Fall Armyworm Trap Counts are High

Traps south of London and in Essex County have had very high captures of fall armyworm. Winter canola, winter cereals, forages and cover crops should be monitored for larvae – not just limited to the region of these traps. Some fields of newly-seeded winter canola had extensive feeding damage in 2021 and had to be […]

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August 2022 Forage Report

Ontario Hay Listings is a free classifieds service provided by the Ontario Forage Council. Producers looking to buy or sell hay or straw are encouraged to post an ad. Bt-resistant Corn Rootworm Corn rootworm is a serious pest of continuous corn. Root feeding reduces yield and increases the risk of lodging and “goose-necking” which can […]

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Corn P and K Considerations when Fertilizer Prices are High

Simple Summary – Changes in fertilizer:corn price ratios (not fertilizer prices alone) change optimum P and K rates. Corn prices increasing with fertilizer prices can limit price ratio changes. – Significant price ratio changes are required to appreciably change optimum P and K rates. For instance, changing fertilizer:corn price ratio ($/lb-P:$/lb-corn) in a recent Ontario […]

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Ontario Field Crop Report – August 24, 2022

Unexpected damage on Bt-RW hybrids can include goosenecking (left) and lodging due to significant root clipping caused by rootworm larvae and silk clipping by adults that impede pollination of the ear (right).

Continuous Corn and Bt Corn Rootworm Resistance Unexpected damage on Bt rootworm (Bt-RW) hybrids – hybrids with below-ground protection – has been found in several fields and new counties this month. The damage includes significant stunting, root clipping, goosenecking, silk clipping and abundant rootworm adult populations mating and feeding (Figure 1). All of these are […]

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Do you need to worry about tire soil compaction in the rows during corn planting?

Summary This article was written by Gia Shelp, OMAFRA Corn Specialist Assistant, Summer 2022. As the assistant to OMAFRA corn specialist Ben Rosser this summer, I have had first-hand experience on the importance of avoiding compaction in fields. From being mindful of how I drive machinery in our research plots to visiting farmer’s fields and […]

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Visual Evaluation of Soil Structure

Soil structure is a key indicator of soil health. The Visual Evaluation of Soil Structure (VESS) provides a simple framework for quantitatively scoring soil structure quality. It requires only a shovel for extracting a block of soil and a scoring sheet for evaluating it and can be performed in about 10 minutes with a little […]

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July 2022 Forage Report

Ontario Hay Listings is a free classifieds service provided by the Ontario Forage Council. Producers looking to buy or sell hay or straw are encouraged to post an ad. The optimal time to summer seed alfalfa mixes depends on the length of the growing season: More than 3100 CHU: August 10-20 2700 – 3100 CHU: August […]

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Ontario Field Crop Report – July 27, 2022

Straw bales post-wheat harvest

Weather Conditions The percentage of average precipitation during the current growing season is quite variable across the province. Crop conditions generally mirror precipitation levels with below average precipitation received in mid-western and southern Ontario causing significant crop stress, especially on lighter textured soils. Conversely, parts of eastern Ontario are above average with generally good crop […]

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