Rain or shine, drought or not, nitrogen is king when it comes to targeting the highest yields possible in corn. While it may not be a surprise that even in a dry year corn responds to added nitrogen, there's still work to be done on the economic levels of that response with environmental stewardship in... Read More
Category: Crop Schools
The Canadian pulse industry can be proud of what it has accomplished in a relatively short time. From a tiny slice of the acres, to a set crop in many farmers' rotation, pulses are a made-in-Canada success story. SEE MORE PULSE SCHOOL EPISODES Pulse growers have enjoyed steady growth of their industry and international markets... Read More
Everyone has an aunt or an uncle or someone that uses "blanket" terminology. You know what I mean, they call blu rays and CD's DVD's or call all mp3 players "iPods". We're all guilty of it on some level, but the truth is terminology is important. Just ask Tony Vyn about using the terms "drought... Read More
2012 was an excellent year to evaluate the very real opportunity of double crop soybeans in Ontario. A relatively early wheat harvest can open the door to just enough time for a soybean crop planted in early July to reach maturity. With bean prices where they are, it's a gamble some farmers are willing to... Read More
Potassium is critical for in-plant water management, which means that adequate levels of the nutrient at various depths is a key component of how well a crop handles drought stress. While no one can accurately predict a drought, managing overall soil health and nutrient levels is a great way to add some drought risk management... Read More
If some is good, is more better? Well, that depends on what we're talking about. Horst Bohner, soybean specialist with OMAFRA, definitely supports moving towards optimal number of plants per acre and that might mean higher seeding rates, but when it comes to tillage and fertilizer, less can certainly be more. Soybeans are unlike other... Read More
The 2012 drought that hit Ontario producers hard, hit Indiana farmers even harder. So hard in fact that it was one of the worst yielding crop years on record. That number being relative to what's expected given technology and management practices of the time. Needless to say, that puts drought tolerance as an issue that's... Read More
In part 1 of our conversation with Dr. Hugh Earl of the University of Guelph he talked about the impact water stress can have on soybean yields. That study suggested that at some point during a number of growing seasons, even if rainfall was adequate, some yield was being lost to water stress. One of... Read More
There's generally always enough moisture metered out through the growing season to finish the soybean crop, but soybeans can soak up a lot of water and translate that into yield if it's there. But by how much? What are we really losing to drought stress? Dr. Hugh Earl of the University of Guelph and colleagues... Read More
Ever wonder what the Canola Council of Canada does and who is involved? RealAgriculture.com caught up with Patti Miller, president of the council, to ask her those questions and many more. For example, 2012 was in some ways a fantastic year for the crop — a huge number of acres went in and planned crush... Read More