The combination of increased soybean acres and high soybean aphid pressure on the prairies in 2017 has sparked conversations about thresholds, beneficial insects, and how to decide when spraying is warranted.The economic threshold for soybean aphids in Canada has traditionally been 250 aphids per plant on 80 percent of plants, with the population still increasing,… Read More
Category: Crop Schools
Lygus bugs are known for attacking canola, alfalfa and sunflowers (you can probably blame the lygus for that gross seed), but they can also be a significant pest in fababeans — especially after their canola food source is harvested.In general, lygus bug species like to feed on the reproductive parts of plants.“Similar to other crops,… Read More
Not often do you hear of wheat outyielding corn, but that’s the case in our latest episode in the ‘Real’ Wheat Farmers series.RealAgriculture resident agronomist Peter Johnson can barely contain himself when Arthur, Ontario farmer Shawn Schill of Shawridge Farms tells him that one 200-acre field yielded 154 bu/ac of wheat, beating the average corn yield… Read More
Winter durum wheat isn’t grown in Western Canada, but the possible benefits have breeders working on developing it.As Jamie Larsen with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada in Lethbridge discusses in this Wheat School episode, winter durum could perform well during dry years, and face reduced fusarium head blight (FHB) risk compared with spring durum.“We are really starting… Read More
Most of the yellow patches in soybean fields in Western Canada and the northern U.S. have disappeared as the plants have recovered, or turned necrotic and died, but one of the big questions heading into harvest is: what toll did widespread issues with iron deficiency chlorosis (IDC) earlier in the season take on yields?The yellow… Read More
Should you spray your soybeans once or twice?In this episode of Real Agriculture Soybean School, OMAFRA weed specialist Mike Cowbrough takes a look at how one-pass and two-pass herbicide systems compare. He notes that a one-pass program can offer effective weed control if growers keep soybeans fields weed-free through the third trifoliate stage. But as… Read More
Numbers of diamondback moths have increased in Western Canada over the past couple of weeks, in part due to the dry weather and strong winds. In some areas where the canola is still in late bloom, they are causing a fair amount of damage.Héctor Cárcamo, entomologist with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, says the key to remember… Read More
With pea and lentil harvest underway, the question on the forefront of many growers’ minds — what is the quality of my crop that’s coming off?We think about what sort of season and conditions the crop has gone through, and while sometimes you are prepared for the sample you’re looking at, sometimes you aren’t.In this… Read More
When marketing your peas, lentils, or any other crop, it can be helpful to have a third-party assessment showing the grade, protein content and other attributes of what you’re selling.Every year the Canadian Grain Commission (CGC) looks for samples from farmers from across Canada as a part of its Harvest Sample Program.The program, which has been… Read More
The ability to precisely place individual seeds in a row, as with corn or soybeans, has led some canola growers to switch from air seeders to vacuum planters.Trials in southern Alberta support the hypothesis that better seed-to-soil contact from using a planter results in improved germination and emergence, says Mike Gretzinger, research manager for Farming… Read More