The incidence and severity of white mould (Sclerotinia sclerotiorum) is highly dependent on favourable weather conditions for the disease during soybean flowering. White mould prefers temperatures below 28 degrees C, moist soils, and high humidity. Conditions over the last few weeks have been ideal for the disease in much of Ontario. It’s important to know that this disease overwinters in…
OMAFRA Field Crop Team May 28, 2021 449 Comments Off on Exeter and Mount Forest Breakfast Meeting Minutes – May 25, 2021Corn: Overall the area received very little rainfall since last meeting two weeks ago. The most that was reported was 2/10 of an inch in parts of Huron county. Most of the corn in the area is now planted except for some acres intended to go in after ryelage. Although it is still a little premature to evaluate seeding rate…
OMAFRA Field Crop Team May 13, 2021 397 Comments Off on Exeter and Mount Forest Breakfast Meeting Minutes – May 11, 2021Cereals Since our last meeting cereal growth has been slow in much of the area. From May 1st to today about 65-75 growing degree days have accumulated in the area. Most of the wheat is still at GS 31 to GS 32 in with earlier planted fields approaching flag leaf and late planted fields still around GS 30. Very little progress on herbicide, fungicide and plant growth regulator applications has been made due to…
Jake Munroe April 7, 2021 754 Comments Off on Organic no-till soybean production: is it possible in Ontario? (updated with 2020 data)In this article, we will take a look at using a roller crimper for organic no-till soybean production and the results of on-farm trials in Ontario. Why organic no-till? Organic soybean production relies on a significant amount of tillage. When done well, yields can rival conventional production. There are drawbacks, however, including a high labour demand in the spring and…
Jake Munroe, Mike Cowbrough and Sebastian Belliard (OMAFRA) Cereal rye (Secale cereal) has several strengths as a cover crop option. It’s relatively inexpensive and easy to kill. Rye improves soil structure, builds organic matter and helps protect against water and wind erosion. It can suppress weeds as discussed here (see Figure 1). It’s also very winter hardy and often the…
Alexandra Collingwood November 3, 2020 1254 Comments Off on Cover Crop-Based Organic No-Till Soybean Production In OntarioIn the video series below, we provide an overview of roller crimping rye for organic no-till soybean production. We give an overview of the system and profile the experiences of two Ontario farmers. To learn about the on-farm trial results, click here. A detailed project report can be found here. While there are many benefits of organic agriculture, one of…
Dry beans are either approaching flowering or have already started flowering across Ontario. White mold is an important disease of dry beans in Ontario and in-crop management of white mold occurs during flowering. White mold spores can land on stems, leaves or pods but deteriorating flower petals are very susceptible to infection. Spores colonize flower tissue, and the disease enters…
OMAFRA Field Crop Team May 27, 2020 691 Comments Off on Exeter + Mt Forest Agribusiness Breakfast Meeting Minutes – May 26, 2020Weather: Warmer conditions starting late last week have fast-tracked crop growth. Tracking growing degree day (GDD) accumulation – Base 0 – for April and May in Huron county revealed 159 GGD in April and 244 GDD from May 1-25. Rainfall during the past week was sporadic with isolated thunderstorms resulting in flooded fields in one location and no rainfall…
In this article, we will take a look at using a roller crimper for organic no-till soybean production and the results of on-farm trials in Ontario. For the most up-to-date version of this article, click here. Why organic no-till? Organic soybean production relies on a significant amount of tillage. When done well, yields can rival conventional production. There are drawbacks,…
Jake Munroe, Mike Cowbrough and Sebastian Belliard (OMAFRA) Cereal rye (Secale cereale) has several strengths as a cover crop option. It’s relatively inexpensive and easy to kill. Rye improves soil structure, builds organic matter and helps protect against water and wind erosion. It can suppress weeds as discussed here (see Figure 1). It’s also very winter hardy and often the…
OMAFRA Field Crop Team August 15, 2019 1336 Comments Off on Exeter Agribusiness Breakfast Meeting Minutes –August 13, 2019Thank you to Martin Harry for chairing the mid-summer meeting and to Bill Norman (Belchim Crop Protection) for sponsoring breakfast. Thank you to those who came out to all the meetings this season. Synopsis: The status of crops varies in the region with some areas not looking too bad while others are showing signs of moisture stress with growers…
OMAFRA Field Crop Team June 26, 2019 1223 Comments Off on Exeter Agribusiness Breakfast Meeting Minutes – June 25, 2019Thank you to Alex Zelem (C&M Seeds) who chaired the meeting and to Chris Meier (A&L Labs) for sponsoring breakfast. This was the last spring meeting for 2019. This year’s meetings have been the best attended since these meetings started over 20 years ago so thanks to everyone who attended. Since this has been such an unprecedented spring, a follow…
Jake Munroe June 20, 2019 1548 Comments Off on Heartland and Eastern Valley Soil and Crop Tier Two Project, 2018-2020: Pushing the Management of Cover Crop RyeThis article discusses cereal rye cover crop management in the spring prior to planting soybeans. For results from this project, click here and here. Achieving sufficient biomass from cover crops is essential to reaping their soil benefits. Dr. Humberto Blanco, Professor of Soil Management and Applied Physics at University of Nebraska-Lincoln, spoke recently at the University of Guelph about his…
OMAFRA Field Crop Team May 16, 2019 1234 Comments Off on Exeter Agribusiness Breakfast Meeting Minutes – May 14, 2019Thank 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 again keeping things saturated. Some…
Jake Munroe December 17, 2018 5252 Comments Off on To plant green or to plant brown? Rye cover crop termination timing before soybeansGo here for the updated version of this article. Cereal rye has several strengths as a cover crop option. It’s relatively inexpensive and easy to kill. Rye improves soil structure, builds organic matter and helps protect against water and wind erosion. It also competes with weeds, as Mike Cowbrough has written here (see Figure 1). However, in most cases, rye…
