Category: Crop Schools

India’s government made no attempt to veil the reason for imposing tariffs on pulse crop imports in late 2017.“Cheap imports, if allowed unabated, are likely to adversely affect the interest of the farmers,” said a statement from the Indian government, announcing the 30 percent import duty on lentils and chickpeas in December.The tariffs on lentils and… Read More

If you have weeds pop up prior to planting soybeans you can control them with a burndown herbicide application. But what happens when rain and wind conspire to prevent you from applying a burndown and you have to control weeds after planting?In this episode of the Soybean School, OMAFRA weed control specialist Mike Cowbrough takes… Read More

Do your corn fields yield less than 170 bu/ac?If so, you have to be careful when removing corn residue from those fields because you could be depleting the field’s soil organic matter.That was the message USDA research agronomist Shannon Osbourne shared with those attending the recent Southwest Agricultural Conference at the University of Guelph’s Ridgetown… Read More

India’s move to impose prohibitive import tariffs on peas, lentils and chickpeas has left a cloud of uncertainty hanging over the pulse market heading into the 2018 growing season.After back-to-back bumper crops domestically, India implemented a 50 percent tariff on pea imports in November, followed by a 30 percent tariff imposed on lentils and chickpeas… Read More

Peter Johnson is back with another episode in our ‘Real’ Wheat Farmers series.This time our RealAgriculture’s resident agronomist is gleaning management tips from Hugh Dietrich who farms with his family at Lucan, Ontario.Dietrich’s advice for Johnson starts with the need to put phosphorus down with wheat in the fall. Tile drainage is also a must. Dietrich… Read More

Soybean cyst nematode (SCN) is the leading cause of yield loss for the oilseed crop across North America. And unless a new source of resistance is found to fend off the pest, growers can expect to see SCN gobble up an increasing percentage of their yield in the years ahead.That was the message delivered by… Read More

In 1840, J. Von Liebig, a German chemist described as the father of the fertilizer industry, stated that “the rate of growth of a plant, the size to which it grows, and its overall health depend on the amount of the scarcest of the essential nutrients that are available to it.” Since its inception in… Read More

Ontario will set a new corn yield record in 2017 with the crop expected to hit an average of 180 bu/ac or better.Where is all that yield coming from?Corn physiologist Dr. Thijs Tollenaar has poured over the data and identified three key factors driving corn yield improvement.A long-time University of Guelph professor who recently worked… Read More

Construction has started on a large pea processing plant in central Manitoba that’s designed to process more than 100,000 tonnes per year starting in 2019.The new processing facility at Portage la Prairie will undoubtedly boost demand for peas on the eastern side of the prairies, however, there’s a big question that has yet to be answered:… Read More

Recent advances in the availability and quality of satellite imagery is providing powerful in-season management insights for corn growers.Many growers feel it’s no longer necessary to fly their own drone to capture aerial images of their fields. They can simply rely on a growing number of agronomic services to scout their crop using drone or… Read More