The new year is off and running, and Wheat Pete is energized by the learning and connections happening at Ontario’s winter ag conferences! In this first episode of 2026, Peter Johnson dives deep into fertilizer economics, the legalities of road safety, fungicide's value with or without disease, and how to keep those tar spot losses... Read More
Category: Crop Production
On this episode of The Agronomists, host Lyndsey Smith and guests Dale Cowan of AGRIS Co-op and Rob Miller of BASF Canada discuss the smartest spend: what does an extra dollar of N return? How can we make sure the money spent on crop protection does what it should? Are there obvious places to stretch... Read More
Improving the soil while maintaining a profit to feed the farm. It's a simple philosophy that's reflected in Cavan, Ont., farmer Norm Lamothe's approach to nitrogen management and cover crops. On this episode of Farming Forward, Lamothe shares how he's combining cover crops and the power of living roots with a split nitrogen strategy to... Read More
Clearing bales from the field in a timely and efficient manner is a key step in making great straw or hay and decreasing injury to plant crowns. Fully automated bale collecting machines are designed to help speed up that process. James Pavey of the U.K.-based Big Bale Company South joined RealAgriculture's Amber Bell to discuss... Read More
Choosing traits for new canola varieties goes well beyond yield, with breeders balancing disease resistance, lodging tolerance, maturity, and other agronomic needs that vary by farm and region. That approach was the focus of a conversation at Canola Week in Saskatoon, where RealAgriculture spoke with Jed Christianson, Bayer’s product design canola lead, about how Bayer... Read More
Canada’s canola sector is navigating a period of pressure and possibility, shaped by global trade uncertainty, farm profitability concerns, and rapid technological change. Against that backdrop, investment decisions by major crop science companies are increasingly focused on whether innovation can help farmers manage volatility while maintaining long-term returns. In this interview with RealAgriculture, Antoine Bernet,... Read More
As farms adopt more digital tools, many growers are finding themselves managing multiple platforms that don’t communicate with each other, making it difficult to use data efficiently when making decisions. That challenge is what led Optic Ag to develop its connected farm operations platform, which was on display at Agri-Trade 2025 in Red Deer, Alta.... Read More
Palmer amaranth and waterhemp are two weeds that prairie growers may not yet be familiar with, but that may soon change. According to Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada research scientist Dr. Shaun Sharpe, these two weeds should be on farmers' and agronomists' radar as these invasive species continue their slow push north. Sharpe says in the... Read More
It’s the final Word of 2025, landing just in time for Christmas! In this special year-end episode, Peter “Wheat Pete” Johnson shares agronomic insights with a philosophical twist — encouraging rest, reconnection, and a deeper look at the long-term impacts of what we do, both in the field and in life. Have a question you’d... Read More
As artificial intelligence tools like ChatGPT gain traction across agriculture, questions are growing about where they fit — and where they fall short — in agronomic decision-making. That is the focus of this Pulse School episode hosted by Amber Bell, joined by RealAgriculture’s Lyndsey Smith, examining how ChatGPT stacks up against experienced agronomists when answering... Read More