About 70 people joined the call for the 5th Ridgetown-Simcoe Breakfast Meeting. The next meeting on June 16th will be the last call for this region. Most of the corn and soybean planting has been wrapped up in the area. However, on heavier textured soils in Chatham-Kent, Niagara and Haldimand there still remains anywhere from […]
By Mike Staton, MSU Extension Soybean Educator and Horst Bohner, Soybean Specialist, Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. Some soybean producers in Michigan are experimenting with ultra early planting dates (late-March to mid-April) with positive results. To date, research trials have not shown a consistent yield benefit to planting this early when compared […]
There were a record number of unseeded acres last year. This means not all soybean seed intended for the 2019 growing season was used. Can carry-over seed (grown in 2018) be used successfully in 2020? Before answering that question, it must be stated that soybeans are one of the least storable seeds when compared to many other […]
Thank you to Ken Currah (BASF) for chairing the meeting. The final meeting for this spring will be on June 25th starting at 7:00 am for breakfast (meeting starts at 7:30) at the Malibu. Alex Zelem will be chair. Synopsis: Significant progress was made in the area the end of last week and through the […]
Thanks to Jeremy O’Shea (Pioneer) for chairing the meeting and to Alex Zelem (C&M) for sponsoring breakfast. The next meeting will be Tuesday, June 11th starting at 7:00am for breakfast and 7:30 for the meeting. Synopsis: There was widespread rainfall over the weekend with most areas receiving 1 to 6 inches of rain on Saturday. […]
Co-author: Horst Bohner, Soybean Specialist In 2017, wet growing conditions have made it difficult to put up high quality forages. A wet spring delayed planting in many regions, and the cool summer and an early frost may prevent some soybeans from reaching their full potential as an oilseed crop. These circumstances may encourage producers to […]
The 2016-2017 version of OMAFRA Publication 812, Field Crop Protection Guide, and can be downloaded here or by clicking on the the book cover thumbnail below. Publication 812 is the source of pest control information for field crops. The easy to read tables provide information and comments on insect and disease control products for the major field crops […]
Corn Corn planting progress varies as you move across the province. The southwestern part of the province and the Niagara area has been cool and wet and the clay soils are less than 20% planted. Throughout much of the rest of the province conditions have been much more favourable with 60 to 80% of the […]
Conditions: Soil drying up, but below average temperatures are limiting field activity to manure/fertilizer application and forage/spring cereal seeding. Forages: Alfalfa winter survival is good, generally in the 80% plus range. Winterkill is mostly limited to low/poorly drained pockets. The combination of heavy and moisture saturated soils has led to some heaving. Alfalfa fields not […]
Dealing with weed escapes in non-GMO or “identity preserved” soybeans can be challenging because many of the herbicides available don’t control a large spectrum of weeds nor will the handle larger weeds the way that glyphosate does in a glyphosate tolerant (RR) soybean crop. I have summarized the performance of several post-emergence herbicides for non-GMO […]
There is some confusion on the approach for managing glyphosate resistant Canada fleabane in soybeans. I provide two scenarios that have been often asked this past winter and their solutions based on the learnings of Dr. Peter Sikkema’s applied research program out of the University of Guelph (Ridgetown campus). Scenario # 1: No-till soybeans with […]
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 […]
A well-planned and run on-farm trial is a great way to test new ideas, products, and equipment. But, to provide meaningful information, even a simple on-farm trial takes time to plan and carry-out. For an on-farm trial to provide useful information, two basic requirements need to be met. First, the trial has to be set […]
Conditions: Over 75% of the manure is out and 40-50% of the ground has been worked. Forages: Nitrogen fertilizer has largely been applied on grass hay fields. Alfalfa growth has picked up over the last week (6” to 8”). While alfalfa winter survival is generally good, winterkill (Figure 1) is becoming evident and some fields […]
Conditions: Fields have been slow to dry. Only a small amount of manure has been applied. About 25% of the nitrogen/fertilizer has been applied to winter wheat and grassy forage stands. Alfalfa: Winter survival is very good (Figure 1), generally in the 90% range, except for areas along the St Lawrence (Morrisburg/Brockville), which have up to 80% […]