Side band? Top dress? Add micros or not? When it comes to wheat production many farmers are looking to closely match crop needs with fertilizer applications, but exactly how to meet those needs brings up a host of questions. Never fear, as Peter Johnson, cereal specialist with the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Food, is... Read More
Category: Crop Schools
Post-harvest spray applications are an effective way to deal with hard-to-control perennial and winter annual weeds like Canadian thistle, foxtail barley and dandelion. But, whether you're dealing with frost, labour shortages or incredibly dry conditions, spraying in the fall can be a challenge. A dry fall can not only limit the active growth of weeds,... Read More
With concern over bee health and the potential impact of seed treatments that contain neonicotinoid products increasing, the seed industry is taking steps to offer farmers choices in seed treatment options for 2014. How do you decide if you need to order seed with or without an insecticide seed treatment? Greg Stewart, corn specialist with... Read More
Is the soybean setting on the combine really where you should start when setting up the combine for harvest? And is a flex header really necessary or just a nice-to-have sort of piece of equipment? The answers are yes and yes, and in this video, Harvey Chorney, of the Prairie Agriculture Machinery Institute and a... Read More
With good lodging resistance, early seeding and marketing flexibility, it's no wonder faba bean acres continue to rise in Alberta. And with harvest nearing completion, those faba bean stalks are starting to fall, leaving many a smiling farmer in their wake. "By now a lot of the faba beans have started to come off," said... Read More
Canola that goes in the bin dry but hot is still at risk for spoilage. The same can be said for grain with high weed seed, insect parts or just dockage in general. While it seems obvious to some, reports of full bin losses happen every year — losses that could be avoided simply by... Read More
How has the corn crop fared? Will the high levels of vomitoxin seen in wheat and barley also occur in the corn crop? Not always, says Greg Stewart, corn specialist with the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Food. In this episode of the Corn School, Stewart discusses preliminary production estimates of the Ontario corn crop,... Read More
Phil Needham's main message for anyone aiming for maximum wheat yields is always to pay most attention to the actual seeding pass. The potential of any crop is established at seeding and emergence, and achieving maximum potential requires quality seed, high seeding rates and the all-important precise seed placement. Several types of drills will do... Read More
The first rule of planting winter wheat is to start early. If you didn't (and, with a late soybean harvest, that's reasonable to expect), the next rule of planting winter wheat is to start now. That's because the earlier in the ideal seeding window winter wheat gets in the ground, the more likely that crop... Read More
Hear that? If you shake soybean plants and hear the rattle of seeds in the pods, the plant has reached physiological maturity. Does that mean the crop is ready to harvest or past being damaged by frost? Not so fast. In this Soybean School video, Kristen Podolsky, production specialist with the Manitoba Pulse Growers Association,... Read More