Spring harvest is underway in Western Canada, in canola fields that were left in the field due to wet conditions last fall.For growers who haven’t combined canola in spring before, there are some significant differences between harvesting in fall versus spring notes Shawn Senko, agronomy specialist with the Canola Council of Canada, in this Canola… Read More
Category: Crop Schools
Does timing matter in strip till? Will corn planted into fall-made strips out-yield spring strips?That’s just one of many questions corn growers are asking as strip tillage gains popularity as a reduced tillage option that delivers the benefits of conventional tillage, says Ben Rosser, corn lead for the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural… Read More
It can be challenging to get a reliable weed control system in place for pulse crops, due to several market and technical barriers. However, we still need to do what we can to set ourselves up for success, especially during that critical weed-free period.Andrew Reid, technical marketing specialist with BASF, says one of the most… Read More
Wheat is worth about $7 a bushel right now — and we have to chase as many bushels as we can.That’s the message RealAgriculture agronomist Peter Johnson has for growers in our latest episode of the Wheat School. One way to optimize yield in winter wheat is effective use of plant growth regulators (PGRs).Growth regulators… Read More
Most producers that grow canola are well aware of blackleg and the damage the disease can inflict on a canola crop. However, when we think of scouting for blackleg, we often think of clipping canola plants later on in the season when the disease is evident in stems.Believe it or not, blackleg is a disease… Read More
When you look at the landscape across the Prairies, there’s currently all weather happening — from sunshine and seeding, to snow still covering fields.Pulse crops require a little bit of different attention in numerous ways, but an imperative thing you have to keep in mind before that seed goes in the ground is — do… Read More
Strip tillage for corn continues to gain momentum as more growers cultivate strips to reduce total tillage and place seed and fertilizer in soil that warms faster prior to planting.But what about weed control? How do growers keep yield-robbing weeds at bay in these cultivated strips and optimize the potential of the growing environment created… Read More
The McBlain family farm, located southeast of Brantford in Ontario’s Brant County, hasn’t seen a plow in a generation.Tyler McBlain’s grandfather started no-tilling back in the 1980s. Since that time the farm has gradually moved to a no-till system for soybeans and wheat while all corn is now produced in a strip till system. Today,… Read More
It’s been six years since the disease we now call verticillium stripe was discovered in canola in North America.First identified on a research farm in Manitoba in 2014, a Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) survey the next year found the pathogen, which can cause striping symptoms on canola stems, in six provinces — from B.C…. Read More
When it’s mid-April, relatively dry, but cool, should you plant soybeans?We tackle that question on the latest RealAgriculture Soybean School episode with Horst Bohner, Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs soybean specialist.Bohner has a simple answer to our question. Basically, he recommends planting both soybeans and corn within the same window. “If it’s… Read More