Aster yellows is a 'phytoplasma' disease carried by aster leafhoppers. It's known for the odd-shaped canola pods it causes later in the growing season. Problems with aster yellows are hit and miss, depending on your area and the year. "We are kind of waiting for the next leafhopper infestation with aster yellows, the next big... Read More
Category: Crop Schools
Ontario’s cool, wet spring not only delayed planting, but also put the brakes on nitrogen mineralization, limiting the nutrient’s availability to the growing corn crop. According to OMAFRA pre-sidedress nitrate testing (PSNT) survey results released this week, corn growers are looking at the lowest rates of available nitrogen since the survey began in 2013. In... Read More
A "biopesticide" is defined as a living organism that's capable of controlling a pest, including weeds. Dr. Susan Boyetchko, research scientist with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada in Saskatoon, specializes in biopesticide technology, and she's been working on a program to develop bio-based tools for controlling grassy weeds, such as wild oats and green foxtail. As... Read More
The N-P-K conversation – nitrogen, phosphorous, potassium – is the focus of most corn nutrient management discussions. But is it time for the letter S (sulphur) to be a routine part of that conversation? In this edition of RealAgriculture Corn School, AGRIS Co-operative agronomist Dale Cowan is joined by crop sales specialist Mike Veenema to... Read More
Less than ideal conditions have slowed down canola development and left the crop vulnerable to tiny 2.5 millimetre beetles in some areas this spring. Flea beetles are the number one pest in canola on the Western Canadian Prairies. In this Canola School episode, we talk with Tyler Wist, entomologist with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada in... Read More
How much will that field yield? That's a question RealAgriculture agronomist Peter Johnson is often asked when talking with growers. In this episode of Wheat School, he reviews the formula for estimating wheat yield. Johnson says it can be difficult to peg yield because testweight is a wildcard that can be tough to eyeball and... Read More
Harvest weed seed control has been widely adopted in Australia as a tool in fighting herbicide resistance. When it comes to North America, farmers in southern States, such as Arkansas, have started implementing these concepts, but the idea of destroying weed seed viability has yet to take off here in Canada. In this Wheat School... Read More
For parts of Western Canada, the rain keeps on pouring. Early wet conditions could be conducive to root rot problems in pulses. Fortunately, for three of the four main culprits —rhyzoctonia, fusarium and pythium, the plants will generally grow through the vulnerable early seedling stage if a seed treatment has been applied, notes Robyne Bowness-Davidson,... Read More
2016 was likely the worst year on record for fusarium head blight (FHB) infection in Western Canada, as the disease has spread west and north since becoming a problem in southern Manitoba in the early 1990s. According to the Canada Grain Commission's harvest sample survey, almost a quarter of cereal samples in Alberta tested positive... Read More
What a difference a year makes. In 2016, Ontario’s cold and dry spring conditions produced plenty of available nitrogen for the emerging corn crop. But when you fast-forward to 2017, those cold soils are now waterlogged and the wet conditions mean there’s very little nitrogen available to the crop. The wet soil conditions have a... Read More