OMAFRA Field Crop Team September 10, 2020 484 Comments Off on OMAFRA Field Crop Report – September 10, 2020Managing Eroded Knolls We’ve all seen them. Hilltops. Whitecaps. High spots where the crop struggles year after year. Eroded knolls are common to Ontario agriculture and cost farmers in lost productivity each season. This article is to explore knolls: how they’ve formed, how they differ, and how they can be managed or even re-mediated. How do knolls develop? The major…
With the first usher of cool fall weather this past week, there were frost warnings for parts of Northern Ontario. With the introduction of increasingly shorter maturity corn hybrids, there has been more corn grown in shorter season areas than what has been typical in the past, and also growers who may have recently started growing corn the first time….
Joanna Follings September 8, 2020 684 Comments Off on Winter Barley is Making a Comeback in Ontario!While not a “new” crop to Ontario, winter barley is slowly making a come back! Known for its early maturity compared to winter wheat, this crop provides an opportunity to double crop soybeans for those in longer season areas, provides coverage of the soil during winter months, is a great feed source for livestock rations and straw, helps spread the…
OMAFRA Field Crop Team September 3, 2020 1780 Comments Off on OMAFRA Field Crop Report – September 3, 2020Is It Bad to Plant Corn After Cereal Rye? There has been interest in rye for cover crops or maximizing yields in silage systems (Figure 1) where rye can be harvested for silage by mid- to late May which still allows time for planting a corn silage crop. Benefits of rye include good winter hardiness, early maturity and high yield…
Phosphorus is an essential element for plant and animal growth and is necessary to maintain profitable crop and livestock production. Balancing your crop’s fertility needs is complex. Let AgriSuite help you make decisions. The Phosphorus Loss Assessment tool for Ontario (PLATO) is new to AgriSuite. The PLATO calculator helps determine the risk of field scale phosphorus loss as it relates…
Balancing your crop’s fertility needs is complex. Let AgriSuite help you make decisions. Applying nutrients to economically meet crop needs can be challenging, especially when manure or other organic amendments make up a portion of those nutrients. Since nutrients from organic sources don’t come in pre-determined blends, this calculator takes sample analysis information and combines rate, timing…
Photo: Many winter wheat fields were planted to an annual forage crop after harvest this year. Premiums for summer-seeded New Forage Seeding insurance are due to Agricorp September 15. Silage corn growers should check fields for rootworm resistance to Bt hybrids Scouting for corn rootworm injury in silage fields is important to detect potential resistance to rootworm Bt traits and…
Andrew Priest September 1, 2020 666 Comments Off on Have You Been Accurately Staging Your Corn Plants in Later Vegetative Growth Stages?Background There are various ways to count growth stages of corn plants throughout the season. We use methods such as leaf over and corn height to decide when to come into fields and apply post emergence herbicides. Though what is the best method to assess corn growth in later vegetative stages? This becomes challenging when lower leaf senescence occurs and…
Winter canola performance trials have been conducted for 2 years at the AAFC Harrow Research and Development Center in Essex County. The trials included winter canola varieties sourced primarily from the US, and include the variety Mercedes which is registered in Ontario. Trial Locations Harrow, Ontario, Canada. pH = 5.6, O.M. = 1.6%, Soil type: 61% Sand, 31% Silt,…
OMAFRA Field Crop Team August 28, 2020 610 Comments Off on Calibration of a Rising Plate Meter: Measuring the Amount of Available Feed in your PastureThis post was written by Jessica Brasier, OMAFRA summer student. Jessica works under the supervision of Christine O’Reilly (Forage and Grazing Specialist) and James Byrne (Beef Cattle Specialist). Grazing pasture is a great way to save on feed costs and utilize marginal land. To maximize the profitability of a pasture, a producer can use different tools to aid in management…
OMAFRA Field Crop Team August 27, 2020 592 Comments Off on OMAFRA Field Crop Report – August 27, 2020High corn rootworm (CRW) pressure in 2020 is challenging current Bt rootworm hybrids and several Ontario growers have reported unexpected injury by CRW. This indicates that possible cross resistance has occurred, where even pyramid hybrids with multiple rootworm traits are impacted. Currently, we know that several fields with injury in Huron, Perth and Durham Counties are being investigated. There are…
OMAFRA Field Crop Team August 27, 2020 436 Comments Off on Identifying Phosphorus Use Efficiency Traits in Winter WheatThis article was written by Bailey Fleet, University of Guelph. Bailey is a summer student under the USEL program. Bailey worked under the supervision of Nick Wilker from the U of G wheat breeding lab and Joanna Follings from OMAFRA. Phosphorus (P) is important for the proper growth of cereal crops. P has been found to be a limiting nutrient…
Ian McDonald August 26, 2020 640 Comments Off on Biostrip Till Production Systems – Letting Plants Do The Tillage!By Ian McDonald, OMAFRA with valued contribution from Lawrence Hogan and Steve Howard with thanks. These two brothers have set a lofty goal for their farm west of Lucknow. Maximize their soils health and protection which in turn will optimize the farm economics and reduce its environmental footprint. To achieve their goal they have set specific objectives for the farm:…
This Ontario Virtual Diagnostic Days Series for 2020 will consist of eight 1-hour episodes occurring every two weeks starting Wednesday, July 15 through October 21, 2020. Each episode will highlight a general field crop agronomic theme.
Key Points: Rotating out of corn is the most effective way to reduce populations of Bt-resistant corn rootworm. To replace silage corn for 2021, establish fall rye or winter triticale immediately after 2020 silage corn harvest. After the cereal silage comes off in mid-May, establish sorghum-sudangrass and take two cuts. An energy source will need to be supplemented; producers should…
