Arthur, Ontario farmer Carl Brubacker has had it with the plow. Over the years, Brubacker has seen too much erosion and watched his topsoil layer get thinner and thinner. “We try plowing shallower every year and we just keep bringing up stones.” Brubacker says plowing is not going to work long-term. “We’re looking for simplicity... Read More
Category: Video
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
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
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
As North American strip-till acres continue to grow, Case IH has rolled out a redesigned strip-till applicator — the Nutri-Tiller 955. It's a one-pass seedbed prep unit that looks after crop residue, soil tilth and nutrient availability, explains Dave Long, Case IH's seeding equipment and fertilizer applicators marketing manager, in this video filmed at the... Read More
Mossley, Ontario’s Laura DeKlein wasn’t raised on a dairy farm but she sure has a great eye for cows. DeKlein is a member of Ontario’s 4-H team that competed in this month’s National 4-H Dairy Cattle Judging Contest at the World Dairy Expo in Madison, Wisconsin. Along with teammates Brett Stockdale, Collin Allardyce, and Josh... Read More
As farms grow and span larger geographies, tractors are putting on more road miles than ever before. "It's definitely a concern we're getting more and more from farmers. They need to travel more and more and it does have a big impact on the tracks, going these distances," says Eric Blondeau of Camso (formerly Camoplast... 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
A wet harvest has led some Western Canadian farmers to make the switch from tires to tracks on combines, tractors and grain carts. "The tracks are going to give you the decrease in slippage and a bit of extra floatation, and that's what people are looking for right now," notes Marla Riekman, soil management specialist... Read More
Ontario’s winter wheat crop is growing like gangbusters thanks to unseasonably warm fall temperatures. But could it grow too much? “No way,” says agronomist Peter Johnson in Real Agriculture’s latest Wheat School episode. “The only thing we have to worry about is if it’s still growing on Christmas Eve, like last year.” In that case... Read More