If you're talking early weed control, fall is the earliest you can get for next year's crop. For many, a pre-harvest glyphosate application does double duty, drying down the crop and setting back those perennials weeds. But in this incredibly dry year, crop dry-down was so fast many farmers didn't need to use glyphosate pre-harvest,... Read More
Category: Crops
An aftermarket kit that turns a regular tractor into an autonomous machine made its Farm Progress Show debut in Boone, Iowa this week. Smart Ag, based in Ames, Iowa, has developed a software platform and kit for controlling a tractor without a driver. The first application for the platform, called AutoCart, automates a grain cart... Read More
Until now, hemp growers in Canada were allowed only to harvest the grain and/or stalk of the plant. In anticipation of the upcoming Cannabis Act set to be implemented in mid-October, Health Canada recently announced a revision to regulations allowing whole-plant harvest of hemp. Why does this matter? Well, although industrial hemp has low levels... Read More
The impact of dry conditions across the southern prairies is evident in Statistics Canada's first report on 2018 crop production. Canola and spring wheat futures were higher following the report's release on Friday morning. Most of the production and yield figures came in on the lower end of the range of pre-report estimates. The report... Read More
Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs plant pathologist Albert Tenuta is gearing up for his annual pre-harvest corn disease survey, and he’s optimistic leaf disease will not have a significant impact on the 2018 corn crop. Some growers have raised concerns that a rainy late July and August could lead to a flood... Read More
Adaptable is perhaps the best word to describe John Deere's new variable-intensity tillage tool. Farmers hovered around the 2660VT at the Farm Progress Show in Boone, Iowa, this week as Jarred Karnei, Deere's tactical marketing manager for tillage equipment, demonstrated many of the the tillage tool's features. In the video below, Karnei explains that the... Read More
Attendees at the Farm Progress Show held in Boone, Iowa, were the first to view the New Holland MegaCutter 533, fully mounted disc mower conditioner — and it is big! Jordan Milewski, New Holland crop cutting product marketing manager, says, "The big cutting width on this machine is 33-and-a-half feet wide." He explained, this means... Read More
When glyphosate-tolerant soybeans made their appearance on the Prairies people were very excited about the crop and the potential for good weed control. It turned out, though, that there was one fly in the ointment, and that was volunteer glyphosate-tolerant canola. Although early attempts at soybeans sometimes looked more like canola fields, there are some... Read More
Recently, there were two big funding announcements with major implications for Canadian wheat growers. Both had significant funding support from SaskWheat and the Alberta Wheat Commission (AWC). Saskatchewan field editor Dale Leftwich sat down with Harvey Brooks, executive director for SaskWheat, to talk about the importance of research to farmer led commodity groups. Brooks spoke... Read More
For a growing season that started so dry for so many, some farmers are now hoping for a string of two or three days of dry weather to get hay done or start harvest on spring-planted crops. It's also been a trying week for Ontario's Compaction Day planning crew who ended up cancelling the event... Read More