Category: Crop Production

The Seed Variety Use Agreement (SVUA) pilot program launched earlier this year now includes five varieties, as DL Seeds in Manitoba has announced the registration of two new field pea varieties that will be part of the project. A Seed Variety Use Agreement allows plant breeders to set a royalty fee, referred to as a... Read More

What effect will extreme cold temperatures have on early-season weed control? That's a question University of Guelph, Ridgetown College weed scientist Dr. Peter Sikkema has been hearing a lot lately. With farm fields across Ontario being punished by extreme cold temperatures that have dropped to nighttime lows of minus 5 degrees C, many growers are... Read More

With extreme cold temperatures continuing across Ontario, when should growers resume planting soybeans? Planting came to a halt late last week as Ontario finds itself in the grip of extended cold daytime and nighttime temperatures. Snow covered parts of the province during the weekend and into Monday. And there's more to come — some areas... Read More

There was a time when many people thought of field insects like weeds — all bad. Weeds steal yield, so we try to eliminate all or mostly all of those weeds. Now through many years of research, the way we look at insects in a crop has begun to shift away from this all-bad, all-must-go... Read More

Just how important is the European Union canola (rapeseed) market? According to LeftField Commodity Research, the region had more than doubled its year-over-year canola imports up to mid-March of this year, offsetting nearly half of the Canadian tonnage that would have been sold to China. That's a significant increase, says Jonathan Driedger with LeftField, driven... Read More

By Peter Johnson, RealAg Agronomist, @WheatPete It is COLD! There are lots of questions right now about how low nighttime temperatures in the forecast might impact Ontario's awesome wheat crop. I am hoping this is just another one of those times that growers like to “kill” the wheat crop, but the reality is that there... Read More

After a decent start to the spring season, Ontario's weather has done a bit of a 180 and turned cool and damp. What does it mean for planting and spraying? In this week's episode of Wheat Pete's Word, host Peter Johnson covers why tank contents might be more important than temperature when it comes to... Read More

Soybeans can handle cold, dry conditions at planting, but growers need to be careful when a cold, wet forecast is bearing down on their farm. Planting is proceeding quickly across Ontario, but many growers are asking if they should park the planter as an early-May polar vortex approaches the province — daytime highs of 3... Read More

Drier weather over the last few years has taken some of the wind out of soybeans' sails in Western Canada, but there's a case to be made that fundamental climate trends on the Prairies still support good soybeans yields in the longer term. Especially if growers are on the ball with planting when the soil... Read More

As seeding begins in Western Canada, where are we at with canola acres, pulse prices, and the feed wheat outlook? In this week's LIVE! Q&A, Brennan Turner, founder of Farmlead and the Combyne marketplace, joins Shaun Haney to discuss markets, take questions, and compare (a lack of) haircuts. From acres moving out of canola, to... Read More