Category: Crop Schools

Will strip tillage find a home in Ontario soybean fields?AGRIS Co-operative agronomist Dale Cowan certainly believes there’s a fit. Last June on RealAgriculture Soybean School we visited Cowan in a field of strip tilled soybeans near Mount Brydges, Ont., where Cowan’s brother, Larry and Larry’s son, Chris, of Chimo Farms, had created an integrated strip till program where… Read More

One of the big stories in the Canadian wheat industry this year has been re-emerging demand for Hard Red Winter (HRW) wheat in Ontario.Hard Red Winter used to occupy up to 18 percent of wheat acres in the province, but that number has dropped to an estimated 7 per cent in recent years and Ontario… Read More

Imagine planting corn hybrids that could produce 40 to 80 percent of their nitrogen requirements.It’s only 10 years away, says University of Wisconsin–Madison researcher Dr. Vania Pankievicz. The breakthrough comes from a Mexican corn variety called Sierra Mixe. At the recent Innovative Farmers Association of Ontario conference in London, Ontario, Pankievicz explained that the 15-foot tall variety, often… Read More

What’s the best strategy for managing herbicide resistance on your farm?In this episode of RealAgriculture’s Resistance Management School we visit Günter Jochum at his farm near St. Francois Xavier, MB. In 2010, Jochum discovered Group 1 herbicide resistant wild oats in one of his fields. Once the presence of resistant wild oats was confirmed, Jochum adopted an… Read More

There are a lot of concerns in the pulse market at the moment. Things such as competition from the Black Sea region, and what’s happening with the election in India, can keep farmers up at night.While you have one eye on the markets, it’s also important to keep the other on agronomy. This is what… Read More

For people who play the stock market, an opportunity to cash in on an 826 per cent return on investment doesn’t come along too often.But Ontario farmers can realize this type of return every time they apply herbicide in corn fields that experience intense weed pressure, says University of Guelph weed scientist Dr. Peter Sikkema.“Most… Read More

Corn is a grass and we should grow it like one.That’s Illinois farmer Marion Calmer’s management mantra, and he preaches it where ever he travels. Last month, Calmer brought his corn philosophy to the SouthWest Agricultural Conference at Ridgetown, Ont.On this episode of RealAgriculture’s Corn School, Calmer summarizes his six secrets to producing top corn… Read More

Look through many soybean seed catalogues and you’ll find an ‘LL’ in the trait category surrounded by a plethora of ‘RR2Y’ and ‘RR2Xtend’ abbreviations, noting the last two versions of Roundup Ready seed technology.The number of  Liberty Link (LL) herbicide system varieties are few compared to the massive Roundup Ready seed footprint, but the technology still… Read More

When it comes to planting corn into cover crops, cereal rye is a popular option for Ontario growers.It’s also a top choice for Illinois growers, says Crop-Tech agronomist Ken Ferrie who shared cover crop strategies at the CropSmart 2019 conference held earlier this month at Kitchener, Ont. In this episode of RealAgriculture’s Corn School, Ferrie notes… Read More

The theoretical yield of soybeans varies depending on who you talk to, but by all accounts the oilseed should be able to top 300 bushels per acre.For growers who deal with the reality of growing the crop in Ontario, a more realistic target is 80 bu/ac, says Syngenta agronomist Eric Richter. With the 2018 provincial… Read More