At CropConnect 2014 I ran into Brad Ewankiw who is working with FMC in Manitoba. Brad and I chatted about FMC, the potential growth in flax acres for 2014 and his first impressions of CropConnect 2014 in Winnipeg. I have known Brad for quite some time and its great to finally get him on RealAgriculture.com.... Read More
Category: Crop Production
It’s like a scene from an old-timey western movie. A grizzled cowboy squints into the horizon and says “I don’t like the look of those clouds. Storm is a’ brewin.” I’ve witnessed similar body language as I cross the country talking to farmers about mobile technology and the new world of data management, but it’s... Read More
Nitrogen and phosphorus get all the glory when it comes to the macronutrients. But there are two others in the NPKS mix, you know. The third most important nutrient, potassium, often gets thrown by the wayside and only seems to come up when there is a market discussion on Potash Corp or Russia’s Uralkali. There... Read More
Don't shoot the messenger, but if you haven't priced your nitrogen and phosphorus fertilizer for this year, things are about to get very ugly. Or uglier. There's really no upside here, unless you happen to have a neighbour with livestock and a manure problem (which you might. Ask around. Don't worry, I'll wait here while... Read More
As crop prices fall and margins tighten, every farmer is looking for an edge — whether a bump in production or more efficient use of inputs. The increased pressure to scratch out a profit takes extra time and effort on planning and management. Deciding on where to focus that extra time and effort is the... Read More
Should you stick with silage specific hybrids or include a few (or more) dual purpose lines for good measure? Both strategies can work, says Aaron Stevanus, market agronomist for PRIDE Seeds, it simply depends on your management system. Leafy, highly digestible silage-specific lines are a great choice, especially near the barn on highly fertile ground,... Read More
If it's late May and your winter wheat crop is awake and starting to look good so you figure it's time to top up the nitrogen, you've already missed the ideal window for a spring application. Plus, if you didn't take care of winter annuals last fall, those tiny seedlings that over wintered took off... Read More
In farming, we want two very opposite things from seed — we want a seed that stores well, perhaps even long term, but also a seed that, the moment conditions are right, it speedily germinates and becomes a hardy seedling. You can't always have it both ways, of course, and the inner workings of a... Read More
If you're somewhat tired of hearing the term "optimal fertility," raise your hand. Maybe that's not fair, because optimal fertility is really necessary for modern corn genetics to reach their full yield potential. But what does it really mean? As Dr. Fred Below, of the University of Illinois, explains in this Corn School episode, optimal... Read More
To many farmers, seed treatment is not an input worth questioning (check out Shane Thomas' Three Reasons You Must Treat Your Seed), and as farms grow, it's likely that the size and capacity of seed treaters will increase as well. Related: Serfas Farms Steps Up Seed Treating with the USC LP2000 In this video, Kaitlyn... Read More