Planting The March 2018 planting intentions report by Statistics Canada estimated Ontario farmers intended to plant 2.2 million acres of grain corn, comparing to a 5-year (2013-2017) average of 2.1 million acres (OMAFRA Crop Statistics). A cool April coupled with snow and freezing rain events through to the middle of the month limited early field […]
Go here for the updated version of this article. Cereal rye has several strengths as a cover crop option. It’s relatively inexpensive and easy to kill. Rye improves soil structure, builds organic matter and helps protect against water and wind erosion. It also competes with weeds, as Mike Cowbrough has written here (see Figure 1). […]
Summary The saying in cropping “rain makes grain” was certainly true for soybeans in 2018. Above average rainfall in late July and August resulted in the highest provincial yields on record. What makes this achievement especially impressive is that much of May, June, and even the first half of July were very dry. At the […]
Did you know that OMAFRA has a handbook that’s all about nutrients and soil fertility? It’s called the Soil Fertility Handbook and was first published in 1998. The book covers topics such as soil testing, soil pH and lime and fertilizer application. There’s a chapter on organic nutrient sources, like manure, biosolids and cover crops, […]
Fall 2017 Planting Planting conditions started off well and continued through to mid-October with little disruption. Rainfall around Thanksgiving weekend halted soybean harvest and subsequently winter wheat planting but once conditions dried up planting continued through to November. Approximately 906,000 acres of winter wheat were seeded which is slightly down from the previous year’s 910,000 […]
In properly ensiled corn silage, research has not shown an increase in mycotoxins from levels in the crop at harvest. Fusarium species, the fungi that produce DON, do not like low oxygen, low pH environments, so if corn goes through the proper ensiling process fusarium should no longer be active and able to produce DON. […]
The wet fall and delayed harvest of 2018 has left a lot of Ontario soybeans still in the field. This is a big deal, especially for farmers who are growing Identity-Preserved (IP) soybeans with a premium of several dollars per bushel! And the main question growers are asking: If my beans are wet, can I […]
Planting and Development The dry edible bean season started out positively with good planting conditions at the end of May and beginning of June. There was not much rain in the last half of May, and by May 28th temperatures were reaching 30˚C with no risk of frost. A large proportion of the dry beans […]
As the harvest season winds down many farmers begin to think about talking to their non-farming land owners about farming the land next year. Non-farming land owners are also preparing for discussions with a familiar grower or with a new one. According to the Farm and Food Care Ontario website over 35% or 4 […]
We are all aware of the imperative to minimize compaction, but with crop quality on the line, tough choices have to be made on the trade-off between the grain quality and potential income from this year’s crop, and future yield and cost of production due to compaction losses or increased tillage passes. There have […]
Some crops respond well to seed placed fertilizer. Applying phosphorus to wheat in-furrow has become standard practice for many growers. The amount of fertilizer that can be applied safely depends on the crop species, the type of fertilizer, the rate, soil type and soil moisture. Complete crop failures are possible if the seed or seedling […]
Planting and Development In 2018 there was an increase in spring canola acreage in Ontario compared to the previous two years. Insured acres totaled approximately 30,000 ac in 2016 and 2017, whereas there was nearly 40,000 ac insured by Agricorp in 2018. Canola acreage increased across many regions, but the most notable increase was the […]
This is the question that Mark Burnham near Coburg and several other growers across Ontario are trying to answer. It can be a challenge for many grain growers to justify the returns of winter wheat in a cash crop rotation, so these innovative growers are experimenting with different ways to continue growing wheat profitably. […]
My colleague Dr. Clarence Swanton (University of Guelph) used to say that based on research he did in the 1980’s, one should not expect to control weeds with cover crops. Their utility was in preventing soil erosion and improving soil health but not in significantly reducing weed populations. However, Dr. Swanton has had to re-think […]
Some corn harvested in Ontario this year has concentrations of toxins from ear moulds that are elevated to levels that are too high to be used in animal feed. This could lead to questions about what can be done with this corn, either prior to or after processing. Land application is a possibility. The following […]