Soil management prior to planting can be a lot like walking a tightrope. You really can't go too far one way or the other or you'll pay the price. While early season is all about making sure the soil is dry enough to get on, as soon as the time comes to plant, you need... Read More
Category: Crop Production
You may have run out of hay this winter, but at least you have the know-how to start your own snow-removal business! There’s a plus side to everything, right? We were actually pretty fortunate, this winter (I mean, besides from the experience gained by the aforementioned snow collection). Though we used more hay than anticipated,... Read More
The new Barley Council of Canada gets it: research and innovation, that’s what makes a difference to farmers. The Calgary-based council, formally incorporated last month, lists research and innovation at the front of its top five priorities. Others include best crop production practices, market development, market access and (I especially like this one) communication within... Read More
Most seasoned canola growers know a staggering amount of canola seed never becomes a viable plant, and it's not due to disease or poor germ. An unfortunate side effect of running an air drill is, well, air, or rather the damage that air can do to tiny canola seed as it pushes it through the... Read More
The ideal set up for winter wheat is plating in mid-September at about half an inch deep with starter fertilizer. Then it rains and the crop grows to three leaves plus one tiller, then gets covered in a cozy blanket of snow, where it stays until it warms up in the spring. Reality, however, often... Read More
The first few days of May brought a surprise! The Twitterverse lit up with reports of cutworms in southern Alberta. The first report came in on a new alfalfa stand. In alfalfa we normally expect that the cutworms will be redbacked but in this case they were army cutworm. The second field was a winter... Read More
Do you consider a top hat and monocle essential dress for seeding season? Do you carry one of those little dogs in a handbag inside your tractor cab with you? If so, it makes sense that you would be driving around your field throwing canola seed all over the place through broken hoses and missing... Read More
Inoculating soybeans properly and with the appropriate product is one of the top two important decisions that factor into the success of the crop (variety selection for your region is the first). A 40-bushel an acre crop will require roughly 200 pounds of nitrogen per acre — properly inoculated soybeans will fix the lion's share... Read More
The advent of glyphosate resistant weeds has and will continue to complicate pre-plant weed removal. Farmers need to match herbicide resistance management and control options with targeted weed species to ensure not only an effective kill, but also to avoid limiting control options later. Glyphosate-resistant giant ragweed has been confirmed in Ontario, and farmers set... Read More
Corn and feedgrain stocks were the only crop types that held or increased volume as of December, 2012. That's according to Statistics Canada's ending stocks report released today. Canola stocks were down over 20% over 2011 ending stocks, barley stocks continued to push downwards, even in the face of higher production in 2012, and oats... Read More