Are we doing enough to reduce the herbicide-resistance weed seedbank on Ontario farms? That's a question AGRIS Co-operative agronomist Dale Cowan wants farmers in the province to consider when they're planning their weed control programs for this year. Cowan recently attended the Commodity Classic in Anaheim, California, where he talked with farmers from Mississippi who... Read More
Category: Crop Production
Want to maximize combine productivity and put every corn kernel possible in the grain tank? That's what New Holland is promising farmers who invest in the company's new 9200 CornMaster Series of corn heads. The narrow-row heads are specifically developed for farmers planting in 20- and 22-inch row spacings and range from 12-row to 18-row... Read More
While most pastures across Saskatchewan were blanketed with snow this past winter, the landscape will change quickly as warm weather arrives. Native prairie plants such as northern wheatgrass and needle-and-thread will soon spring to life, however their undesirable counterparts, such as leafy spurge, will too. Leafy spurge is a perennial invasive weed many farmers and... Read More
Planting is just around the corner, and if you're in full-on crop planning mode you're likely curious about what's new, what's old, what's repackaged, what's the best bet for herbicides in 2018. Lucky for you, Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs weed management specialist Mike Cowbrough faces an avalanche of these questions every... Read More
Want to apply 75 fewer pounds per acre on corn ground next year, and possibly achieve a higher yield? Peter Johnson, agronomist for RealAgriculture, has the answer: apply red clover to the wheat crop now. Wait, you say, you tricked me! This isn't a secret at all. And you're right: frost seeding red clover in... Read More
Farmers Business Network (FBN) has initiated an aggressive plan to expand into Canada. Launched as a Silicon Valley start-up with backing from venture capital funds in 2015, FBN started as a platform for aggregating data across millions of acres to provide U.S. farmers with information for crop input purchasing and agronomic decisions. Since then, FBN... Read More
Can we grow world-record-breaking wheat here in Ontario? The answer from most will be a resounding NO!, but don’t give in so quickly. The world record set by Eric Watson of New Zealand stands at 249.7 bu/ac. In 2016, a well-calibrated yield monitor in Ontario touched 240 bu/ac in the best area of a great... Read More
The resolution at which farm equipment can treat a field continues to shrink, automatically adjusting rates on-the-fly to account for variability in a field rather than treating an entire field the same. To use an inkjet printer analogy, today's equipment is increasingly capable of "printing" pixels that are only metres or even centimetres in size... Read More
Canada's regulator for crop protection products is facing a growing stack of re-evaluations for existing pesticide ingredients. There are several hundred active ingredients due for review by Health Canada's Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA) in the next decade. CropLife Canada — the organization that represents manufacturers of some of these products — has several concerns... Read More
It's late March and it's cool in Ontario. Are you thinking about applying nitrogen to your winter wheat crop? If so, don't mention it to RealAgriculture resident agronomist Peter Johnson – he may have a conniption. After he stops shaking, WheatPete will tell you that there is no benefit to putting nitrogen on wheat until... Read More