it is sitting in some very wet conditions, conditions that can be very problematic for growth and development. So what does that mean for… Read More

What kind of benefit if any can we expect to see from placing fertilizer in with our seed? The question we lead off with in this episode of the Wheat School is: Starter fertilizer: Myth or Real? What follows is a solid case for the benefits of starter fertilizer from OMAFRA Cereal Expert Peter Johnson…. Read More

With a great deal of soybeans being planted later than normal, harvest is pushed back as well this year. This in turn pushes winter wheat planting back. But just how late is too late when it comes to planting winter wheat in Ontario? What impact will that late planting have on yields and emergence? How… 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

The “big picture” is very important when it comes to evaluating plant stands, especially in winter wheat. The first place a farmer will naturally be drawn to is the visually accessible poor spots in the field. Those areas should be looked at, but always in the broader context of the entire field. If they aren’t,… 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

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