Brown marmorated stink bug (BMSB) is our newest pest of concern for Ontario agriculture. Though we have not detected it yet on any of its crop hosts, we have confirmed it has established breeding populations here in Ontario and is successfully overwintering in homes in Hamilton, Toronto, Newboro and most recently Windsor. It is likely […]
With three consecutive days of morning frost in many parts of the province, the two most common questions are 1) Will the corn be alright? and 2) When can I start to apply herbicides? Question 1 is answered nicely by Greg Stewart in this story (the abbreviated version is that things will be fine but if […]
Synopsis: DRY! Excellent planting progress with corn finished and beans ranging 70% +. Small % corn seedlings showing abnormal/poor germ. Soil conditions EXTREMELY poor on heavy clays with excessive April rain (Lambton, Elgin). Excellent tillage discussion, with divergent viewpoints. Disappointment with uptake of proper burndown herbicide combinations in light of glyphosate resistant weeds. Advanced wheat […]
Synopsis: Planting conditions have been excellent with greater than 95 percent of corn and over 75 percent of soybeans planted. Rainfall is needed to activate pre-emerge herbicides and capitalize nitrogen applied to wheat crops after the rains stopped. Alfalfa weevil populations are high and control is recommended in fields where harvest is still over a […]
First-cut forage yield expectations are quite variable, with some drier areas and winter damaged, older, and fall harvested stands showing reduced yield potential. There is some concern about rebuilding forage inventories to adequate levels. Many new seedings were planted with cereal and cereal-pea mixtures to supply summer forage. (Forage Production From Spring Cereals and Cereal-Pea […]
co-authors: Dr. Clarence Swanton and Dr. Francois Tardif You may be faced with a scenario where there is an abundance of weeds at or near the maximum leaf-stage for effective control, yet the soybean crop is not at the growth stage specified on the product label. As a producer or consultant, do you focus on […]
We are getting a lot of calls about alfalfa weevil in various counties nearing or reaching threshold. Scouting is strongly recommended. Joel Bagg wrote a very thorough blog entry last year regarding scouting and management options so I won’t bother to repeat his efforts and instead direct you to that blog here. […]
When you don’t have the luxury of starting with multiple years of corn yield data how does one get started with a variable rate nitrogen strategy? Initial assessment of the field needs to question how variable the field actually is, and more to the point – what is driving the variability across that field? Greg […]
Alfalfa and grass are growing well and will respond quickly to moisture and heat. The May 14th frost did very little damage to established alfalfa and new seedings. (“Frost Damaged Alfalfa” https://fieldcropnews.com/?p=6812) Grass stands have responded very well to early applied nitrogen with significantly more growth. (Apply Nitrogen To Grass Stands To Increase Yields https://fieldcropnews.com/?p=6830) Early […]
From May 1st to 12th, accumulations of 15 to 30 mm of rain and 220 Crop Heat Units (CHU) were recorded. The long term average for this same period is about 130 CHU. There was frost on May 14th across eastern Ontario with a low of -2o to -3o C. Little damage expected as the […]
Synopsis: Corn planting is 85% complete, with 10% of soys planted. Wheat has progressed rapidly, with earliest wheat pushing the flag leaf stage: soon beyond herbicide applications. A great deal of sulphur deficiency is showing in wheat. Fortunately frost was a near miss with little damage. Glyphosate resistant weeds have been positively identified in Huron […]
May 7, 2013 ~ Variable Rate Corn Population: Yesterday was a sunny and successful variable rate planting day at Blythe Brae Farms in Oxford County. Greg Stewart and I created a normalized multi-year corn yield map (6 corn years in total) and then simplified the normalized yield map into 3 zones: low, medium, and high. Next the management zones were […]
Synopsis: Tremendous activity on the lighter textured soils (south of Hwy 401) with 80% corn planted on lighter soils. Planting on clay soils is just starting. Just a few soybeans planted but many growers gearing up if weather allows. Manganese and sulphur deficiencies are evident in the wheat crop. Advanced wheat is at flag leaf […]
I took the above video in 2010 when a lot of corn was planted in mid April and had emerged nicely only to be hit with a frost in May. Although the injury looked bad at the time, because the growing point was below the ground the crop made a complete recovery and 2010 saw […]
Synopsis: Amazing how so much fieldwork can be accomplished in 1 week of ideal weather. Light textured soils are 90+ % planted for corn, while heavy textured clays of Haldimand and Wentworth are just getting started with about 10% planted; Niagara (Wainfleet area) about 30%. On the Haldimand clays, more beans are planted so far […]