With the canola crop maturing later than normal in parts of Western Canada, there’s some concern about frost hurting the crop. Temperatures dipped close to freezing in some parts of the Prairies earlier this week, with reports of light frost in northern Alberta. In this Canola School, Warren Ward, agronomy specialist for Eastern Saskatchewan with... Read More
Category: Crop Schools
With canola swathing underway across Western Canada, now is the time for growers to assess the toll that diseases have taken on the crop. The “what to look for” list at this time includes the main suspects: blackleg, sclerotinia and clubroot. In this episode of the Canola School, Keith Gabert of the Canola Council of... Read More
High disease levels have winter wheat growers in Western Canada concerned about the market prospects for the crop. Samples brought to elevators in some areas — especially central Manitoba — have contained up to 20 percent fusarium damaged kernels. Buyers have started discounting grain based on the related potential vomitoxin levels. So where will this... Read More
When a growing season doesn't go exactly as hoped — a late spring, a cool summer, too much rain — corn growers get understandably nervous. Corn is a C4 plant — it can tolerate hot weather and needs rather warm weather to grow, set yield and mature. As much of Ontario deals with "weird and... Read More
Hot summer days and over-wintered canola — a disaster waiting to happen, or a non-issue? Turns out, as of last fall, there was little if any research to reference on the safety of storing canola well into the hot summer months. Canola growers will be pleased to learn that that's no longer the case, as... Read More
They're small, quick, with piercing/sucking mouth parts that can make a real mess of canola seeds — that's right, we're talking lygus bugs. As Keith Gabert explains in this Canola School, there are several factors to consider when scouting for lygus bugs. First, environmental conditions like wind or heat can make numbers seem lower than... Read More
Common beans, or dry beans, are native to South and Central America, but research efforts have been successful in providing varieties suitable for Canadian climates. A remarkably fruitful opportunity for growers, as North Americans tend to consume dry beans more than any other pulse. Research is ongoing, as we learned at the 2014 Select Grower... Read More
In this episode of the Corn School, PRIDE Seeds' market development agronomist Ken Currah takes a look at corn development stages, starting with tasselling and moving through development, to help growers evaluate maturity and yield potential. By tracking hybrids from pollination to the black layer stage, Currah shows how growers can assess each hybrid's adaptability... Read More
It's been over one hundred years since the powered rotary hoe was invented, and we may not be done with it quite yet. Research by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada is being conducted around using the rotary hoe as a weed management tool in pulses, inspired in combination by previous work in the organic sector and... Read More
After a cool July that felt more like September, much of Ontario's corn crop will need a steamy August to make maturity. In this episode of the Corn School, Pride Market Agronomist Ken Currah explains that Ontario's corn crop is about halfway to maturity and late-planted corn could be flirting with killing frost if Mother... Read More