Soybeans are prone to poor plant establishment because the seedling must pull the cotyledon seed leaves through the ground to emerge. Plant stand reductions are rarely uniform, which makes the decision to replant difficult. Do not assess a poor soybean stand too quickly, since more seedlings may still emerge. In 2020 we have seen soybeans emerge 40 days after planting….
Canola producers are likely familiar with flea beetle and have an understanding of how to manage them. Many are reporting flea beetle feeding this spring. A few resources have been brought together here to help with scouting and decision making on control measures. “Five Things to Know about Flea Beetle” from Canola watch by Canola Council of Canada (CCC) Comprehensive…
Photo: Uneven corn emergence in a clay loam soil. Today’s notable quotable was from Paul Sullivan: “Cutting trash [in overworked soil] is like cutting a cucumber on a sofa, there’s nothing to push against to cut the residue”. If you like the maps in this article, similar ones on precipitation and temperature are available from AAFC HERE. Data is updated daily, weekly, or…
Warmer conditions starting late last week have fast-tracked crop growth. Rainfall during the past week has been sporadic with isolated thunderstorms resulting in flooded fields in one location and no rainfall less than a km away. Fields in many regions would welcome some moisture. Listen to the audio version below or subscribe on iTunes, Google play or Spotify Corn Planting…
Introducing….to your mobile device or computer, the newest in a series of on-line calculators. The phosphorus loss assessment tool for Ontario, nicknamed PLATO, will help determine the risk of phosphorus (P) loss from nutrient applications at a field scale.PLATO takes both field characteristics, such as erosion risk and soil test level, as well as P application practices into account, and…
Weather: Warmer conditions starting late last week have fast-tracked crop growth. Tracking growing degree day (GDD) accumulation – Base 0 – for April and May in Huron county revealed 159 GGD in April and 244 GDD from May 1-25. Rainfall during the past week was sporadic with isolated thunderstorms resulting in flooded fields in one location and no rainfall…
A number of reports have come in that cereal aphid populations are increasing. Scouting cereal fields is advised. Natural enemies are present in many fields so I recommend using the Cereal Aphid Manager app to help you decide if a spray is required based on your aphid and natural enemy populations. The cereal aphid threshold is 12 to 15 aphids…
Dry conditions have enabled rapid progress on planting. Some areas could use some rain to help crop emergence. The excellent weather conditions meant some districts were not represented on this week’s call, but those that were present estimated overall planting progress at 70-80%. Cereals, canola and grasses are all Base 0˚C GDD crops. The cool weather has limited GDD accumulation…
Temperatures over the past week have been significantly warmer than the week prior. Most of the province saw rain over the long weekend. In many areas this was welcome news, but much of southwestern Ontario received significant downpours and flooded fields were a common sight. Listen to the audio version below. Subscribe on iTunes, Google play or Spotify Corn Most of…
19 May 2020, 8:00 am Due to COVID restrictions, ag breakfast meetings will be paired and held virtually by video conference on the “zoom” platform in 2020. The fourth 2020 Ridgetown-Simcoe virtual ag breakfast meeting was held May 19 with 80 participants. Weather: Crop development has been slow coming out of several days of well below seasonal, and in some cases, record breaking…
Some corn was planted around 10th of April. A much larger acreage got in between the 21st and 27th. The rest got in during the first part of May. Corn planted to date has gone in under very good soil conditions for the most part. The remainder of the corn will be likely planted after the 21st of May due…
Temperatures were well below seasonal for much of the past week due to the presence of an arctic air mass. Low night-time temperature records were set in many areas of the province with low temperatures between 0 to -7⁰C and snow fell overnight more than once. The widespread risk of the cold weather impacts is decreasing with the predicted warm…
OMAFRA Field Crop Team May 14, 2020 246 Comments Off on Cobourg + Winchester Agribusiness Breakfast Meeting Minutes – May 13, 2020Below-seasonal temperatures was the underlying issue in this week’s call. Peterborough County and Kawartha Lakes seem to be the most delayed areas in central and eastern Ontario. Retailers have been able to keep up with customer demands. There was talk of fertilizer backlog at the ports, but so far this has not affected the supply chain in central and eastern…
OMAFRA Field Crop Team May 13, 2020 347 Comments Off on Exeter + Mt. Forest AgriBusiness Breakfast Meeting Minutes – May 12, 2020The topic of conversation this week is “cold conditions”. Temperatures were well below seasonal for much of the past week due to the presence of an arctic air mass. Night-time temperatures reached as low as -8⁰C in some parts of southern Ontario. Many parts of the province experienced low temperatures between 0 and -4⁰C and snow accumulated in many regions. …
This article is a short reminder for sprayer operators to respect the possibility of tipping a sprayer. Every spring I catch wind of someone tipping over. When I can ask the operator questions I start with “Is everyone alright?” and “Was the sprayer full?“. Hopefully the answers are “Yes” and “No”, but not always. The following factors are always involved:…
