In 2015 an Oxford County farm family, the Vollmershausen’s, were looking around for a yield monitor for their Pickett combine. The Vollmershausen’s grow kidney and cranberry beans which are harvested by pulling and windrowing, then picked up and threshed by a Pickett combine. Large seeded dry beans are somewhat delicate and must be handled gently so that the final product…
There is a long way to go yet before we reach crop maturity and a few insects are thriving right now in late planted soybeans and dry beans. Bean leaf beetles are a risk for both soybeans and dry beans. Reports are starting to come in of some activity at various locations. This is the first generation of adults; what…
Usually by this time in July, I am writing about how we are approaching peak flight for WBC in at least the southwestern counties. But with the delay in growing degree days this year, we have just caught the first WBC moth in Ontario this week, a month later than usual start catching them. Despite the late WBC activity, we…
What a year! Goes from too wet to too dry. With young crops and little canopy yet, a few pests could become a problem quickly. Especially if hot dry conditions continue to stress the crop further. Scout fields frequently for these three pests; Potato leafhoppers, thrips and spider mites. Potato leafhoppers (PLH) are in high numbers in many counties. Both…
Ontario’s dry edible bean producers are top notch farmers. They invest a great deal of time and money in managing this high risk, high reward crop. To keep the scales tipped towards ‘high reward’, dry bean producers need to know the soybean cyst nematode (SCN) status of their fields. SCN is now present in 22 counties (Figure 1), including the…
Corn Significant planting progress was made the end of last week and through the weekend as sunshine and warm temperatures dominated for a string of days. Despite the calendar date and reduced yield potential of later planting, many continued to plant corn noting the competitiveness of returns relative to soybeans. Many areas are reporting corn planting reaching 90-95% of intended…
Corn Progress was made over the last week in areas with lighter textured soils. Those areas now have upwards of 80% of their intended corn acres planted. However, regions with heavier textured soils such as Lambton, Essex, Niagara and Middlesex have 30% of their corn acres planted. Overall, ~60% of the intended corn acres are planted in the province. With…
Planting progress remains slow for all crops, and spray applications have also been significantly delayed by poor weather. Temperatures forecasted for early June are relatively cool, remaining around or below the 20°C mark in many regions. Corn Corn planting progress at the end of May was estimated to be less than 50% complete. In some regions, corn planting at the…
The Ontario Pulse Crop Committee are very pleased to announce that GoBeans.ca has been updated! The home of our annual dry bean performance testing data has a fresh, new look. Head over to GoBeans.ca to find: Variety descriptions for many of the varieties grown in Ontario – *New Content!* The 2018 Ontario Dry Bean Variety Trials report in PDF format,…
Welcome Trappers! The WBC Trap Network has been such a success, we have expanded it to include additional pests and new states and provinces for 2019. We have also moved the network information from the Canadian Corn Pest Coalition website to Field Crop News until a permanent home is created. The new Great Lakes and Maritimes Pest Monitoring Network will…
This article was written by Chris Gillard, University of Guelph- Ridgetown Campus. Sulphur is an important nutrient in field crops. It is part of the chlorophyll in leaves, two essential amino acids, and rhizobia bacteria need it for nitrogen fixation. Sulphur is mostly stored in soil organic matter (OM), and it is mineralized each summer as OM breaks down. Sulphur…
Fall 2017 Planting Planting conditions started off well and continued through to mid-October with little disruption. Rainfall around Thanksgiving weekend halted soybean harvest and subsequently winter wheat planting but once conditions dried up planting continued through to November. Approximately 906,000 acres of winter wheat were seeded which is slightly down from the previous year’s 910,000 acres. The proportion of hard…
Have you ever had a dry bean crop that looked healthy but resulted in disappointing yields? Have you seen stunted or yellowing patches, but could not identify the cause? If so, you may want to look for soybean cyst nematode (SCN). Researchers in Ontario and the US have shown that SCN is not just a soybean pest, it also reproduces…
Planting and Development The total amount of dry edible bean acres was higher in 2017 than in 2016. The number of insured acres of white beans in 2017 was 60,363 ac, up significantly from 46,194 ac planted in 2016. Coloured bean acres, however, were down overall, totaling 56,518 ac in 2017 compared to 60,668 ac planted in 2016. Acreage was…
Co-Authored with Karli Barton, Field Research Technician, OMAFRA-Ridgetown As colder weather approaches, we have the opportunity to identify overwintering locations for the invasive brown marmorated stink bug (BMSB). BMSB and a few other stink bugs like to move into homes and other sheltered areas for the winter. This is a great time for homeowners dealing with this nuisance to help…
