There's no denying when a spray clean out has gone wrong — the streaky start to a spray pass with injured plants never seems to happen at the back of the farm, either. There are a few things at play, says Tom Wolf, co-founder of AgriMetrix and Sprayers 101. There's the possibility of active ingredient... Read More
Category: Crop Schools
RealAgriculture agronomist Peter Johnson says there's no better time to talk about soil health than during wheat harvest. Johnson says all things wheat, including the straw, give growers a tremendous opportunity to increase soil health. Ontario research shows that by adding wheat to the rotation, growers see a five percent increase in corn yield and... Read More
Scorching summer temperatures are great when you're at the lake, but for the reproductive phase of canola, temperatures above 27 degrees C can cause heat blast. When that happens, any seeds that would have been fertilized during the very hot temps fail to form, dragging down eventual yield. As Justin Nanninga, from Neeralandia, Alta., explains... Read More
A flowering canola crop looks pretty and smells great — to humans and insects alike. Canola has a laundry list of insect pest species, from ones that target stems and leaves, to super destructive pests that destroy pods and ruin seeds. A sweep net is a humble tool, but one that when wielded by a... Read More
New developments in testing are expected to provide soybean growers with valuable information to fend off yield-robbing root rot caused by the water mould known as Phytophthora sojae. Beyond crop rotation and drainage, selecting varieties with genetic resistance, via major genes and overall field tolerance, is the best management tool for mitigating phytophthora infection, but... Read More
Each time farmers or agronomists are in the field is a chance to scout for disease symptoms. Unfortunately, fungicide products aren't curative — and not every product can control every disease. Knowing what disease pressure is present or confirming one disease over the other is a key part of a canola disease managment plan. Disease... Read More
The 2024 growing season has been a wet one for much of the edible bean growing region, and that means growers need to get out and scout as crops start to flower in a high-disease risk growing environment. On this episode of RealAgriculture's Edible Bean School, host Bernard Tobin and Hensall Co-op field marketer Meghan... Read More
Cool, wet conditions, as seen in much of Western Canada during the early part of the 2024 growing season, are favourable for ascochyta, also called mycosphaerella blight, in peas. The first step in taking action is to make sure that an infection is caused by mycosphaerella and not a bacterial blight, for which fungicide is... Read More
Many farmers are excited to not have to worry about soil moisture this growing season, as recent drought conditions have broken for many areas of the Prairies. While rain truly is a good thing, it is also one of the things that is likely to trigger fungal diseases, such as fusarium head blight (FHB). Frequent... Read More
Sulphur is a critical nutrient for maximizing yield potential in canola, and since peak sulphur uptake for canola happens later in the growing season than peak nitrogen uptake, applying sulphate as late as early flowering can rescue yield that's at risk to being lost to a sulphur deficiency. Heavy rains can result in canola not... Read More