Is there a yield and quality advantage to using biological nitrogen fixation products? This is a question the Saskatchewan Wheat Development Commission (Sask Wheat) is aiming to answer in a trial at Scott, Saskatchewan. Carmen Prang, agronomy research specialist with Sask Wheat, says there are different fertility treatments the trial is targeting: a low, medium,... Read More
Category: Crop Schools
Soybeans will pop out of warm spring soil a few days after planting, but they often sit for weeks before breaking the surface when planted early in cool, no-till environments. On this episode of the RealAgriculture Soybean School, host Bernard Tobin and Abhi Deora, head of Syngenta Canada's Seedcare Institute, look at how soil temperatures... Read More
Can heavy July rains fuel nitrogen leaching and push the valuable nutrient beyond the reach of corn plant roots? That's a question Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs corn specialist Ben Rosser has been hearing a lot lately as many areas of the province have been dealt a deluge of rain. On this... Read More
Those green plants sticking out of the crop — are they regular redroot pigweed, or a much nastier pigweed species, such as waterhemp, or even Palmer amaranth? This has become an increasingly common question for farmers and agronomists on the eastern side of the Canadian Prairies as waterhemp that's resistant to multiple herbicide groups continues... Read More
There are so many things that can't be controlled on the farm, including when Mother Nature decides to provide some moisture. Irrigation provides more control over the moisture situation — however, the water is not limitless. Maximizing the water allowance not only makes growers happy, because it allows them to become more profitable, but it... Read More
When talking soil, often the topic focus is on soil type, nutrients, moisture, or microbiology. But what about soil structure? As Steve Larocque, Alberta farmer and founder of Beyond Agronomy explains in this Soil School episode, the physical types of soil can't be changed, whether it be sand, silt, or clay. However, how land is... Read More
True armyworms hungry for grassy plants, including wheat, have arrived in large numbers in parts of the Prairies this summer. The pest, which migrates north as a light brown moth, arrived in Manitoba during the last week of May, explains John Gavloski, entomologist with Manitoba Agriculture, in this armyworm-focused Wheat School episode filmed at the... Read More
Research has repeatedly shown corn's yield potential starts declining if plants don't emerge within a tight timeframe, but dry conditions following planting can wreak havoc on best-laid plans for uniform emergence. If one in six corn plants is two leaf stages behind the rest, expect a four per cent yield reduction, says Morgan Cott, agronomy... Read More
Many growers apply a T3 fungicide on winter wheat in Ontario to protect the crop against fusarium head blight and get one step closer to achieving high grain yields. But a strange thing happened on the way to harvest in 2023, as many fields across the province experienced severe leaf tip burn after fungicide application.... Read More
Advancements in RNA interference (RNAi) technology could soon unlock new tools for managing canola pests and pathogens, such as sclerotinia and flea beetles. RNAi — ribonucleic acid interference — involves targeting specific RNA sequences in a disease or pest, rather than targeting entire proteins or enzymes, as is the case with current pesticides. It's a... Read More