Weeds

To plant green or to plant brown? Rye cover crop termination timing before soybeans (summary of 2017-2020 data)

Figure 1. Rye seeded after corn silage
Jake MunroeJake Munroe March 31, 2021 766 Comments Off on To plant green or to plant brown? Rye cover crop termination timing before soybeans (summary of 2017-2020 data)
Cover Crops

Jake Munroe, Mike Cowbrough and Sebastian Belliard (OMAFRA) Cereal rye (Secale cereal) has several strengths as a cover crop option. It’s relatively inexpensive and easy to kill. Rye improves soil structure, builds organic matter and helps protect against water and wind erosion. It can suppress weeds as discussed here (see Figure 1). It’s also very winter hardy and often the…

Dog Strangling Vine Control with Herbicides

Mike CowbroughMike Cowbrough December 16, 2020 938 Comments Off on Dog Strangling Vine Control with Herbicides
Weeds

  An invasive perennial weed from the milkweed family, dog strangling vine, is extremely difficult to control once it gets established (Figure 1). Progress has been made on biological control of this weed in Ontario through the release of Hypena opulenta, a leaf feeding caterpillar. However, integrated strategies that include both biological and chemical methods are often most effective at…

Pre-Harvest Herbicide Timing in Soybeans

Mike CowbroughMike Cowbrough September 16, 2020 8154 Comments Off on Pre-Harvest Herbicide Timing in Soybeans
Soybean

A pre-harvest herbicide treatment can make harvest more efficient when there are an unacceptable number of weeds in a soybean crop. Both conventional and glyphosate tolerant fields that are weedy can benefit from a pre-harvest herbicide. Drier plant matter will pass more easily through the combine, lowering seed losses and reducing seed staining…

Mixing “ATS” with herbicides: The importance of a “jar test”

An attempted jar test mixing of Liberty 200 SN with ATS as a carrier, resulting in unacceptable mixing.
Mike CowbroughMike Cowbrough May 3, 2020 1380 Comments Off on Mixing “ATS” with herbicides: The importance of a “jar test”
Weeds

Each year I get more questions about mixing the liquid fertilizer, ammonium thiosulphate (ATS) with herbicides. With reductions in atmospheric Sulphur deposits, Ontario research has shown positive yield responses in some crops when Sulphur fertilizers are applied and so it makes sense that farmers are looking at ways to add Sulphur to their crop in an efficient manner. However, my…

Controlling Scentless Chamomile with Herbicides

Mike CowbroughMike Cowbrough April 1, 2020 1435 Comments Off on Controlling Scentless Chamomile with Herbicides
Weeds

Scentless chamomile has a reputation for being difficult to control and a 2019 on-farm research trial evaluated several herbicide treatments. Although 10 treatments provided over 80% visual control of emerged plants, new seedlings continued to emerge several weeks after application resulting in a significant amount of plants at the end of August. In order to significantly reduce the population of…

2019 Soybean Seasonal Summary

Figure 2.  Beetle feeding on pods which can lead to significant seed quality issues.
OMAFRA Field Crop TeamOMAFRA Field Crop Team December 12, 2019 2161 2 Comments
Soybean

Summary Some years it’s a pleasure to grow soybeans. Other years producing a crop can be a real challenge. The 2019 growing season will be remembered as being very stressful for those involved in crop production. During this challenging year, Agricorp focused on optimizing resources to ensure that customers had the information they needed and that program payments were delivered….

Ontario Field Crop Report – Week of June 10th, 2019

OMAFRA Field Crop TeamOMAFRA Field Crop Team June 13, 2019 2184 Comments Off on Ontario Field Crop Report – Week of June 10th, 2019
Canola

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…

Ontario Field Crop Report – Week of June 3rd, 2019

OMAFRA Field Crop TeamOMAFRA Field Crop Team June 6, 2019 1740 Comments Off on Ontario Field Crop Report – Week of June 3rd, 2019
Canola

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…

What’s Working on the Farm? Practical Solutions for Problem Weeds

Mike CowbroughMike Cowbrough March 22, 2019 2686 Comments Off on What’s Working on the Farm? Practical Solutions for Problem Weeds
Weeds

  “Do not be cheap. Weed control is an investment into the current and future crops on every field.” That was parting advice from Norfolk and Oxford County farmer Ann Vermeersch at the 2019 FarmSmart Conference in Guelph. In front of 80 farmers and agronomists, I moderated a session with Vermeersch and Steph Kowalski, a Certified Crop Advisor and Lead…

Managing Glyphosate Resistant Canada Fleabane with Cover Crops and Tillage

Mike CowbroughMike Cowbrough November 20, 2018 2747 Comments Off on Managing Glyphosate Resistant Canada Fleabane with Cover Crops and Tillage
Weeds

My colleague Dr. Clarence Swanton (University of Guelph) used to say that based on research he did in the 1980’s, one should not expect to control weeds with cover crops. Their utility was in preventing soil erosion and improving soil health but not in significantly reducing weed populations. However, Dr. Swanton has had to re-think his long held position on…

Guide to Weed Control in Field Crops – Pub 75A

Mike CowbroughMike Cowbrough May 17, 2018 6608 Comments Off on Guide to Weed Control in Field Crops – Pub 75A
Weeds

The OMAFRA Guide to Weed Control for Field Crops (Publication 75A) is available in the following formats: ELECTRONIC ENGLISH VERSION (PDF): click to download ELECTRONIC FRENCH VERSION (PDF): click to download PRINT VERSIONS: Go to Publications Ontario and search the term “Guide to Weed Control”

Crop response to herbicides applied prior to and after emergence.

Mike CowbroughMike Cowbrough August 8, 2017 3299 Comments Off on Crop response to herbicides applied prior to and after emergence.
Corn

For over 30 years, the Ontario Agriculture Weed’s team has competed in the Collegiate Weed Science Competition organized by the North Eastern Weed Science Society. In preparation for the “herbicide identification” portion of the competition, an area at the Elora Research Station is planted to a number of different crop and weed species and then sprayed with several herbicides. This training…

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