It might only be the middle of October, but it looks and feels like winter in parts of Western Canada, especially as you move north and west in Alberta and Saskatchewan. Snow and freezing rain have left many canola growers with a helpless feeling as crop that was ready to be harvested is now under... Read More
Category: Crop Production
Hang on and let's go — it's time for this week's episode of Wheat Pete's Word on RealAgriculture.com! To start this week, Peter Johnson, resident agronomist and life-long Wild Man, shares a neat stay-awake reminder for all y'all out there harvesting. Bottom line? Stay safe, and let's get this crop in the bin. From there,... Read More
Sponsored Post: If harvest efficiency is what you're after, straight-cutting canola looks mighty appealing. But, as with any new practice on the farm, there are lessons to be learned ahead of wide-spread adoption. In this episode of the Growing Series podcast, Saskatchewan-based Cargill agronomist Janel Delage and Shaun Haney from RealAgriculture.com get down to brass... Read More
Canola seed companies are releasing more varieties with claims they have reduced susceptibility to sclerotinia, but how do they determine those ratings? Coming off a season with high sclerotinia pressure, what does it mean if a variety is labelled as 'partially resistant'? In 2011, the Western Canadian Canola/Rapeseed Recommending Committee started searching for a test... Read More
A wet harvest has led some Western Canadian farmers to make the switch from tires to tracks on combines, tractors and grain carts. "The tracks are going to give you the decrease in slippage and a bit of extra floatation, and that's what people are looking for right now," notes Marla Riekman, soil management specialist... Read More
Ontario’s winter wheat crop is growing like gangbusters thanks to unseasonably warm fall temperatures. But could it grow too much? “No way,” says agronomist Peter Johnson in Real Agriculture’s latest Wheat School episode. “The only thing we have to worry about is if it’s still growing on Christmas Eve, like last year.” In that case... Read More
You've likely seen Environment Canada's Tweet celebrating #WorldFoodDay and thanking farmers...well, some farmers. If not, here it is: Today is #WorldFoodDay. Thanks Farmers! Let’s help keep the planet healthy and productive. Tips here: https://t.co/D4WBHIjjU8 — Environment Canada (@environmentca) October 16, 2016 Seems nice enough, yeah? Well, then you follow the link. It doesn't lead to... Read More
Ontario’s corn crop is showing high vomitoxin levels and growers are being urged to harvest as quickly as possible to preserve corn quality. Last week, the OMAFRA Field Crops team revealed that 26% of the samples taken in its annual vomitoxin survey had DON concentrations of 2.0 ppm or greater. At these levels, vomitoxin produced... Read More
Just east of Westlock, Alberta, whole fields of standing canola are encased in ice. This latest storm that rolled through late Saturday night was insult added to the injury of five to ten inches of snow that fell Friday, October 14, 2016. These scenes at Westlock aren't rare right now: huge areas of central and... Read More
There are revolutionary developments happening in the world of molecular biology that could soon make their way to the farm or field. That is, if society allows it. Chances are you've seen a headline containing the terms 'gene editing' or 'CRISPR' in the last year or two. It likely involved a scientist excited about how... Read More