Clubroot is no longer hiding. Canola producers in Northeastern Ontario have reported symptoms over the past 5 to 8 years and there were certainly fields with yield loss in the past few years that generated concern. But in 2024 above-ground symptoms were more obvious in Temiskaming District. Patches in fields matured early or died prior […]
Registration for the 2025 Great Lakes Yield Enhancement Network (YEN) is now open. The Great Lakes YEN works to help farmers improve crop returns through a greater understanding of crop performance. The Great Lakes YEN is currently focused on winter wheat and covers the geographic area of the Province of Ontario, Canada, and the Great […]
Tip Back in Corn What is Tip Back? “Tip back” in corn is simply the term used when corn kernels do not form all the way to the tip of the ear. Tip back made its way into corn discussions this August and September with many commenting that they saw it in more fields this […]
By Christine O’Reilly, Forage & Grazing Specialist and Tracey Baute, Entomologist, Field Crops Warm fall temperatures have many pests still active and hungry, looking for food resources before overwintering or being killed off by a hard frost. We are aware of at least one significant sighting of blister beetles clustering on the lawn of a […]
Causes of Defective Beans After dry bean harvest, producers may wonder what caused beans to become injured or discoloured. It is typically easier to observe the plants throughout the season and identify disease or insect injury on pods to better understand the resulting injury on the beans within the pods. However, bean injury may have […]
Caution! Members of the sorghum family – sorghum, sudangrass, and hybrid sorghum-sudangrass – contain dhurrin, a glucoside that breaks down to release hydrocyanic acid, also known as prussic acid (hydrogen cyanide, HCN). A sudden disruption of growth such as frost, drought or cutting, causes prussic acid to be released inside the plant at a more […]
Trendy Triticale By Christine O’Reilly, OMAFA Forage & Grazing Specialist Annual crops have played a larger role in forage production systems in recent years. Annuals often excel at filling production gaps for perennials, such as the summer slump, early spring, or late fall. Despite costing more per tonne of dry matter to grow, their ability […]
New! ‘Crop Chat’ videos on Field Crop News Check out Crop Chats at https://fieldcropnews.com/crop-chats, recently launched at the OSCIA/OMAFA tent during Canadas Outdoor Farm Show. Crop Chats are a series of video case studies showcasing Ontario farmers and agri-business people doing interesting and innovative things to enhance their farm operations’ efficiency and profitability. The first […]
Welcome to the second series in the Crop Chats brand under FieldCropNews. This series explores the seeding equipment including planters, drills, airseeders and others that this group of farmers are using on their farms. With farm equipment being so expensive these days, the goal of the series is to share with others the thought process […]
Welcome to the inaugural Crop Chats series of video case studies. This series explores a number of Ontario farmers journey to a Notill or almost Notill cropping system for the grain crops enterprise. They will each highlight that journey addressing their soil types, equipment, philosophy and practical tips on how they have made Notill successful […]
Pre-Harvest Weed Control in Soybeans With many soybean fields turning yellow, the timing for pre-harvest weed control, if needed, is imminent. A pre-harvest herbicide treatment can make harvest more efficient when there are an unacceptable number of weeds in a soybean crop. Drier plant matter will pass more easily through the combine, lowering seed losses […]
Managing Bare Soils After Harvest Much of the province has completed harvest of both winter and spring cereals over the last two months. Growers must now make a decision on what to do with these fields through the fall. Option 1: Monitor and Manage Cereal Re-Growth Cereal crops often have significant regrowth throughout the summer […]
Key Points When is the fall rest period? The fall rest period (sometimes called “critical fall harvest period”) for alfalfa is 450 growing degree days, base 5°C — or approximately 6-weeks — before the average date of the first killing frost (-4°C for several hours), when alfalfa stops growing. Not cutting during this period allows […]
How do cover crops impact nitrous oxide emissions? Cover crops help build soil carbon, reduce erosion, and can offset crop nitrogen fertilizer requirements. But when it comes to nitrous oxide (N2O) – a greenhouse gas that contributes about half the total warming effect from agriculture in Canada1 – there is a question mark surrounding their […]
Soil Health Assessment and Planning Tool (SHAP) is a soil health tool for Ontario farmers. Healthy soil functions contribute to improved crop productivity and resilience. The tool involves taking a soil health test, and it helps measure soil health on your farm and identify areas for improvement. The SHAP tool is based on a laboratory […]