Category: Crop Production

Wheat stripe rust is thriving in Ontario and growers are asking what can they do to manage a growing scourge of what European growers now refer to as ‘Yellow Death.' In this episode of Wheat School, Real Agriculture agronomist Peter Johnson takes you to the Ontario Cereal Crops Committee performance trials near Harriston, Ontario where... Read More

A science textbook will tell you the intense energy surrounding a lightning bolt causes a reaction between oxygen and nitrogen in the atmosphere that results in rain depositing nitric acid on the soil, where it becomes a usable form of nitrogen fertilizer for plants. On Twitter and in coffee shops, farmers sometimes give lightning credit... Read More

Would your canola crop benefit from a top-dress or rescue application of nitrogen? A tissue test will give you an idea of whether plants are deficient, but you'll have to wait for results. As Jack Payne explains in this Canola School episode, there are now several versions of in-field sensors that help agronomists and growers... Read More

If agriculture wants to reduce the potential impact neonicotinoid seed treatments have on pollinators, it has to modify standard vacuum planters. That's the verdict from Ridgetown College, University of Guelph researcher Dr. Art Schaafsma. “Essentially, what we’ve created is a drift problem,” says Schaafsma, who spoke publicly about his research for the first time last... Read More

There have been no confirmed cases of fungicide resistance in pulse crop diseases in Western Canada, and the industry wants to keep it that way. "It's something we want to take a proactive approach on and make sure we don't develop those issues we're seeing in some of the southern States with corn and soybean... Read More

A good fungicide application is all about getting the active ingredient where it needs to be at the right time to prevent disease. That can be a challenge in lentils, especially when conditions have been conducive for thick canopy growth, as is the case in parts of Western Canada this summer. "We're looking for ways... Read More

Before applying a plant growth regulator containing chlormequat to wheat, make sure you've confirmed you have a buyer willing to purchase it, because most of the major grain companies say they won't. Potentially a valuable tool in reducing lodging, many growers are interested in applying Manipulator, a PGR introduced in Canada by Engage Agro in... Read More

Ontario’s corn crop is holding its own as the final days of a hot, dry June slip past. But with moisture stress increasing, some ‘sins of the spring’ are taking their toll on cornfields, says Pride Seeds Market Agronomist Ken Currah. In this episode of Real Agriculture Corn School, Currah explains that much of the... Read More

With the June 30 crop insurance deadline approaching, many Ontario farmers are wondering what they should do with their soybeans. Across the province, fields are struggling as seed lays in the ground in varying states of delayed emergence due to drought conditions. In this episode of Real Agriculture Soybean School, Pride Seeds Market Agronomist Ken... Read More

Manitoba's inaugural Canolapalooza was held earlier this week in Portage, a combination of a canola field day and a summer festival, complete with mini-golf, a movie theatre and mud wrestling. Or mud arm wrestling, to be specific. Manitoba Mud Wrestling Federation-sanctioned referee John Heard joined Kelvin Heppner to discuss their soil-themed contribution to the field... Read More