Category: Crop Schools

While the Canada Grain Act provides farmers with the right to order their own railcars, in reality there have been major challenges for many farmers and their administrators in securing access to producer cars for shipping grain over the last few years. One of the factors contributing to the producer car problem has been an... Read More

With findings of clubroot disease in parts of Western Canada where it has not been a problem before, at what point should a farmer in these new clubroot areas switch to growing clubroot-resistant canola varieties? To make that decision, you must first assess and prioritize the risks to your canola, suggests Anastasia Kubinec, oilseed specialist... Read More

Perhaps you're already acquainted with the wild world of theoretical yields. A theoretical yield is a measure of the genetic potential a plant has, if absolutely nothing hampered yield — not the growing season, environment or pests. Can you guess what soybeans' theoretical yield is? Roughly 350 bushels an acre. Outlandish? Well, it sort of... Read More

A wheat variety might produce huge yields or have stellar disease resistance, but if there's no market for it, there's probably no point in registering the variety for production in Canada. Instead, it might even have a negative impact, damaging Canada's reputation for consistency and quality. As Lisa Nemeth of the Canadian International Grains Institute... Read More

You're looking at yield data from last year trying to figure out which soybean varieties to grow in 2015 — how do you know when the yield difference between two varieties is meaningful? "That's a question we get all the time when it comes to picking varieties and looking at single-year site data," says Dennis... Read More

There's no shortage of less than stellar wheat out there — the weather near the end of summer and early fall was not kind to harvest or the resulting grain (remember all that snow in September, Alberta?). While some quality parameters aren't deal breakers and might be managed through bumping seeding rates, others can't be... Read More

The wheat market is due for some additional volatility in the weeks leading up to seeding season in North America, says the general manager of FarmLink Marketing Solutions. Sharing the wheat market outlook at Grainworld '15 in Winnipeg last week, Lawrence Yakielashek (formerly with Toepfer Canada) said he believes the bearish sentiment in the wheat... Read More

Although one of the most widespread micronutrient deficiencies globally, boron deficiency is rare in western Canadian soils. The odds of getting a response from the addition of boron is low for general applications, according to the Canola Council of Canada, and low-moderate for in season stress response. Find the entire Canola School library, here! Boron... Read More

Although canola's calcium requirements are relatively high (about double the level of sulphur and phosphorous, according to the Canola Council of Canada), deficiencies are rarely seen in western Canada. When deficiencies do occur, it is often as a result of highly saturated soils, which do not allow the plant to take up adequate nutrients. That... Read More

Farmers fought hard (sometimes through deep snow that disappeared soon after) to get the 2014 Ontario corn crop off, but there's as much as 5% of the crop still standing. There's really nothing you can do about the crop being out until the snow finally melts, but farmers who have been keeping eye on their... Read More