The Food and Agriculture Organizations (FAO) of the United Nations has declared 2020 the International Year of Plant Health (IYPH), and it's looking for relevant human-interest stories. Calling it a once in a lifetime opportunity to "raise global awareness on how protecting plant health can help end hunger, reduce poverty, protect biodiversity and the environment,... Read More
Category: Crop Production
Doing the best job possible at seeding pays dividends throughout the year, but is planter-precision necessary for top canola yield? That's just one question research is trying to answer, not only on a trial basis but at a field level as well. Ken Coles, general manager of Farming Smarter, says it's not always possible to... Read More
Five years ago, Carl Brubacher decided it was time to change how he manages soil on his Arthur, Ont., hog and grain farm. With highly variable soil ranging from sand to heavy clay, he was determined to improve soil health and make the farm more sustainable. In this premiere episode of RealAgriculture's Soil School, sponsored... Read More
The battle against weeds puts farmer against nature's innate ability to adapt and overcome. The advent of herbicides tipped the odds in farmers' favour for a time, but only until several weed species developed — and continue to develop — resistance. Dr. Hugh Beckie, a former weed scientist with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, is now... Read More
Is there a marriage to be made between precision agriculture and strip tillage in corn? That's a question Maizex Seeds' agronomist Greg Stewart and Real Agriculture's Bernard Tobin tackle on the first episode of The Sharp Edge, a new video series debuting on RealAg, brought to you by Maizex Seeds. In the months ahead our... Read More
Weed control is often focused first on out-competing the pest. Some escape, of course, so "control" shifts to decreasing the weed seed bank. There are limited ways to eliminate those weeds with mature seeds at harvest, but recent work in Australia and here in Canada is focused on destroying weeds at the combine. According to... Read More
Like with human health, maintaining or creating healthy soil is more about doing lots of things right vs. adding one product. And, just as with human health, there's no magic pill to solve a problem — anyone who tells you there is, is probably selling something. Dr. Don Flaten, soil scientist at the University of... Read More
Have you ever wondered how countries that buy Canadian wheat learn about each crop-year's characteristics? The story of each crop begins with the harvest sample program, involves a careful analysis of the crop, and continues with crop missions to countries such as Singapore, Ecuador, China, and Mexico. Cam Dahl, president of Cereals Canada, and Gary... Read More
It's not the forecast anyone in Ontario wants to hear. While some are still finishing up 2019 harvest — a season hampered by a cool, wet spring, a drought, then a nasty fall — weather guru Drew Lerner, of World Weather Inc, says farmers may have to be just as patient in 2020. On the... Read More
Before being released in Canada, hemp cultivars go through an approval process very different from other crops. Unlike wheat or canola, for example, lines are not required to undergo a certain amount of trialing in Canada before they can be grown here. That's not to say there aren't processes in place to vet cultivars before... Read More