2016 was a good year to grow soybean varieties with strong genetic resistance to sudden death syndrome (SDS). Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food, and Rural Affairs plant pathologist Albert Tenuta explains that this season’s cool, wet early growing conditions, which then gave way to drought in many regions of Ontario, helped the disease pack a... Read More
Category: Crops
Is there a hierarchy of jobs on the farm? Especially at harvest, is the combine driver king/queen, with each supporting role moving down the totem pole? We're half-kidding, of course, but recently there's been some (mostly in fun) banter about who does what at harvest, like this: Harvest Facts The Combine Operator is a psychopath.... Read More
If a corn plant emerges one, two, or three days after its neighbour, will it yield less? We’re about to find out as Corn School makes its first return visit to the flag test that Real Agriculture resident agronomist Peter Johnson planted this spring. National Corn Growers Association yield contest champion Randy Dowdy, who harvested... Read More
The Canadian Malting Barley Technical Centre (CMBTC) has announced, Chinese company Yantai Hyaline Malting Co., Ltd. as a new member. Hyaline Malting is the third company from China to join the CMBTC in the last three years, says the CMBTC. China is an important market for Canadian malt barley, as, in 2015/16, China’s malt barley... Read More
The amazing rise of soybean acres across Manitoba and into Saskatchewan is possible only because of the development of early, early soybean lines. Just how early? While zeros and double zero maturity ratings are great for "short" season areas in Ontario and Quebec, it's the triple zero lines that shine in places like Arborg, Manitoba,... Read More
BASF has been producing agricultural chemicals for 100 years and its 50-year-old dicamba active is now the new kid on the herbicide block. With the emergence of Engenia herbicide, a new dicamba formulation targeted to Roundup Ready 2 Xtend soybean seed technology, the crop protection company is touting a product pipeline with a little ‘old’... Read More
It might only be the middle of October, but it looks and feels like winter in parts of Western Canada, especially as you move north and west in Alberta and Saskatchewan. Snow and freezing rain have left many canola growers with a helpless feeling as crop that was ready to be harvested is now under... Read More
Hang on and let's go — it's time for this week's episode of Wheat Pete's Word on RealAgriculture.com! To start this week, Peter Johnson, resident agronomist and life-long Wild Man, shares a neat stay-awake reminder for all y'all out there harvesting. Bottom line? Stay safe, and let's get this crop in the bin. From there,... Read More
Sponsored Post: If harvest efficiency is what you're after, straight-cutting canola looks mighty appealing. But, as with any new practice on the farm, there are lessons to be learned ahead of wide-spread adoption. In this episode of the Growing Series podcast, Saskatchewan-based Cargill agronomist Janel Delage and Shaun Haney from RealAgriculture.com get down to brass... Read More
Canola seed companies are releasing more varieties with claims they have reduced susceptibility to sclerotinia, but how do they determine those ratings? Coming off a season with high sclerotinia pressure, what does it mean if a variety is labelled as 'partially resistant'? In 2011, the Western Canadian Canola/Rapeseed Recommending Committee started searching for a test... Read More