If you're the happiest farmer in the world right now, you might be in Alberta, or maybe Ontario, as both regions got some much needed and timely rain respectively. For southern Manitoba and eastern Ontario, however, conditions are either get-the-seeder-stuck wet or make-the-wheat-pink wet. Early heat this season is pushing some insect populations higher than... Read More
Category: Crop Production
With some insects, we may be confused as to why they have the name they do. When it comes to cutworms — this isn't the case. It's pretty "cut" and dry...as the pest will feed on the stems of the plant. Cutworms unfortunately don't have terrific forecast maps, as Jack Payne of South Country Co-op…Read More
Drought conditions are adding insult to injury for some cattle producers who considering tough decisions if pasture conditions don't improve soon. Producers Jocelyn and Travis Wasko, who own XTC Ranches and Bar 4 Bar Ranches near Eastend Sask., are going into their third year of drought conditions and say they continue to employ a "take... Read More
Purchases of diesel fuel happens several times a year on nearly all Canadian farms, and yet, it's a purchase that is rarely hedged. That's according to the latest RealAgristudies survey on diesel fuel purchasing, which wrapped in late May. Regardless of acreage or gross income level, most farms don't have more than 25 per cent... Read More
This editorial was first published on Breaking the Box blog by Kristjan Hebert. I call myself a recovering accountant. I joke about it, but I do love numbers. Numbers don’t lie. As much as I have a soft spot for a family farm and building a legacy for my children, it always comes down to... Read More
When we think of a wet year, we think of disease. Throw in a cereal crop, and what's the disease we think of? Fusarium head blight or FHB. Here to teach us all about FHB management including control timing on this episode of The Agronomists is Dr. Kelly Turkington, plant pathologist with Agriculture and Agri-Food... Read More
When it comes to corn, even emergence and uniform plant growth is a well-known recipe for a high-yielding crop. New research also shows that even emergence is a significant contributor in the fight against gibberella ear rot and deoxynivalenol (DON) accumulation and other mycotoxins associated with the disease. On this episode of RealAgriculture's Corn School,…Read More
Whether the corn crop is just being planted or is emerging in the field, it's time to do some digging around. If the crop hasn't emerged yet, you can still do some diagnostics to evaluate how everything is going and get a better understanding of the corn root, and how the corn plant is growing.…Read More
Should Ontario winter wheat growers apply a T3 fungicide to protect the crop from fusarium infection? That's the question RealAgriculture's Bernard Tobin and University of Guelph associate professor Dave Hooker tackle on this episode of the Wheat School. When it comes to yield response, extensive research conducted by Hooker and his colleagues indicate that, on…Read More
If you're lucky, once in your farming career you'll get the perfect spring season: warm, dry weather, fit soil, few breakdowns, and a gentle, warm soaking rain once the last seed is tucked in to its furrow. More likely, though, a farming career is a series of too wet, too dry, too late, too troubled... Read More