A collective summary of information gleaned from the weekly breakfast meeting minutes with local crop consultants in Ontario
Spring Planting Update: No tillage activity on the fine-textured clay soils Some tillage, manure application and fertilizer application to sandy and loamy fields Very little planting to date – a few acres of corn planted around Embro, Thamesford, Drumbo, Tillsonburg and sandy soils in Brant. Mainly just getting a few acres in and ensuring […]
Breakfast Sponsor: Thanks from the group to “Roger Bourassa – Dupont Canada“ Synopsis: The quote of the week comes from Alan McCallum, a distant relative – “Don’t’ farm last year’s weather!” This is National Soil Conservation Week. Keep those soils covered! Don’t bury all that crop residue with tillage. The warmer weather has really […]
Synopsis: The consultant’s in attendance felt that 2016 wheat acreage is up from the previous year and that while intended corn acreage will be up from the 2015 season, soybean acres will be a bit down compared to 2015. Spring cereal acreage is also thought to be down from last year but on par with […]
Forages: There was a general discussion of what condition hays fields are in given the milder winter. A general observation of hay fields in the area is that most fields had quite a bit of stubble (estimated at 2 feet for some fields). Some discussion of what should be done with the stubble (harvest or […]
April 12, 2016 – Malibu Restaurant, Exeter Chair for this meeting was David Townsend There was an excellent turnout and good discussion to start the first meeting of the 2016 growing season. David Townsend was the chairman and BASF sponsored breakfast. Thank you. The next meeting will be on April 26th starting at 7:00 am […]
Meetings are held every 2nd Wednesday 7:30 – 9 am: Shire restaurant (Travelodge) 385 Queensway in Simcoe. Next meeting is April 20th To date there has not been a lot of spring activity. Very little nitrogen has been applied on wheat so far. Early N not needed since in general, wheat went into winter with […]
Breakfast Sponsor: Thanks from group to “Bob Thirlwall – DEKALB/Monsanto Canada“ Synopsis: The quote of the week comes from Dr. Peter Sikkema – “Start Clean – Stay Clean”! Very little activity due to the rain and cold temperatures expected this week although some have taken advantage of the conditions to get the last of their […]
Thanks to Pioneer for sponsoring Breakfast. Chair for this meeting was Aric Bos. These meetings have been a great success because of your attendance and participation. Thank you to all those who took the time to participate in 2015. All the best for the rest of the growing season. Rainfall was widespread last night and […]
Synopsis Extremely wet conditions across many areas, especially through Huron-Perth and areas to the south where up to 8 inches (200 mm) have fallen in the last 8 days. Biggest field work challenges now are weed control in soybeans, fungicide application in wheat, side-dress nitrogen application in corn, and wrapping up edible bean planting. Agricorp […]
Chair for this meeting was Joanna Wallace Chair for the final meeting of this spring on June 23rd will be Aric Bos Thanks to Syngenta for sponsoring lunch Synopsis: Lots of rain reported in this region. Most areas received at least 2 inches while some reported up to 6.5 inches over a 3 day period. […]
Synopsis: Weed control options for all crops were a main topic of discussion. Dry weather and/or busy planting schedule have resulted in weedy fields looking for post emerge options. Re-planting and field assessments resulting from May 23/24 frost damage was also discussed. Much needed rain was welcomed over the whole area during the last week […]
Willson Hall, University of Guelph, Ridgetown Campus, 120 Main St. East. Ridgetown. This week’s Breakfast courtesy of BASF Canada, thank you. Synopsis: Dry conditions in many parts of the area have been alleviated with the rains over the past week especially the weekend. The rain was welcome with much of the area receiving 1.5” to […]
Synopsis: Rainfall amounts over last weekend across region varied from 0.25″ in lakeshore areas to 2.5 – 3″ in Tavistock-Guelph area. See map of areas affected by frost on fieldcropnews- Extent of Cold Temperature map. May 23rd frost was widespread and caused more damage than originally estimated. Need to remind growers to get out and check all […]
Chair for this meeting was Jeremy O’Shea. Chair for next meeting is Joanna Wallace. Thanks to BASF for sponsoring breakfast. Synopsis: Frost across many parts of the province has caused significant damage. Muck soils, sandy soils, and lower elevations were the worst hit. The vast majority of corn will recover since the growing point is still […]
Synopsis: Corn planting is virtually complete and soybean planting is between 75 to 80% complete. Earliest planted wheat is at flag leaf stage, while rye is heading. Frost last week did not have any significant impact for field crops. Growers are finding it challenging to keep up with weed control and many planned pre-emerge programs […]