Category: Agronomy

We're approaching a critical stage for corn — tasseling — and weather conditions in some areas are conducive to high disease development. Recently in the Corn School, we've talked prioritizing fields for a fungicide application and where and how to scout for leaf disease in corn, but did you know that there's another factor at... Read More

If you haven't already applied a fungicide to your soybean acres, it may be time to consider it, as white mould and septoria are already surfacing in fields across the country. And proper timing is essential. "What we've seen for the most economical yield response is at that R2.5 stage, or at that early pin... Read More

Following frost and challenging weather conditions, it's not uncommon to find wide staging variability in Ontario corn fields this year. Uneven development will complicate timing of fungicide and insecticide applications, notes Dale Cowan, senior agronomist with AGRIS Cooperative, in this installment of the Corn School. "You have to get an idea of what percentage of... Read More

It should come as no surprise to insect geeks that the ash-grey insect above with a rather distracting snout is a weevil. More specifically, it's a cabbage seedpod weevil (Ceutorhynchus obstrictus), an insect pest that has been infecting canola crops (and other Brassicaceae species) in Alberta since the mid-1990s, and it has since moved across... Read More

“What comes out of the back end of a combine has a direct impact on the success of your seeding operation in the spring,” says Trevor Thiessen, president of Redekop Manufacturing. “What we’re trying to do is makes sure that as a farmer leaves that field in the fall, he’s prepared his land for the... Read More

Several factors converge to increase the threat of diseases on a corn crop, from the history of a disease in the field, to the amount of residue, to the weather. Unfortunately, several corn diseases are carried by wind and can end up in your field whether you practice good rotation practices or not. Related: How... Read More

Spray Test Controls was in Regina for Canadian Farm Progress Show this month, to shed a little light on night spraying with their new blue LED light kits. In the embedded video above, Shaun Haney talks to Dale Wiens about the lights, two of which will light up booms of up to 150?. Related: TechTour:... Read More

(We’re a day early with this week’s Word, because, hey, it’s Canada Day and our audio editor’s birthday. Happy Birthday, Rhett!) If you’re sick and tired of rain and wet conditions, you’re not alone — Ontario has recorded its wettest June in over one hundred years. Which means, with apologies to Western Canada facing a... Read More

With changes to the way wheat is marketed and the arrival of higher-yielding varieties, there's growing interest in boosting wheat protein content with in-season nitrogen applications in Western Canada. The basic recipe is 10 gallons per acre of 28-0-0 with 10 gallons of water applied with a flat fan nozzle shortly after anthesis or flowering,... Read More

There’s no two ways about it — huge swaths of Ontario’s growing region is now excessively wet. And not, “Hey, that was a heavy rainstorm!” wet, but soaked-right-through-for-the-third-time wet. With all this water, farmers are understandably nervous about what impact wet soil and standing water may have on the yield of the corn and soybean... Read More