Category: Crop Schools

Leaf rusts come in many shapes and strains and can be particularly hard to avoid, as the pathogen blows in from parts unknown (well, we know where, but that turn of phrase sounds better). What's perhaps more troubling is there is evidence that stripe rust may have over-wintered in parts of Alberta this year. Over-wintering... Read More

Seed size can vary significantly, making planting by weight or volume alone a rather untrustworthy endeavour. So it's no wonder calculating seeding rates based on the thousand kernel weight (TKW) of the desired crop is advised by so many researchers and agronomists. In this Wheat School, Richard Marsh of Syngenta re-joins Lyndsey Smith to compare... Read More

The pea leaf weevil can cause devastating economic losses to both peas and faba beans. Though the adult beetles feed on these crops after overwintering in perennial legumes, it is actually the larvae that cause the greatest damage. Larval feeding occurs on Rhizobium nodules for roughly six weeks. This may limit or completely inhibit nitrogen-fixation... Read More

Double nozzles are necessary to get the best possible coverage of a vertical target, true or false? Turns out, the answer is more likely that third option — the dreaded "it depends." In this Soybean School episode, Real Agriculture's Bernard Tobin is joined by Jason Deveau, Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Food spray specialist to... Read More

How close did you get to achieving the soybean plant density you were aiming for? What's the yield potential of the stand you have? The only way to get a bead on those answers is to get out and scout the soybean stand early in the season — at about the first trifoliate stage. How... Read More

A drawn out start to the growing season doesn't necessarily mean a drawn out growing season. Warm days with plenty of sun and mean growing degree days accumulate quickly, sending crops through their growth stages quickly, if the moisture is there. Wheat, and in this case winter wheat, can at times throw a curve ball... Read More

Few crops are hyper-competitive right off the start. A cool spring can also mean that the crop you want to take off doesn't, and the weeds get a head start. This is especially true of winter annuals which begin growing as soon as the snow recedes, but also applies to spring germinating weeds as well.... Read More

We've finally got a crop up in Western Canada, but as soon as those tiny canola plants emerge the attacks begin. Seedling blights are one concern at the establishment phase, but flea beetles can be a huge threat to the canola crop. In this episode of the Canola School, Lyndsey Smith is joined by Canola... Read More

Just when you thought Canola School and Canola Watch couldn't get any better, we go and combine the best of both worlds in this audio version of the Canola School! That's right, in this episode of Canola School, Real Agriculture editor Lyndsey Smith is joined by Canola Watch editor, Jay Whetter, to talk about at... Read More

In a perfect world, the soybean plant would pop up out of the ground, grow some leaves and then really stretch a bit before setting where that first pod will form. The reality for many western Canadian farmers, however, is that even in a decent year, our Prairie springs are quite cool — first pod... Read More