By Terry Daynard. This blog post first appeared on Terry's blog, here. You can contact Terry via Twitter at @TerryDaynard. The recent decision by the Government of Ontario to critically restrict usage of neonicotinoid seed treatments for corn and soybean growers, despite limited scientific support, has been a real eye opener for Ontario farmers. This... Read More
Category: Crops
Does a hailed out crop absolutely need a fungicide pass? Not necessarily, says Peter Johnson, RealAgriculture agronomist and host of Wheat Pete’s Word. It’s a crummy thing to have to discuss, but wicked weather earlier this week means that several fields are ragged and torn. Why isn’t a fungicide always needed? Listen below to find... Read More
Ask three farmers what the best row spacing is for soybeans and you might get three different answers, but in most soybean growing areas there's been a trend back toward wider rows. As part of this Soybean School episode, Horst Bohner, soybean specialist with Ontario's Ministry of Agriculture and RealAg's Bernard Tobin discuss the driving... Read More
We’re moving into prime white mould season — mid-summer and into August. While conditions were very favourable for disease development through June (wet and cool), mid-to-late July’s heat and dry conditions could have slowed progress of the disease. While you won’t be able to gauge infection levels in soybeans without scouting (hint: go do that... Read More
Plans and funding for a $25 million "Livestock and Forage Centre of Excellence" were announced at the University of Saskatchewan on Thursday. Federal Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz and Saskatchewan ag minister Lyle Stewart were in Saskatoon to announce $10 million in funding for the centre under Growing Forward 2. The U of S has committed... Read More
Not all wheat varieties are created equally when it comes to the amount of phosphorus they remove from the soil. Some varieties are efficient, while others are phosphorus hogs, explains Jay Goos, soil scientist at North Dakota State University, in this instalment of the Wheat School. So why does this matter? "The reasons I'm concerned... Read More
Can you hear that? That’s the sound of corn growing fast. In fact, parts of Ontario are on track to break heat records this week. What does this mean for the corn and soybean crop yields? That depends. Peter Johnson kicks off this week’s Word with a full report on corn pollination pitfalls — could... Read More
Salford introduced two new vertical tillage units in June, just in time for Canada’s Farm Progress Show: the I-2200 and the I-4200, both part of the “independent” series. The latter of the two, the hybrid I-4200, was also on display at Ag in Motion last week. The I-4200 retains a lot of the same design... Read More
Preliminary research conducted in southern Manitoba is casting some doubt on the common belief that dark, tilled soil is best for planting soybeans in northern growing regions. Greg Bartley, a graduate student working together with Dr. Yvonne Lawley at the University of Manitoba, is in his second year of comparing how soybeans respond when planted... Read More
Canola fields with spotty emergence and heat-blasted pods have farmers in parts of the prairies grappling with the thought that their crops might not be worth combining. But that doesn't mean it's time to till it under. "There are some other uses for canola that we normally wouldn't consider," says Keith Gabert, agronomy specialist with... Read More