If soybeans need a cozy warm seedbed to get rolling, tillage is a must, right? Well, no and no. Emerging research suggests that cool soil isn't nearly the detriment to soybean growth once thought, which also means working an entire field for spring "warm up" isn't required either. To dig in to managing residue ahead... Read More
Category: Agronomy
Nitrogen fertilizer applied to land can be lost a few ways — and every pound lost can hurt the pocket book, but some losses are far more of a risk than others, depending on where and how you farm. What's more, some of those N losses occur in relatively benign losses to the environment. For... Read More
Over last few weeks I've had the opportunity to bounce around from conference to conference, learning on topics ranging from no-till, to canola production, to irrigation. On a glance these three topics may not have a ton in common, but as January wraps up (already!?) it's got me thinking about some of the common themes.... Read More
A drone designed specifically for broadacre aerial applications of pesticides was on display at Manitoba Ag Days, at Brandon, Man., earlier this month. With some features different than the typical rotary drones you see out there now, the hybrid drone has a vertical takeoff and land. As Don Campbell, of ROGA Drone Ltd., explains in... Read More
Are drop hoses that travel through the canopy the best way to apply in-crop fungicides? That's a question Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA) application technology specialist Jason Deveau has worked on for the past four years. It all started in 2019 when Deveau joined forces with OMAFRA plant pathologist Albert Tenuta... Read More
Wider row spacing in cereals has traditionally been associated with lower yields, but SeedMaster says its SeedMaster Ultra-SR provides 15-inch spacing with no yield loss when used in cereals. Tim Criddle, global sales director for SeedMaster, took time at the Western Canada Crop Production Show to discuss the new drill with RealAg's Atley Hamlin. In... Read More
Every day is a good day to phone a friend and see how they are doing, but especially today, when mental wellness is in the spotlight: make sure to use your Wheat Pete 15! And on that note, we begin this week's episode of Wheat Pete's Word, where host Peter Johnson answers your questions on... Read More
The Successors is a RealAgriculture podcast series hosted by Kara Oosterhuis focusing on agriculture from the perspective of the up-and-coming generation. If you sit down and talk to many of our parents and grandparents, they will remember harvesting potatoes from the garden growing up, and getting rid of the small, undersized potatoes. Flash forward to... Read More
Winter is a great time to recalibrate your approach to managing wheat diseases and applying fungicides. That's the message Penn State University plant pathologist Alyssa Collins shared with agronomists attending the Ontario Certified Crop Advisors annual meeting earlier this month. It's a dormant period for humans and also for fungi and plants, says Collins. "So... Read More
There's no silver bullet when it comes to managing weeds, and managing herbicide resistant populations is even tougher. One of the best ways to get ahead of weeds is crop competition. Jim Stute, independent research agronomist, has been evaluating the role of cereal rye as a weed suppressing crop to surprising results. Recorded at the... Read More