Category: Agronomy
We're kicking off February with a correction — no, that wasn't Greg Stewart in the production guide you saw last week, it really was your Wheat Pete's Word host Peter Johnson. This week, Johnson covers a whole lot of ground, including a reminder to check on your tiled fields to help identify broken tiles, a... Read More
Researchers with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada and the University of Guelph say they've found a new midge species causing damage to canola in northeastern Saskatchewan and east-central Alberta. This new species is similar to the swede midge, and belongs to the same Contarinia genus, but has yet to be named and scientifically described, according to... Read More
Ontario’s extremely dry 2016 growing conditions provided ample evidence of the benefits of growing cover crops and lengthening rotation to improve soil health and moisture-holding capacity. University of Guelph soil scientist Dr. Bill Deen shared some of that proof with agronomists attending the recent Ontario Certified Crop Advisor Association conference in London. For example, at... Read More
Will bare fields and warm weather cause wheat to break dormancy? And if so, could we be looking at a wheat price rally for 2017? That's where we start with Wheat Pete's Word, and from there Peter Johnson takes us on a wild agronomy ride that covers strip-tilling dry beans into hay ground, what to... Read More
Does it make sense to grow more bushels per acre of wheat? Only if it’s more profitable, says agronomist David Shortall. In this episode of Wheat School, Real Agriculture agronomist Peter Johnson talks with Shortall, a native of Ireland, who now works for Cargill in Ontario. They discuss the results of a recent case study... Read More
Can we push feed and even malt barley varieties to sky-high yields? Steve Larocque, of Beyond Agronomy, has completed a four-year field trial that says yes, but there's a catch. Inspired by what he saw on a 2010 trip to New Zealand, where feed barley averaged 207 to 210 bushels per acre, Larocque started digging... Read More
If farmers are going to pay a tax on carbon emissions, they should also receive credit for the carbon their farms remove from the atmosphere. Many in the farm community are trying to make that case, as the federal and provincial governments roll out pricing systems that appear to lean on the cost side of... Read More