Long-term field research, conducted by the University of Guelph, has confirmed Solvita Soil Tests as valuable testing tools for evaluating soil health. Research results show that Solvita tests enabled a high level of certainty in "useful" cropping comparisons and correlated with soil carbon levels and total soil nitrogen. Solvita tests have the ability to capture... Read More
Category: Crop Production
In the early 2000s, Canadian farmers from the east helped out those in the west with hay supplies, after the drought of 2002 left very little for feed. Dubbed Hay West, the grassroots movement was revived 10 years later, when western Canadian farmers returned the favour for many farmers in Ontario's Ottawa Valley with Hay... Read More
If you farm across the southern prairies, you are unfortunately no stranger to the lack of moisture in 2021. High market prices at the start of the year caused many to eliminate some risk on their farm by locking in some grain for the end of the season. However, Mother Nature has taken her toll,... Read More
A few key things are lining up for the corn crop — but they are not necessarily all good. The western bean cutworm flight and pollination are lining up nearly perfectly, and that means an increased risk of gibberella ear rot infection. For this episode of Wheat Pete's Word, host Peter Johnson discusses another hit... Read More
Spraying a fungicide requires considering the stage of plant a bit differently than when spraying a herbicide. At herbicide timing, the canopy of the crop is a lot shorter and less dense. "For fungicides, we're now talking about a taller canopy, a canopy that's probably closed in, and a canopy that's a little bit diverse... Read More
If ever there was a year for timely applications of fungicides on the Ontario edible bean crop, this year is it. The 2021 growing season is shaping up as an ideal year for white mould development, increasing the importance of at least two timely fungicide passes to protect the crop. In this episode of the... Read More
Tremendous rains in Ontario this year, with more on the way, have resulted in "wet feet" for some soybean fields. When wet conditions persist, the soybean crop will start to struggle. To explain the science behind wet feet, Dr. Dave Hooker, field crop agronomist and associate professor at University of Guelph, joins Bernard Tobin for... Read More
While it's important to stay current on new and emerging diseases of the corn crop, it's still important to keep tabs on the old standbys, such as northern corn leaf blight. "We know the weather's been favourable for diseases, and we get lots of calls on that," says Alberta Tenuta, plant pathologist at OMAFRA. There's... Read More
The annual Ontario field crop diagnostic days held at Ridgetown, Elora, and Winchester will again go virtual in 2021. The organizing committees of these three highly successful in-field education and learning events are again partnering with crop researchers and extension, along with support from RealAgriculture and a host of sponsors to bring you a series... Read More
Protein Industries Canada (PIC) announced July 20 their co-investment in a project that will improve data use within Canada’s agriculture and agri-food sector. The project is led by the Enterprise Machine Intelligence and Learning Initiative (EMILI), in collaboration with the Alberta Data Institute (ADI), a program under Alberta Innovates, as well as a number of... Read More