Verifying a Pre-Sidedress Soil Nitrate Threshold Test for Evaluating Nitrogen Top-Up Needs

Purpose: Pre-sidedress soil nitrate test (PSNT) provide a means of estimating soil nitrogen supply, and can aid producers in fine-tuning their nitrogen application rates for corn. One drawback of current soil nitrate tests is that they are only calibrated for situations where all of the nitrogen being measured has come from soil mineralization, that is […]

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Pricing Corn Silage In 2014

 by Joel Bagg, Forage Specialist, & Greg Stewart, Corn Specialist, OMAFRA  “What’s corn silage going to be worth this year?” Corn development is delayed for a significant portion of the crop and could be at risk of frost. Farmers may be looking at salvaging frost damaged corn that hasn’t matured adequately for optimum yield, moisture […]

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Pricing Corn Silage

by Joel Bagg, Forage Specialist, & Greg Stewart, Corn Specialist, OMAFRA  “What’s corn silage worth this year?” Grain corn prices have dropped considerably after unprecedented high prices last year, bringing corn silage prices down with them. With current grain corn and hay prices, corn silage still looks fairly attractive as an alternate forage. After excessive […]

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Corn and Cold September Nights

Cold September nights can cause widespread anxiety in corn producers.  The level of anxiety for most growers will be determined by the stage of maturity their grain corn crop has reached. As temperatures drop to zero frost damage first occurs to the leaves of the corn plants.  This damage will eliminate any further photosynthesis, reduce […]

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Harvest and Storage Strategies to Minimize Fusarium in 2013

Helmut Spieser, Agricultural Engineer, OMAF Ridgetown Peter Johnson, Cereal Specialist, OMAF, Stratford Albert Tenuta, Field Crop Pathologist, OMAF, Ridgetown Weather conditions in 2013 have been ideal for Fusarium Head Blight development in areas of Ontario and surrounding US states.  Every year we deal with or try to minimize Fusarium impact on the crop and this […]

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The Impact of Row Unit Down Pressure Control on Corn Growth and Yield

Purpose: Aftermarket planter modifications to control row unit down pressure have been well promoted into the Ontario marketplace, and are advertised for their ability to improve planter function, and final yields. The basic principles behind the modifications have merit, but the relative yield impacts of the different modifications, and their ability to respond above and […]

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Pricing Corn Silage In 2012

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 variable across Ontario this year, with some extremely dry areas and other areas closer to normal.  Summer thunderstorm activity even created extreme variations between concession roads. As a result the […]

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To Switch or Not to Switch Hybrids

Rain! Rain! Go away and come back another day (preferably June, July and August)! At this time it would be premature to switch from adapted hybrids to shorter season hybrids. When field conditions delay planting and necessitate switching to less than full-season hybrids, factors to consider in this decision include yield potential of shorter-season hybrids, […]

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