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 work. A warm dry period…
Jake Munroe December 17, 2018 3119 Comments Off on To plant green or to plant brown? Rye cover crop termination timing before soybeansCereal 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). However, in most cases, rye doesn’t put on much growth until the month of…
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 end of the day Ontario…
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, as well as tips for…
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 acres. The proportion of hard…
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. It takes at least three…
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 bin-dry them with regular air? …