Thank you to BASF for sponsoring breakfast. The next meeting will be June 4th at 7:30 am. If there are any suggestions on edits required to the minutes herein, how to improve the meeting, or topics to discuss if you cannot attend, please let Ian McDonald know. Cool temperatures are continuing the slow growth in overwintering […]
The spring of 2019 has been unprecedented with excess rainfall and cool temperatures. This has significantly delayed soybean planting. When does it become necessary to switch to earlier maturing soybean varieties? There has been a trend in modern soybean production to plant early and to use long season varieties to achieve higher yields. This strategy […]
It was a small group in attendance at the Simcoe breakfast meeting this week. Some may have been busy with field work, but overall things are still moving slowly across the region and may not be moving at all on heavy soils that remain wet. Those in attendance reported that producers are optimistic planting will […]
Weather patterns have been variable, leading to regional differences in progress on planting and crop growth. Soils continue to remain unfit for field operations in large parts of the province, especially in much of the southwest and parts of eastern Ontario (figure 1). A few pockets have had windows of opportunity to catch up on […]
Western bean cutworm trapping will be starting in early June. For those who are interested in trapping this year, I have provided a few resources below including Trap Set up and Monitoring Instructions, and a Trap Supply Checklist and Trap Supply Companies document. Those setting up trap sites are encouraged to include the traps on […]
Breakfast Sponsor: Thanks, from the group to Stephanie Divitaris, Syngenta Quote of the week: “It is bizarre that winter wheat is at the flag leaf stage and emerging at the same time.” Peter Johnson Synopsis: The rains eased up a bit in the last week or so allowing some field activity, mainly on the sandier […]
Reports indicate widespread alfalfa winterkill due to several thaws that reduced snow cover and created ice cover in fields. Producers need to scout their hay fields to assess the damage, then develop a plan to ensure they will have the forage they need. Keep it, patch it, or start over? Plant counts should be done […]
Thank you to James D’Auost and Pioneer for sponsoring breakfast. The next meeting will be May 29th at 7:30 am. If there are any suggestions on how to improve the meeting, or topics to discuss if you cannot attend, please let Ian McDonald or Christine O’Reilly know. Cool temperatures are causing slow growth in overwintering crops. […]
The weather story continues this week with very little change across the province in terms of field activity, including fertilizer and pesticide application to wheat, manure application, field preparation and planting. A small number of acres were planted on the lighter soils across the province, where conditions permitted, but to date less than 10% of […]
Thank you to Joanna Wallace for chairing the meeting and to Corteva for sponsoring the breakfast. The next meeting will be on May 28th starting at 7:00 am for breakfast (meeting starts at 7:30). Synopsis: Very little planting progress has been made in the region with much of the area receiving rainfall over the weekend […]
Weather Conditions Wet, cool weather conditions have continued, with short windows of opportunity to plant in the past two weeks. Most fields are saturated, and several fields have some ponding. A few fields are actually underwater in Renfrew close to the flooding areas. Soils that are semi-dry have had fertilizer applied and will be planted […]
It is sometimes difficult to know what to do when winterkill completely takes out your alfalfa stands or leaves them patchy and unhealthy. There are many options that can be considered, depending on the calendar date, timing, urgency for feed, and forage yield and nutrient quality requirements. If winterkill is identified early, the best option is usually […]
The crop scene in the Haldimand-Norfolk, Niagara area has not changed much in the 2 weeks since the last meeting. Most of the region had over 2 inches of rainfall since the beginning of May with some precipitation on all but one day. Temperatures have also remained relatively cool, but one day of warmer temperature […]
European corn borer (ECB) is one of the pest included in the Great Lakes and Maritimes Pest Monitoring Network. Those interested in monitoring for ECB in field and sweet corn in the region are welcome to submit their trap data each week to the network to populate the real time interactive maps and see graphs […]
It was recently confirmed that European corn borer (ECB) has developed resistance to the Cry1F protein in Bt corn in Nova Scotia. More information on this issue can be found here: Canadian Corn Pest Coalition Mitigation Recommendations for European Corn Borer Resistance to Bt Corn (Cry1F) in the Maritimes. Thanks goes to Dr. Jocelyn Smith […]