Category: Crop Production

Not only are there environmental benefits to improved soil biology, but there are economic incentives as well, says a farmer from Ohio who spoke about cover crops and a systems approach to microbiology at the SoilSmart conference in Waterloo, Ont., in late January. Jeff Rasawehr joined Bernard Tobin to discuss six steps for establishing healthy... Read More

Wheat may not be the high and mighty king of the prairies it once was, but it's still a valuable, consistent crop for the majority of farmers' rotations. And for good reason — this cool season crop is well adapted to a wide swath of growing conditions, performs well and competes on a global scale... Read More

While the Groundhog Day forecasters across Canada are sending mixed messages about what kind of weather to anticipate for the next six weeks, the senior meteorologist with World Weather Inc. says farmers in Western Canada should expect more of what they’ve been getting. For the eastern side of the prairies, that means surges of cold... Read More

There’s a robust corn research project in the works in Manitoba looking at not just the agronomic impact of corn in rotation, but the economics of adding the crop being used for food, feed and — sometimes — fuel. If you check out the CropConnect agenda (here), you’ll find a list of names associated with... Read More

A joint federal-provincial funding announcement has pledged $250,000 in research funding and $969,000 for equipment for a Manitoba lab aimed at identifying and addressing problems caused by canola diseases and pests. Research funding is provided under Growing Forward 2 - Growing Actions and will be used to take samples from across the province to determine... Read More

These aren't your daddy's corn hybrids. If you think modern corn hybrids are leaps and bounds more productive than what you were planting 15 or years ago, you're right. But thinking so and knowing so (and how) are two different things, and for that you need research. Tony Vyn, of Purdue University, has looked at... Read More

Sometimes it’s the little things that go unnoticed that actually have a big impact. Who hasn’t been waylaid by one tiny little part that breaks or goes missing? Big-picture considerations are important too, but the devil, as they say, is in the details. When it comes to spraying, details can easily be overlooked. When’s the... Read More

Consistent droplet size and canopy penetration are two key points of getting the most out of your spray application (assuming you're after leaf coverage, of course). Sending spray droplets where you actually want them to go is much harder than it sounds — part of the reason for that is air movement and turbulence as... Read More

Peter Johnson will be the first to tell you he’s not retiring — he’s just retiring from his role as cereal specialist with the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. So while we won’t be completely rid of Wheat Pete, as he’s known, his departure from the ministry still deserves a send-off befitting... Read More

North Americans can and do choose to spend 30% or more on organic or market-differentiated food because we can. We're an incredibly wealthy society, by and large, and are only required to spend about 8% of our income on food. So does that give us the right to condemn those who can't afford to pay... Read More