Category: Crop Production

If the soil is fit but the calendar says March, do you dare put some wheat in the ground? On this episode of The Agronomists, host Lyndsey Smith is joined by Dr. Brian Beres with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada and Tyler McBlain with McBlain Farms to discuss ultra early cereal seeding — including seeding durum... Read More

For Derek Axten, changing nitrogen management on over 10,000 acres first required changing the goal. Shifting from a production-maximizing mentality to a profitability-first and resilience mindset is more fun, he says, though it's not without its share of challenges. The Axtens have been using several different management tools to make the shift to a soil-health... Read More

The fertilizer market doesn't move in lock-step with the grain markets — both the peak demand and trends work on their own timelines. Which is too bad, of course, when commodity prices drop but fertilizer prices don't follow suit. Both the fertilizer and commodity markets are, however, working through uncertainty and trade disruption created by... Read More

A fertilizer market free from tariffs is vitally important for U.S. growers, the nation's food security and the fertilizer industry. That's the message The Fertilizer Institute's Leanna Nigon says her organization, which advocates on behalf of the industry, has been working diligently to deliver to the Trump administration as it tries to head off potential... Read More

Harvested seed quality is heavily influenced by weather conditions throughout the growing season. Summers with drought conditions, as well as heat blast, can lead to an increased occurrence of mechanical damage in pulse seed lots. While the Prairies experienced both last year, the quality of seed going into 2025 is quite stable, says Carey Matthiessen,... Read More

Tracks certainly don't eliminate compaction, and they usually cost substantially more than wheels, but research at The Ohio State University shows there are several specific applications where tracks offer a productivity or yield advantage in the old tracks-versus-wheels debate. Scott Shearer of The Ohio State University stopped by to chat following his presentation on compaction... Read More

Not knowing what the weather will do is one of the great challenges when farming or ranching. While a producer can do everything within their power to ensure a successful crop, rain—or the lack of it—at inopportune times can spell disaster throughout the growing season. Weather and what it may look like for the coming... Read More

If there's one thing that's predictable in the current grain markets, it's unpredictability. While farmers are not complaining about a trend reversal in the corn market to the upside, the uncertainty of what's at play in the market does create some stress. To unpack what's happened and what to watch for in the coming days... Read More

There are plenty of decisions to make ahead of seeding and planting, and sometimes those decisions revolve around what goes down with the seed. For this week's episode of Wheat Pete's Word, Peter Johnson talks boron for canola, AMS vs. gypsum, and starter-fertilizer decisions with dry soil and seedbed utilization in mind. Also in this... Read More

A valuable tool for managing insect pests, such as flea beetles and grasshoppers, is back in the toolbox for 2025. As reported earlier this month, Health Canada's Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA) has effectively lifted a two-year ban on spraying insecticides containing lambda-cyhalothrin on crops that could be destined for livestock feed. Lambda-cy products, sold... Read More