Category: Crop Schools

With maps of moisture extremes popping up across the prairies, and predictions of another dry year, it’s hard to know what to make of seeding. But, as Murray Hartman, oilseed specialist with Alberta Agriculture and Forestry points out in this episode of the Canola School, there isn’t much sense in panicking. Not yet.Moisture Extremes to… Read More

For some growers, treating wheat seed is a no-brainer, while others still choose to forego a treatment and the input cost that comes with it.So how do you decide?With seeding ramping up for another spring, Pam de Rocquigny, cereal crop specialist with Manitoba Agriculture, Food and Rural Development, joins us in the field to discuss… Read More

When farmers search for ways to better manage cover crops, seed treatments such as neonicotinoids don’t readily come to mind.But that could change if research results from University of Guelph weed scientist Dr. Clarence Swanton are proven in field tests. In this episode of Corn School, Real Agriculture resident agronomist Peter Johnson sits down with Swanton… Read More

80 percent of planter setup should be done before the unit leaves the yard. That’s the work that can be completed before the weather and soil are ready for putting seed in the ground.But not everything can be calibrated before heading out to the field.In this Corn School episode, Shaun Dilliott of Kearney Planters joins us… Read More

Many soybeans growers will throw away the calendar and plant as early as possible this spring.That strategy works for agronomist Deb Campbell just as long as farmers pay close attention to soil conditions and the forecast. “These days, if we’re able to plant corn we can plant soybeans – ground conditions are very similar for… Read More

Parts per million versus pounds per acre. Olsen versus Bray. Nitrogen versus nitrate…Some of the numbers and technical terms on the paper or email you get from the soil test lab are relevant for understanding nutrient availability for your crop and others don’t actually mean much for growing crops Western Canada.So which numbers are meaningful? And how… Read More

If you haven’t tested your soil for soybean cyst nematode (SCN) lately, it may be time to take a closer look.The yield-robbing pest is quietly expanding its traditional southwestern Ontario footprint to more northern areas of Huron County and as far east as Quebec.In this episode of Real Agriculture’s Soybean School, Syngenta agronomist Shawn Brenneman… Read More

Ontario’s wheat crop saw incredible growth last fall, and spring fertilizer plans must be adjusted accordingly.With advanced wheat, nitrogen application should be delayed, explains Graeme Jones, an agronomist from New Zealand who helped set a previous world record wheat yield.Timing depends on nitrogen availability in the soil and crop size, he says, in this Wheat School… Read More

Ontario farmers continue to wage war with fusarium head blight (FHB). The battle is far from over, as evidenced by the disease’s impact on the provincial wheat crop in 2013. But with an ever-expanding management toolbox farmers are now in a much better position to defend their crops, says University of Guelph Associate Professor David Hooker. Vivid… Read More

If there was some way of measuring trending topics in farmer conversations in Western Canada over the past six months, “so, are you growing peas this year?” would be at or near the top.Thanks to the very strong prices that are accompanying a global pulse shortage, a record number of pea (and lentil) acres are… Read More