This article was originally written by Joel Bagg in 2012. It was edited August 22, 2025 by Christine O’Reilly to fix broken links to further resources. Extended periods of dry weather without rain can severely stress corn plants. When this occurs during tasselling and pollination, cob formation and grain yield can be significantly reduced. As […]
The importance of harvest moisture and maturity to corn silage quality and animal performance is often underestimated. Not only is it important to minimize fermentation dry matter and spoilage losses, it is difficult to compensate for poor forage quality in ration balancing and animal performance. Don’t get caught harvesting corn silage past optimum moisture and […]
This article was originally written by Joel Bagg (retired OMAFRA Forage Specialist) in 2012. It was edited August 22, 2025 by Christine O’Reilly to fix broken links to further resources. Corn silage is a useful late-season forage option for livestock producers, particularly in years when hay and haylage inventories are limited. Rainfall has been extremely […]
Although we are missing some data from a few trap locations it appears as if most of the province has experienced peak flight for WBC. We hit peak flight earlier this year then in previous years but this consistent with what we have seen with other Lepidoptera pests this year. Counties with an asterisk “*” […]
Reports of two spotted spider mite in some corn fields have been coming in. This pest is not normally a problem in corn but due to the hot, dry weather this year spider mites are showing up in numbers high enough to cause visible damage. Spider mite infestations start at the field edge and move […]
Note: This post was originally published in July of 2010, but once again in 2012 there are reports of Japanese beetles feeding on soybeans. In particular it would be worthwhile to go and click on the article below that shows what the leaf feeding insects look like along with threshold values. There are quite few […]
In Ontario there are many root/stem diseases which cause wilting symptoms in soybeans. With the hot, dry conditions this year over much of the province some of these diseases such as stem canker, Fusarium wilt, charcoal rot have taken advantaged of the additional stress. Fusarium wilt or blight of soybeans can affect soybeans at any […]
Peak flight is a bit difficult to pin point this week because there is some data missing from our week 10 trap reports however, we have received some missing data from previous weeks so I can provide information on peak flights for some counties and possible peak flights for others. Some areas are still experiencing […]
Since we’ve been getting a bit of rain across the province in the last week I’ve been asked about how the rain will affect spider mite populations in soybeans. Rains are very beneficial to help keep populations of spider mites down but don’t assume that because it rained our spider mite problems are over. If […]
Dry weather has significantly reduced forage regrowth and second-cut yields. Many farmers are examining options to increase their forage inventories, including using corn damaged by dry weather for silage. https://fieldcropnews.com/?p=4243 Seeding oats in late-July or early-August following wheat for an early-October harvest can be a useful low-cost option for extending forage supplies. Oats can make […]
Dry weather has significantly reduced forage regrowth and second-cut yields. Many farmers are examining options to increase their forage inventories, including using corn damaged by dry weather for silage. https://fieldcropnews.com/?p=4243 Seeding oats in late-July or early-August following wheat for an early-October harvest can be a useful low-cost option for extending forage supplies. Oats can make […]
Seeding oats in late-July or early-August following wheat for an early-October harvest can be a useful low-cost option for extending forage supplies. Oats can make good feed when harvested at the correct stage of maturity and made into “oatlage” or baleage. Oats are more frost tolerant in the fall than sorghums, and can continue growth […]
The butterfly enthusiasts had a good spring this year with the early arrival of the red admiral butterfly and large flights of other species. Unfortunately for us, that also meant some pests also arrived in great numbers. Speaking of pests has anyone seen this caterpillar in soybeans? This is the larval stage of the painted […]
Diagnosing nutrient deficiencies in field crops can sometimes be challenging. That is why I put together the following nutrient deficiency key. Let me know what you think. Click on the above image to download the nutrient deficiency key. […]
Below are examples of corn and soybean injury demonstrated at the FarmSmart field expo, July 12, Elora Research Station (University of Guelph) Scenario 1: Just this past spring, I had contact with a producer who had accidentally applied Guardian Plus (glyphosate + chlorimuron + flumioxazin) post emergent to his glyphosate tolerant soybeans. This mistake is […]