Field Crop News is a resource for Ontario field crop production. It is managed by the Field Crop Unit of the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA). Browse our library of information by:
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Ontario Cereal Crop Committee 2024 Data is Live!
The Ontario Cereal Crop Committee (OCCC) winter wheat and winter barley 2024 final performance trial data is now available at GoCrops.ca. The 2024 data can be found in the tables under “winter wheat” and “winter barley” in the “performance trial results” tab at GoCrops.ca. The PDF report can also be found here. When considering decisions,…
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Seeding Equipment Decisions Series – Crop Chats
Welcome to the second series in the Crop Chats brand under FieldCropNews. This series explores the seeding equipment including planters, drills, airseeders and others that this group of farmers are using on their farms. With farm equipment being so expensive these days, the goal of the series is to share with others the thought process…
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Winning with Notill Series – Crop Chats
Welcome to the inaugural Crop Chats series of video case studies. This series explores a number of Ontario farmers journey to a Notill or almost Notill cropping system for the grain crops enterprise. They will each highlight that journey addressing their soil types, equipment, philosophy and practical tips on how they have made Notill successful…
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Crop Report – Week of September 2, 2024
Pre-Harvest Weed Control in Soybeans With many soybean fields turning yellow, the timing for pre-harvest weed control, if needed, is imminent. A pre-harvest herbicide treatment can make harvest more efficient when there are an unacceptable number of weeds in a soybean crop. Drier plant matter will pass more easily through the combine, lowering seed losses…
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Ontario Soil Management Committee
Table of Contents Mandate and 5 Year ThemesMembershipTerms of ReferenceHow to Submit New Recommendations or UpdatesData Requirements to Change RecommendationsFor More Information Mandate 5 Year Themes In particular, the OSMC will concentrate on the following broad themes over the next five years: Membership Membership of the OSMC is comprised of members drawn from government, the…
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Crop Conditions – Week of May 2nd, 2024
Frequent rains and wet soils across the province have slowed or prevented field work. Soil compaction is likely to be an issue this year, especially for farmers trying to get manure spread ahead of spring planting. Fertilizer has been moving out to farms with storage. Retailers are full and ready to apply product once soil…
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SHAP: Soil Health Assessment & Plan In-Field In-Office Match SHAP to your needs Assess Benchmark 5 Key Soil Health Indicators Improve Find Potential for Improvement Adapt Take a Flexible approach Interpret Use the SHAP Score Calculator to compare your test results to a database of results from similar Ontario soils. Use this benchmark to identify…
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When do cover crops, with and without manure applied, release nitrogen that can be used for my corn crop?
Cover crops can produce nitrogen. We looked at when different species release nitrogen and the impact that adding manure has on the timing and release of nitrogen. The simple answer Predicting nitrogen (N) availability from cover crops is complicated. Cold and wet conditions in the spring negativelyimpact soil microbial activity and can result in significant…
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When should I spray my cereal rye cover crop before soybeans?
Cereal rye is a versatile cover crop that can be seeded late into the fall in Ontario. Not to be confused with annual ryegrass – a grass that can be challenging to control – it is a winter cereal that overwinters reliably and grows rapidly in the spring. Delayed termination of rye by herbicide prior…
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Is the yield potential of alfalfa increasing?
The relationship between alfalfa breeding efforts and yield potential is complicated. While most literature on annual grain crops shows yield improvements with the release of new varieties over time, a literature search on alfalfa yield will show improvement, stagnation, and declines, depending on the paper. One of the latest attempts to discern what is really…
