What if corn, like soybeans, could fix its own nitrogen? It's a question agronomist Dale Cowan and his team at AGRIS Co-operative are tackling this summer as they test a biological product that promises to help corn plants fix nitrogen, when applied directly on the seed, in pop-up fertilizer, and through foliar application between the... Read More
Category: Crop Schools
Nitrogen and phosphorus fertilization is an important step in seeding a wheat crop and getting it off to the right start. However, over time fertilizer placed at the same depth can cause soil acidification. Initially set up in 1967, with various rotations and fertility treatments, long-term research plots were the basis for interesting research results... Read More
It's been dry in parts of Western Canada heading into canola flowering, but has it been dry enough to hold off on spraying for sclerotinia? That's a question many growers and agronomists in drought-affected areas have been asking themselves over the last week or two. There are really two basic factors to consider in the... Read More
Pea leaf weevils are out and active, and if they're present in your fields they're doing foliar damage to pea and faba bean crops. Meghan Vankosky, field crop entomologist at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Saskatoon, Sask., joins Kara Oosterhuis for a discussion about pea leaf weevil scouting and thresholds in this Pulse School episode. "You... Read More
There is tremendous yield potential in Ontario corn fields right now. With recent rainfalls, subsoil moisture has been replenished and the crop has jumped in the last few days. Great looking acres and strong corn prices both weigh into the decision to apply fungicides. In this Corn School episode, Bernard Tobin is joined by BASF... Read More
It's well-known that canola does not like heat during flowering. As soon as daytime highs rise beyond 30 degrees C — as we're seeing through the current heat wave in Western Canada — the plant can become heat stressed, which leads to blasting and aborted pods. High temperatures can essentially cause a breakdown in communication... Read More
Recent weather events in parts of Ontario have really flattened some wheat crops. There's an awesome crop out there, but harvesting it will now be much more difficult. In this episode of the Wheat School, Peter "Wheat Pete" Johnson talks about combine set-ups, the possibility of applying a pre-harvest burndown, and is later joined by... Read More
We know that planting a soybean crop is half the battle in getting good yields, but once it's growing and the potential is there, how can growers protect soybean yield potential? In this Soybean School episode, Ken Currah, agronomist at BASF, joins Bernard Tobin in the field at Oxford County, Ont., to talk white mould,... Read More
Getting the right spray quality and the right water volume can be a bit tricky, and when it comes to nozzles, there are a few factors to consider when picking the right one. When it comes to nozzle size and spray pattern, there are two important questions our expert for this Canola School episode asks:... Read More
It was a dry start to the year for soybeans in Ontario as a lot of seed went into dry conditions, but the crop seems to have come along. A dry spring in Ontario can make for easier planting though, and coupled with timely rains the season's start hasn't been too bad. In this Soybean... Read More