- Part 3

Revised October 2020 – Canadian Bt Corn Trait Tables with Events and Resistance Status

Tracey Baute October 9, 2020 747 Comments Off

Corn

We have revised the Canadian Bt Corn Trait Tables to reflect the current potential cross resistance of corn rootworm in Ontario to all Bt-RW proteins. Here are the latest versions: English: Bt Corn Trait Table (October 2020) with Events and Resistance Status French: Tableau des caractères Bt (Octobre 2020-Français) – Évènements transgéniques et résistances For information on which hybrids or products have…

September 2020 Forage Report

Christine O'Reilly October 2, 2020 820 Comments Off

Forages

Photo: It is impossible to tell by looking at frost-damaged sorghum-sudangrass what the prussic acid levels may be. Silage Corn In fields where rootworm Bt hybrids have been used for three or more consecutive years, resistance among corn rootworm populations is suspected. Producers can no longer rely solely on Bt rootworm hybrids for protection against rootworm injury. See the 2020 Canadian…

Getting to Know Your Knolls Part 2: Understanding and Managing Low pH Knolls

Ben Rosser September 24, 2020 923 1 Comment

Soil Health

Ben Rosser, Corn Specialist, OMAFRA While high pH knolls tend to be more common in Ontario, often caused by soil erosion leaving higher pH calcareous subsoils, this is not the case for all regions. How do low pH knolls develop? Low pH knolls (Figure 1) can develop on undulating landscapes where surface soils formed from deposits of sand, such as…

Getting to Know Your Knolls Part 1: Understanding and Managing High pH Knolls

Jake Munroe September 23, 2020 670 Comments Off

Soil Health

Jake Munroe, Soil Management Specialist – Field Crops, OMAFRA 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. However, not all eroded knolls are alike. In this two-part series, we will explore knolls: how they’ve formed and how they…

Unraveling the Mystery of Soil: Manure’s Contribution

Christine Brown September 22, 2020 1822 Comments Off

Forages

Christine Brown, Sustainability Specialist – Field Crops, OMAFRA “A radical new way of thinking about soil has partially solved the mystery of why adding manure improves resilience, climate control, and crop yields.” – Dr. Andy Neal, Rothamsted Research. Have you ever wondered why forests can establish and thrive without being fertilized? Or, why grasslands, pastures, or roadside vegetation – including…

Frost Injury in Sorghum Species

Christine O'Reilly September 21, 2020 800 Comments Off

Cover Crops

Caution! Members of the sorghum family – sorghum, sudangrass, and hybrid sorghum-sudangrass – contain dhurrin, a glucoside that breaks down to release hydrocyanic acid, also known as prussic acid (hydrogen cyanide, HCN). A sudden disruption of growth such as frost, drought or cutting, causes prussic acid to be released inside the plant at a more rapid rate. High prussic acid…

Managing Jointing and Non-Jointing Grasses

Christine O'Reilly September 21, 2020 558 Comments Off

Forages

Christine O’Reilly, Forage and Grazing Specialist, OMAFRA Grass doesn’t just happen and not all species grow the same way. Understanding how different grass species grow enables producers to make good management decisions that maximize forage production in their hay fields and pastures. Jointing and non-jointing grasses respond differently to cutting, which directly affects productivity and persistence. In an established stand,…

Late Season Frost Injury Risks in Corn

Ben Rosser September 19, 2020 738 Comments Off

Corn

Environment Canada has issued frost advisories for most corn growing areas of the province for the nights of September 18 to 20 which are expected to be near or slightly below freezing (Figure 1). This is earlier than we typically observe first frosts, earlier than our long-term season end dates (Table 1) and much lower than our normal low temperatures…

OMAFRA Field Crop Report – September 17, 2020

Figure 1. Soybean Cyst Nematode on Soybeans

OMAFRA Field Crop Team September 17, 2020 952 1 Comment

Crop Reports

Take the Test – Beat SCN Soybean harvest has begun, and many growers have asked if they could sample for soybean cyst nematode this fall. For many growers, managing soybean cyst nematode (SCN) means planting SCN resistance varieties BUT effective SCN management does not end when you have selected your soybean varieties! It is imperative to not only know your…

Pre-Harvest Herbicide Timing in Soybeans

Mike Cowbrough September 16, 2020 7934 Comments Off

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…

AgriSuite Field Management Calculator

Christine Brown September 11, 2020 720 Comments Off

Corn

AgriSuite is an interactive online collection of management tools and calculators, developed by OMAFRA that you can access from your desktop or mobile device. AgriSuite assists you with key crop fertilization management decisions and how they relate to optimizing crop production and protecting the environment. AgriSuite: The Field Management Calculator helps with nutrient balancing to optimize crop production Consider the…

OMAFRA Field Crop Report – September 10, 2020

Figure 4. Topsoil moved from a valley to a knoll (photo: Calvin Horst)

OMAFRA Field Crop Team September 10, 2020 915 Comments Off

Crop Reports

Managing 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…

Fall Frost Risks and Management Options for Corn

Ben Rosser September 9, 2020 766 Comments Off

Corn

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….

Winter Barley is Making a Comeback in Ontario!

Joanna Follings September 8, 2020 1268 Comments Off

Barley

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 Report – September 3, 2020

OMAFRA Field Crop Team September 3, 2020 2310 Comments Off

Crop Reports

Is 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…