Corn Many areas of the province saw rain over the weekend putting a stop to field activities for a day or two. Corn planting is wrapping up and progressing well with corn emerging as quickly as four days after planting. The earlier planted corn is at the V3-V6 stage and the corn planted later on […]
Chair for this meeting was Ken Currah (BASF) Thank you to Maizex (Kirk Van Will) for sponsoring breakfast. The final meeting for this spring will be on June 26th starting at 7:00 am for breakfast (meeting starts at 7:30) at the Malibu. Frank Flanagan will be the chair. Synopsis: Conditions are getting extremely dry in […]
Co-authored with Ian McDonald Background OMAFRA Field Crop Unit staff have traditionally conducted an annual Pre Sidedress Nitrogen Test (PSNT) survey across Ontario at the beginning of June to measure background soil nitrate levels mineralized from the soil as an indication of year-to-year soil nitrogen status. In past years, 80-100 samples would be collected from […]
Photo of first cut hay down in Peterborough County. Thank you to Katja Rochacewich (Bayer) for sponsoring breakfast. Overall, crops in the region are looking good. Rainfall has been scattered and total amount variable (0-3”). Windy conditions across central Ontario have complicated spraying for the past few days. Despite the slow, cool spring, attendees agreed […]
Thank you to Ken Currah and BASF for sponsoring breakfast. There will be one more breakfast meeting in Simcoe on June 20th. General There was significant rainfall on Friday, June 1st in many areas, and even more rain on Sunday and Monday. Some areas had as much as 3 or 4” on Friday. The amount […]
Breakfast Sponsor: Thanks from the group to Chris Robson – DuPont/Pioneer (Corteva) Quote of the Week: Heat! – Kills Yield in Peas – Ed Tomecek Synopsis: Some areas received minimal rain (0.1-0.3”) while other parts received a wonderful 6/10” rain over the weekend was a huge help to the crop. Soybeans struggling to emerge, or […]
Thank you to Marieke Patton and Bayer for sponsoring breakfast. For the most part the rain the last 2 days has been welcome although a few areas, particularly around Dundalk, have not had a chance to dry at all this spring. Rainfall was variable; for example there was about 1.5” at Palmerston but empty […]
Scouting is an important part of growing quality forage. Just like other field crops, scouting alfalfa helps growers stay ahead of emerging problems, correctly time harvests, and make better decisions when planning future crops. Plant counts should be done spring and fall (Table 1). These can be done when the alfalfa is dormant. The spring […]
Bean leaf beetles (BLB) are showing up in early planted soybeans that were treated with only fungicide seed treatment. As the result of area wide use of insecticide seed treatments, this pest had much of a presence over the last decade. Thankfully, rescue treatments are still possible if threshold has been reached. BLB have a […]
Southwestern: Most alfalfa stands overwintered well; however those on heavy soils and in low-lying areas may have suffered winter injury. New seedings and annual forage acres are expected to increase this year in response to weather conditions over 2016 and 2017. As of May 27th, alfalfa weevils had reached 1st instar. Scouting is advised to identify […]
Planting of all crops is much further along than last week, although the general comments about slow progress on fine textured soils are still applicable. Regions with clay soils are dry on top but gummy below, so delays continue. There is rain in the forecast this week for much of southern Ontario so further delays […]
First cut took place on most of the forage acres in southern Ontario. Though this is an effective way to manage alfalfa weevil, this year the larvae were quite small at the time of cutting. I’m concerned that the larvae still present will finally be entering the most damaging stages of third and fourth instars […]
Thank you to Joanna Wallace who chaired the meeting and to Houston De Brabandere (Nufarm) who sponsored breakfast. There was an excellent turnout and discussion. The next meeting will be on June 12 starting at 7:00 am for breakfast (meeting starts at 7:30). Frank Flanagan will be the chairman. Synopsis: Huron County has received 40% […]
The OMAFRA Field Crop Protection Guide Pub 812 can be downloaded or purchased by clicking here. […]
IFAO held a Compaction Action Day in September 2017 at Shawridge Farms at Arthur, Ontario. That event, attended by around 400 people, 16 equipment sponsors and 50 total sponsors, showcased a wide range of equipment and achieved a number of important things: It showed that a lot of people are concerned about compaction It raised […]