Simcoe Ag Breakfast Meeting Notes – April 22, 2015
Synopsis: April 1 to April 20 at Simcoe 102 CHU have been accumulated and average temperature was 7.5o C . Official CHU recording begins May 1st. 39.9 mm of precipitation fell as rain and/or snow. Crops that have been planted into plastic are being protected against forecast snow and freezing temperatures. Cool conditions over past […]
Ridgetown Breakfast Meeting Minutes – April 21, 2015
Synopsis: Rainfall across the region was variable 0.3” in Essex, 0.7” to 1” in Chatham-Kent, 0.3” to 0.5” in South Lambton, Elgin and the rest of Lambton about 1”. A small amount of corn went in on the weekend; most are planning to start planting around the 25th. Some spring cereals were seeded on the […]
Successful Forage Establishment
A successful forage establishment is a uniform, weed free stand that will grow quickly and vigorously to provide high yields during that first year, and for the life of the stand. The most critical factors include packing a firm seedbed and proper seed placement. Seedbed Preparation The goals of forage seedbed preparation are: to produce […]
Winchester AgBreakfast Minutes – April 14, 2015
Conditions: Moderate temperatures at the end of winter, combined with limited precipitation minimized spring water runoff and soil erosion. Soil is drying slowly, allowing for only limited field activity to date. Alfalfa: Winter survival generally looks excellent. Alfalfa has 1 to 2 inches of new growth at this point and is showing no sign of […]
Exeter Ag Breakfast Meeting
April 14, 2015 Malibu Restaurant, Exeter Chair for this meeting was David Townsend. Chair for next meeting is Steve Johns. The meeting on May 12 will be chaired by Eric Richter. There was an excellent turnout to the first meeting of the 2015 growing season. Thank you to all those who attended and participated in […]
Ridgetown Breakfast Meeting Minutes, April 7, 2015
Synopsis: Very little field work has been done to date. There is still frost in the ground below 4” especially where there are significant crop residues present. The snow melted without any significant rainfall so there was very little ponding of water on wheat and very little freeze thaw. 50 to 75% of the unseeded […]
2014 Ontario Forage Crop – What Happened, Issues & Trends
Forage inventories are generally more than adequate, with good spring carry-overs. With lots of rain, yields were good but it was challenging to make dry hay without rain-damage. Considerable haylage, baleage and poor to good quality hay were made. Premium “horse quality” green, dust-free 1st-cut hay and dairy hay is a bit more limited in […]
Mitigating Leaf Burn: Streamer Nozzles and Dissolved Urea
28% has become the preferred nitrogen source on winter wheat in Ontario. Application is perfectly uniform, something that seems difficult to achieve with most urea applications. However, leaf burn is one of the main problems with 28% applications, particularly at later stages of growth. With more emphasis on split nitrogen applications, and renewed interest in […]
Forage Report – July 3, 2014
Some first-cut horse hay is still to be made while many will start second-cut dairy haylage soon. Harvest schedules are delayed behind normal, especially in western Ontario. This may make taking a fourth-cut more difficult. Hay making weather has generally been good, but some hay has been rain-damaged. Yields have been extremely variable, depending on […]
Forage Report – June 19, 2014
First-cut continues with variable yields. Yields are generally good in eastern Ontario. In western Ontario areas where alfalfa winterkill and injury occurred, stands are thin, with many reported yields at 50 – 80% of normal. This has created some concern about producing adequate forage supplies. Considerable acres have been seeded to annual forages such as […]
Ridgetown Ag Breakfast Minutes, June 3, 2014
Synopsis: Finally significant planting progress in corn and soybeans! Rainfall over the last two weeks varied from 0.5” to 3”. Early corn is at 4 to 5 leaf stage while the majority of the corn is emerging to 2 leaves. The most advanced wheat is heading. Weed control is becoming the order of the day. […]
Central Ontario Crop Consultants meeting notes – June 4th 2014
Synopsis: Rainfall Monday evening-Tues varied between 0- 1.25 cm(0.5″). Excellent progress in planting and field work in past week. Clay soils have gone from being too wet, to hard and dry in surface layer. Corn and canola planting is essentially complete, soybean planting ranges from 50-90% complete, edible bean planting has started. Some growers waiting on rain […]
Ridgetown AgBreakfast Minutes, May 20, 2014
Synopsis: FRUSTRATING! Very little progress over the past 2 weeks. 3″ plus rainfall. South-west estimate 10-15% corn planted, 2% soybeans. Early corn is 1-2 leaf. Many growers will not switch corn hybrids: they will switch to soys. Sulphur deficiency is obvious in some wheat fields. Manganese deficiency in the odd field: but less prevalent with current […]
Recurring weed control questions
Find below recurring questions I’ve been asked lately and my response. Q: Do you have a list of new soybean herbicides with details of what they are, what they control and when they should be applied? A: Find a summary that includes a weed control rating table here: New Soybean Herbicide Comparisons 2014_Final Q: How does […]
Exeter Agribusiness Minutes May 13, 2014
Synopsis: Considerable field work accomplished since Saturday in some areas: no movement in others. Unfortunately the rest of this week looks wet. Recent showers have been spotty: 0.1” at St Marys to 2” at Varna. The south west was also hit with a lot of rain. Corn planting estimates range from as little as 7% […]