What does it take to be a soil champion? If you’re Laura Van Eerd, professor at University of Guelph, Ridgetown campus, it means being curious about soil biology and crop production and constantly fascinated about what we have yet to learn about nutrient cycles, microbes, and more. Van Eerd considers herself lucky to be able… Read More
Tag: University of Guelph Ridgetown
What type of return on investment do farmers realize when they make a long-term commitment to planting cover crops on their farm? That question can be tough to answer. In many cases, the payback can’t be calculated using only dollars and cents; better soil heath, the benefits of increased water-holding capacity, and a soil’s ability… Read More
Glyphosate-resistant waterhemp was first identified in Ontario in 2014. Since that time the weed, which hails from the pigweed family, has spread across the province with confirmed sightings in 14 counties in 2019. To make matters more troubling, waterhemp resistance continues to grow beyond glyphosate, and now includes multiple resistance to Group 2, 5, 9… Read More
Selecting the right hybrids can make or break the profitability of a corn crop. There are a multitude of factors that combine to produce high-yielding, profitable harvests, but if growers make the wrong hybrid choices they’ll need some luck and good fortune to produce a successful crop, says University of Guelph associate professor Dr. David… Read More
The Ontario government, through the Agricultural Research Institute of Ontario (ARIO), and the University of Guelph will spend $6.5 million to build a new Field Crop Services building on the Ridgetown campus. The new build will house agronomy research services and modernize the field crops research operations on campus, while also reducing operating costs. Ridgetown… Read More
Corn fields across Ontario are full of variable plant development and that should be a concern for growers, says University of Guelph crop researcher Dr. David Hooker. Fields are littered with areas of yield-compromising backward and slow-to-develop plants. Hooker believes corn variability is even more apparent this year due to significant weather challenges; with cold… Read More
The annual Ontario field crop diagnostic days held at Ridgetown, Elora, and Winchester are going virtual! The organizing committees of these three highly successful in-field education and learning events are again partnering with crop researchers and extension, along with support from RealAgriculture and a host of sponsors in 2020. We would like to thank the… Read More
Add wheat to your crop rotation and it will increase corn and soybean yields, put more money in your pocket, improve soil health, and make your soil more resilient. That’s a big, bold statement but University of Guelph-Ridgetown professor Dave Hooker can prove it. All the data comes from a 25 year long-term tillage and… Read More
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
Herbicide resistant weeds are spreading across counties, the country, and the continent. Weed seeds are hitching a ride on wind and water and being transported by everything from machinery and migrating geese to ducks and earthworms. On this episode of RealAgriculture’s Resistance Management School, we’re joined by University of Guelph Ridgetown campus weed researcher, Dave… Read More
The construction of a new Ontario Sustainable Crop Research and Innovation Centre just got a boost in funding thanks to AGRIS Co-operative. The new building will be located at the University of Guelph’s Ridgetown Campus. The proposed centre will have a focus on sustainable cropping priorities for Ontario producers and will feature state-of-the-art research suites, laboratories, seed… 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
Back in the late 1960s and early 1970s, when Pierre Trudeau was Prime Minister, it’s unlikely he would have envisioned his eldest son Justin not only leading the country like him, but advocating for the legal use of marijuana as a recreational and medicinal drug. Likewise, had the fathers of the budding soybean sector here… Read More
It’s a great problem to have, but gains of an average four to five bushels per acre per year is possible with today’s corn crop if modern genetics are managed properly. Of course, “managed properly” is too general — if Ontario’s average corn yield per acre is set to surpass the 200 bushel mark in… Read More
If you’ve noticed more than a few fleabane “escapes” in recent years, you’re not alone. Glyphosate resistant Canada fleabane has spread across more than 700 kilometers of Ontario crop land in just five years. Despite its incredible distribution, Canada fleabane wasn’t the first glyphosate resistant weed found in Ontario, says Dr. Peter Sikkema, field crop… Read More