Although we don't quite know what the moisture situation is going to be like for seeding across the Prairies, we do know one thing: if it's dry, there are certain things we're really going to have to watch out for this spring. One of those items on the watch list is fertilizer injury of seed.... Read More

How might a changing climate affect soybean production across Canada? On this episode of RealAgriculture's Soybean School, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada scientist Ward Smith shares how he and his colleagues have been studying agroecosystem models to predict the impact changing climates have on soybean production. During the virtual Northern Soybean Summit hosted by last month... Read More

The impact of 2021's drought and heat across many parts of the Prairies continues to be a key point in conversation as we look towards the 2022 growing season. Meghan Vankosky, field crop entomologist with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) based at Saskatoon, Sask., recently spoke at Alberta's Agronomy Update to discuss the impact the... Read More

Fine-tuning nitrogen and managing lodging are two key strategies that helped earn London, Ont., wheat grower Jeff Cook a third place finish in the 2021 Great Lakes Yield Enhancement Network (YEN) overall yield category. On this episode of RealAgriculture's Wheat School, Cook speaks with agronomist Peter Johnson and shares how he grew 148.6 bu/ac to... Read More

Depending on where you farm, the story of the 2021 edible bean varied across the country. Growers in Eastern Canada were the recipients of excellent growing conditions that produced above-average yields in most classes. The story in Western Canada was much different, however, as growers endured a dry, difficult year that produced below-average crops. On... Read More

Grain farmers are known for their generosity when supplying nitrogen to the corn crop, but many growers get stingy when providing nitrogen to the soybean crop. That's a situation University of Illinois plant physiology professor Fred Below sees too often when it comes to managing the oilseed crop. In his presentation last month at the... Read More

The practice of variable rate seeding for corn continues to increase as growers attempt to match seeding rates and hybrid characteristics to the varying yield potential across their fields. With the growth of precision agriculture, every year more growers adopt variable rate seeding strategies but are they effectively evaluating and fine-tuning this strategy on their... Read More

When it comes to increasing soybean yield, University of Illinois plant physiology professor Fred Below has two words of advice — plant early. In his presentation earlier this month at the Ontario Agricultural Conference, Below shared data from eight years of trials that show growers in Illinois lose almost half a bushel (0.47 bu/ac) for... Read More