Whether it’s a brand new crop type or just a new-to-your-farm variety, setting up a basic head to head comparison or small-scale trial can help minimize the risk of going all-in. On-farm trials or variety comparisons are especially helpful when trying to choose a corn variety, as hybrid production can vary so widely between growing… Read More
The pre-harvest period is a great time to get a handle on what plagued (or is plaguing) the soybean crop this year, how well some of your management practices turned out and filling out the check list for late fall work and early season planning. In this Ontario soybean crop update, three agronomists — Dan… Read More
Even if you were never the type to peek at your Christmas gifts early, there are few farmers who can help themselves from trying to get a bead on the corn crop coming. Luckily, assessing corn cob development is a useful task at this point in the growing season, as it offers up not only… Read More
It’s not yet do or die for the soybean crop, but farmers’ soybean crops that have suffered population die off from crusting, standing water or frost need to make a decision soon about replanting. In this episode of the Soybean School, Dan Foster, market development agronomist for PRIDE Seeds, explains thresholds for soybean plant populations… Read More
Many soybean fields have taken a beating this year, unlike last year’s straightforward early season. A late May frost, then really hot temps have stressed plants, plus crusting in some areas has entombed the poor beans under ground. In this RealAg Crop Update Ontario, Dan Foster with PRIDE Seeds, gives an update on not only… Read More
Early season field scouting serves many purposes. Not only is early scouting a powerful tool in keeping ahead of weed, disease and insect pests, but early season growth of the crop tells the story of planting. Sometimes that story isn’t necessarily a happy tale, as crusting, variable emergence or thin stands can all be traced… Read More
Big iron, excellent distribution networks and long hours meant that roughly 80% of the southern Ontartio corn and soybean crop went in the ground between May 6th to 20th. As Ken Currah, with PRIDE Seeds notes in this RealAgriculture.com Crop Update Ontario, available horsepower and machinery means that when the ground is fit, it’s off… Read More
Remember this feeling, it happens every year. It’s that edgy, ready-to-go feeling that shows up every year around early April. The later it gets, the more the feeling gets amplified. Then you read stories (sorry) about the guy down the road that hit the perfect window in early April and absolutely nailed it at harvest…. Read More
As if a late spring and cold weather weren’t bad enough, current planting conditions in some areas of Ontario are ripe for a millipede feeding frenzy. Millipedes prefer cool soil temps and will stay deep in the soil profile, munching away on organic matter, as long as surface soil temps are warm and increasing. But… Read More
The drive to get on the field to plant in a timely manner can sometimes overshadow the importance of planting only when the soil is ready. What’s more, if there’s any tillage to be done before planting, a late start can start feeling very late indeed. But if you head out planting before the soil… Read More
Is it warm enough to plant? It’s a common question these days and one that has many a farmer out checking soil temps often. The tricky part about spring soil warm-up is that the optimal soil temp for germination isn’t necessary the optimum soil temp for sprouting and emergence of the corn crop. Add in… Read More
Building off of the success of the 300 Bushel Corn initiative, PRIDE Seeds is rolling out the 100 Bushel initiative for soybeans in 2013. Slated to take place on as many as 40 sites across Ontario, the 100 Bushel challenge seeks to showcase the optimum combination of variety choice, planting date, seed treatment, inoculant, fertility… Read More
Rain or shine, drought or not, nitrogen is king when it comes to targeting the highest yields possible in corn. While it may not be a surprise that even in a dry year corn responds to added nitrogen, there’s still work to be done on the economic levels of that response with environmental stewardship in… Read More
Do you know how many pounds per bushel of phosphorus and potassium corn pulls out of the soil? Nitrogen gets all the attention in crop production, but these two nutrients are also very important to corn production, and, in years of decent yields, the total pounds per acre of P and K drawn out of… Read More
As farmers approach the mid-way point of the Ontario corn harvest (and quickly surpass it, we hope), preliminary reports suggest decent yields in spite of challenging conditions. That said, it most certainly wasn’t an ideal growing season, and farmers aren’t likely to see their highest ever production this year. What a challenging year does allow… Read More