Growing soybeans in Ontario in 2016 was a real nail biter. Even Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs soybean specialist Horst Bohner admits to being pretty nervous as the soybean crop struggled through a dry July. Many farmers were lucky when rains arrived in August, but a good portion of the province –... Read More
Category: Crop Schools
Can you drive your combine – with the head – down a narrow road to the next farm? Are you tired of header trailers and the need for tow vehicles? John Deere says its new 608FC 8-row folding corn head is the answer to these challenges – just fold the head and go. Deere unveiled... Read More
Seed companies are turning to new sources of resistance to protect canola against blackleg disease, as the pathogen population in Western Canada has adapted over the years. Until recently, most of the varieties marketed as "blackleg resistant" relied on what's known as the Rlm3 gene, explains Sakaria Liban, pathologist with DL Seeds, in this episode... Read More
Choosing the right genetics is the most important decision growers make when tackling leaf diseases such as northern corn leaf blight (NCLB). Fungicides applied in-season can provide both curative and preventative benefits, but the battle to fend off yield-robbing leaf diseases starts with your seed choice explains, OMAFRA field pathologist Albert Tenuta. In this episode... Read More
Update: The Canola Council of Canada has developed online calculators to determine your target plant density based on your individual field conditions, abilities and appetite for risk, as well as optimum seeding rate. You can find them at CanolaCalculator.ca. While the official industry recommendation for an optimal canola plant stand remains 7 to 10 plants... Read More
You may vary inputs based on field history or soil type, but have you considered treating your wheat differently, based on variety? It turns out that there are significant differences between how varieties respond to nitrogen, fungicide, and plant growth regulators. How a variety performs depends not just on its age, but where the background... Read More
Where are the vents located on your grain bins? If they’re too low, you could comprise grain quality by creating a pool of hot, moist, dead air at the top of the bin that can rain on your grain. You can learn how to avoid this problem and properly place vents when you check out... Read More
Soybean growers will get their first opportunity to grow Roundup Ready 2 Xtend soybeans in 2017. They’ll also get to see how Engenia, BASF’s new dicamba formulation, performs with the new seed technology. In this episode of Real Agriculture's Soybean School, we travel to BASF’s research farm at Maryhill, Ont., to check out Engenia Roundup... Read More
Real Agriculture agronomist Peter Johnson is overwhelmed by the number of corn drying questions he’s getting from farmers. We decided it was high time we put together answers to some of the most frequently asked questions in regards to safe drying of corn. In Part 1 of our Corn School grain drying video series, Johnson... Read More
The clubroot story in Western Canada continues to be written as researchers are finding additional strains of the pathogen that are capable of overcoming genetic resistance. So far, 13 new variants have been identified since the breakdown of resistance was first confirmed in 2013, explains Stephen Strelkov, plant pathology researcher at the University of Alberta.... Read More