Category: Crop Schools

Wide row soybeans are making a comeback in Ontario. One of the benefits of the system is the ability to potentially reduce seed cost. But soybean varieties are not created equal, especially when it comes to delivering top yields and profitability in 30-inch rows. In this episode of Real Agriculture Soybean School, Pride Seeds market... Read More

There's no long-term trend talk of any agriculture commodity sector, it seems, that doesn't include at least some reference to China. After all, it's not just a populous country, it's a huge economic driver and consumer of Canadian agriculture products. Imagine, then, what it would mean to have the Chinese market closed, a market worth... Read More

How much yield can you expect from double-cropped soybeans? In 2016, harvested yields from across Ontario have ranged from 25 to 45 bushels per acre. In the final episode of our Soybean School series on double cropping, Real Agriculture agronomist Peter Johnson and Syngenta agronomist Eric Richter return to Embro, Ontario, farmer Ian Matheson’s field... Read More

As if canola harvest hasn't been hard enough with all the snow and rain, the work won't end when this crop enters the bin. It's going to require some babysitting. "Number one when you're taking off tough grain like this is it's not 'put it away and forget it'. It's a 24-hour job type of... Read More

In a perfect world, winter wheat growers would apply a pre-plant weed control application to tackle winter annual and perennial weeds. But it doesn’t always work out that way. In this episode of Real Agriculture’s Wheat School, OMAFRA weed management specialist Mike Cowbrough takes a look at weed control options for producers who didn’t have... Read More

Everything old is new again. That’s certainly the case when it comes to interseeding cover crops into corn. In this episode of Real Agriculture's Corn School, University of Guelph-Ridgetown College researcher David Hooker unearths some historic evidence of Ontario farmers’ and researchers’ fascination with cover crops and their efforts to interseed them in growing cornfields.... Read More

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

The amazing rise of soybean acres across Manitoba and into Saskatchewan is possible only because of the development of early, early soybean lines. Just how early? While zeros and double zero maturity ratings are great for "short" season areas in Ontario and Quebec, it's the triple zero lines that shine in places like Arborg, Manitoba,... Read More

It might only be the middle of October, but it looks and feels like winter in parts of Western Canada, especially as you move north and west in Alberta and Saskatchewan. Snow and freezing rain have left many canola growers with a helpless feeling as crop that was ready to be harvested is now under... Read More