If you're somewhat tired of hearing the term "optimal fertility," raise your hand. Maybe that's not fair, because optimal fertility is really necessary for modern corn genetics to reach their full yield potential. But what does it really mean? As Dr. Fred Below, of the University of Illinois, explains in this Corn School episode, optimal... Read More
Category: Agronomy
To many farmers, seed treatment is not an input worth questioning (check out Shane Thomas' Three Reasons You Must Treat Your Seed), and as farms grow, it's likely that the size and capacity of seed treaters will increase as well. Related: Serfas Farms Steps Up Seed Treating with the USC LP2000 In this video, Kaitlyn... Read More
Let's say the planning stages go like this: crop rotation, variety selection, seed testing, determine seeding rate and so on. If you're a farmer who doesn't typically test seed or who may be thinking of skipping this step in an effort to save on costs, this episode of the Pulse School is for you. In... Read More
Farmers in Manitoba know the symptoms of fusarium head blight all too well — bleaching of the grain head, sometimes with a pink tinge, that results in shriveled and shrunk kernels. Sometimes called scab or tombstone, fusarium head blight not only bites into yield, it's also a downgrading factor of grain. Grain with fusarium damaged... Read More
A high-clearance sprayer simply can't compete with the efficiency of aerial application of some crop protection products. But just because a plane can cover farm more acres than ground units doesn't mean there isn't a drive to do the job better and more efficiently. On this stop of the Dow AgroSciences' TechTour, Paul O'Carroll, of... Read More
How much nitrogen (N) does a corn crop really need? Are split applications the way to go? What's the biggest risk of N loss in a Western Canadian crop setting? As King Corn marches north and west, these are the questions that need answers if you're going to go from being a farmer who grows... Read More
I can't stress enough the importance of having your own two feet in the field to see what the heck is going on in your crops. Too often there is far more that we can bring to the field to help us identify exactly what is occurring, but the lack of a few simple tools... Read More
As Ontario farmers get home from Southwest Ag Conference and FarmSmart, everyone is probably getting itchy for spring. The only thing maybe holding us back is the horrible snow storms that we have been getting. Planting does seem far away but like always at this time of year it is closer than we think. In... Read More
What is the yield response of a soybean crop to a fungicide application? (wait for it...) It depends. If you're not content with that answer, don't worry — neither are researchers. While there are several factors that work in to the decision to spray, questions surrounding the efficacy and the response of that application can... Read More
Not skilled in long-division but need to know how much crop you're losing out the back of your combine? Smartphones may not collect or count lost seeds (yet), but their built-in calculator provides pretty great help with field-math. And, with an upcoming app, the process of determining harvest loss while mobile will become a whole... Read More