Bees play an essential role as pollinators in food production, but did you know they're also an integral part of top canola yields? While bees aren't necessary for canola seed set, fields where bees have foraged will yield higher and benefit from a shorter flowering window. The importance of canola to bees is also significant;... Read More
Category: Crop Production
After a few months of the Agronomy Geeks podcasts, I've learned a few things. Like how I still don't like the sound of my own voice, but that I really do love agronomy enough to push through that and continue. While I do enjoy exploring new topics, perhaps what I'm enjoying most are the people... Read More
Ever had a soil test come back with some surprising nitrogen levels? While it's typically lower than expected (don't we all wish N didn't just disappear?), every now and then a crop may have left some behind due to any number of factors, like water availability, timing of mineralization or some other something that maybe... Read More
The best spray application you can do is the one applied at the right time — the right leaf stage, the right point in the disease cycle, the right time of day for insect control. But weather conditions don't always cooperate, plus with more acres to cover per farmer or sprayer, a product or products... Read More
Canola growers now have access to a new option to defend their crops against the long-time disease threat of sclerotinia. DuPont Crop Protection today announced that the Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA) has approved a label addition allowing the use of DuPont Acapela fungicide in canola for control of sclerotinia. Todd Friday, Saskatoon-based Pulse and... Read More
While we may forever ask who has seen the wind (thanks, W.O. Mitchell!), now you can...sort of. John Gruber, a writer and blogger from Philadelphia, hosts DaringFireball.net, a science-y website for all things super cool. His latest post caught our attention, as not only is it pretty (see image above), it's actually rather facsincating. Monday's... Read More
Each disease threat is unique. Some pathogens are carried on wind or insects, others live in the soil and some reside on crop residue. The expected pressure of a disease for next year is largely dependent on how a disease is spread — those that winter in the soil or on residue are the most... Read More
Farmers are understandably frustrated by slow grain movements out of the Prairies this year, as a giant crop has western ports at a stand-still. The finger is often pointed at oil tankers hogging all the railway tonne-miles as a major part of slow grain movement off the Prairies, but as with any logistical problem, the... Read More
Let's face it, change is difficult. And change for the sake of avoiding a problem in the long-term can seem exceedingly cumbersome. If that sentence makes you think about managing for herbicide resistance, you're not alone. But no longer is this a "what if" for Canada — several types of weeds and several types of... Read More
Do you know the soybean cyst nematode levels in fields on your farm? If you're growing or plan on growing soybeans, you should be testing every field to determine the presence of this pest. After all, it's the number one pest of soybean in the world. Horst Bohner, soybean specialist with the Ontario Ministry of... Read More