There has been considerable discussion around tar spot disease in corn this season and of course many questions as well. Let’s go over some of these questions! Where did Tar Spot common from? In 2015, Tar Spot was confirmed in the Midwest US (Indiana/Illinois) where it was believed to have been blown in from Mexico on storm systems. Since 2015,…
Managing phosphorus for improved water quality: best practices depend on where you farm Thanks to drier-than-normal spring seasons the past two years, harmful algae blooms in 2020 and 2021 in the western basin of Lake Erie have not been as severe as in preceding years. Phosphorus (P) loading to the lake, however, remains an important issue on both sides of…
What Will Be the Corn Nitrogen Story for 2021? While the 2021 growing season started dry, regular and often heavy rains started for many areas from Southern to Eastern Ontario from late June through July. Some received well above normal rainfall in July. Naturally, conversations began revolving around “are we losing nitrogen (N)” or “will we need more N on…
Ontario Hay Listings is a free classifieds service provided by the Ontario Forage Council. Producers looking to buy or sell hay or straw are encouraged to post an ad. AAFC’s Agroclimate Impact Reporter is interested in how weather impacts farms throughout the growing season (i.e. what’s really happening on the ground). This ag-sector citizen science effort feeds into AgriRecovery and…
Tracey Baute August 30, 2021 756 Comments Off on Fall Armyworm Alert – Forages, Corn, Cereals and Others at RiskSeveral reports of fields with fall armyworm (FAW) larvae have been coming in over the last few days. Growers or scouts drive by a field and pull over, shocked to see only stems left of plants with larvae happily feeding. So far most of the damage has been found in oats, rye cover crop, mixed forages and newly seeded cereals….
It is safe to say that western bean cutworm (WBC) is a pest that we can rely on entering corn and dry beans every year in Ontario. Though a frustrating pest to scout for, using traps to monitor moth flight has helped us better predict when to expect peak moth flight occurs, which is shortly followed by peak egg laying….
Tar spot in corn was first identified last year in Ontario on September 21, 2020 and confirmed to overwinter in Ontario on July 2, 2021 in West Elgin. Since then, tar spot has been also detected in Essex, Chatham-Kent, Lambton, Middlesex and Norfolk counties as of July 18, 2021 (Figure 1). This was anticipated since tar spot has continued to…
Successful Subsoiling? In many fields, the month of August means the end of cereal harvest and the beginning of a window of opportunity. In many ways, this is the best time of the season for soil improvements beyond what small grains already provide. Applying manure, seeding cover crops, or maybe trying to bury…
Holly Ivany August 13, 2021 381 Comments Off on Fall Cover Crop Termination vs. Planting Green on a Clay Soil in Haldimand CountyIf you are interested in learning more about planting green into a strip-till corn system, the video below outlines the experience that Matt Beischlag, a farmer based in Haldimand county, Ontario, had in the 2021 season. Matt and his family have a mixed farm of broiler chickens, corn, soybean and wheat cash crops, and red clover seed production. This past…
This article was written by Dwiti Mistry, Canola & Dry Bean Research Assistant The major canola insect Brassicogethes viridescens, or the pollen beetle, is of growing concern in Canada as it has the potential to significantly impact yield from canola crops. The pollen beetle is a known canola pest in Europe and has also been an established pest in the…
Holly Ivany August 10, 2021 333 Comments Off on Planting green into cover crops on clay soils in NiagaraIf you are interested or considering planting green into cover crops, the video below outlines key challenges and successes that Larry Dyck, a Niagara farmer based in Campden, Ontario has experienced. Larry farms with his son Ben and shares some of his experiences planting green into a cover crop mixture on heavy clay soils. This video starts in May 2021…
Ontario Hay Listings is a free classifieds service provided by the Ontario Forage Council. Producers looking to buy or sell hay or straw are encouraged to post an ad. As cereal grain crops are harvested, there is an opportunity to establish an annual forage crop. For a late fall grazing or harvest, research by Dr. Bill Deen suggests 80 lbs/acre…
Cover Crops for Weed Management It’s the time of year when Ontario farmers are turning their attention to seeding cover crops following cereal harvest. Each grower has their own reasons for growing a cover crop – whether it’s to improve organic matter, hold onto nutrients from manure, provide a nitrogen credit or protect against erosion. In this report, we will…
Tracey Baute August 4, 2021 254 Comments Off on Western Bean Cutworm Trap Catch Results as of Aug 3rdBased on WBC trap counts, peak flight likely took place over the last 7 days. Though we never know for sure until a week later when moth catches really dropped. That said, comparing this year to previous years, it lands in the same week we have experienced peak flight since 2018 (Figure 1). Peak flight means that during that period,…
The Making Cover Crops Pay series (available on YouTube and linked below) includes three practical webinars that have discussions and presentations by technical specialists and experienced farmers. This series is presented by Soils at Guelph, the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food, and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA) Soil Team, Grain Farmers of Ontario, and the Ontario Soil and Crop Improvement Association (OSCIA)….
