As crop yields and nutrient removal rates continue to increase, many growers wonder whether it’s time to top up fertilizer rates. At the core of the discussion in Ontario is whether critical soil test values for corn and soybeans are still valid and whether they pack the nutrient punch needed to allow new hybrids and... Read More
Category: Crop Production
Sitting in the Northern Exposure presentation at the Southwest Agricultural Conference, I watched with fascination as a room full of southern Ontario farmers were captivated by Prairie agriculture. How's that, you ask? Well, farming in Ontario's "north" is far more similar to farming in Manitoba than the rest of the growing region of Ontario, and... Read More
Canola seed in Canada could soon come with a label describing the variety's blackleg disease resistance package, similar to the labeling system used in Australia. After around four years of discussions between seed companies, researchers, and growers, an agreement-in-principle has been reached on blackleg resistance labeling, says Clint Jurke, agronomy director with the Canola Council... Read More
Manure no-no's, cleaning corn to reduce vomitoxin levels, and trying to rush nature — this week's Wheat Pete's Word is jam-packed with answers to your toughest questions! Peter Johnson kicks of the Word with a discussion on spreading dry vs. liquid manure on snow, and then gets specific on vomi reduction on corn (including why... Read More
Agriculture is big business, but a small industry, if you think about the number of people involved. Within each sector, that number shrinks significantly, and, at times, trying to communicate the needs of one sector can be tough when you're few in number. The seed industry has faced that challenge for quite some time, and,... Read More
Food companies and millers are knocking on grain buyers' doors looking for oats that have been grown without an application of glyphosate. Demand for "glyphosate free" oats has ramped up over the last few months, says Kenric Exner, merchandising manager with Viterra. "We're starting to see more end-users in the U.S. ask if it's possible.... Read More
Agriculture has been working for decades to convince consumers to embrace the benefits modern science can bring to agriculture and food production. When it comes to technology, such as genetic engineering, much of the challenge with winning public approval can be linked to agribusiness and farming’s inability to establish itself as a trusted source for... Read More
Clarence Swanton has worked for 16 years on a super cool project that takes about 40 minutes to explain properly, as he did at the recent Southwest Agricultural Conference. Perhaps more impactful, however, is the time-lapse video he showed whereby the mere presence of weedy surroundings actually killed a tobacco seedling. Perhaps this makes sense... Read More
The Canadian Agricultural Safety Association (CASA) is officially launching BeGrainSafe, its new grain safety program. The official launch of the program will be at Manitoba Ag Days in Brandon this week from January 17 to 19, 2017. “Ag Days has time and again shown commitment to farm safety. This launch gives CASA the opportunity to... Read More
The trend higher for soybean acres in Western Canada isn't showing any sign of slowing down heading into the 2017 growing season. Just over 1.6 million acres of soybeans were grown in Manitoba in 2016. "Going into 2017, the early projections are we could see upwards of two million acres of soybeans...a 350,000 acre increase... Read More