agronomy Archives - Page 5 of 18

Finally, soil moisture measuring meets new tech

A map of soil moisture at freeze-up can give you a good indication of your yield potential

By Les Henry January 15, 2019

Water in the bank is a certainty; rainfall is a probability. Much of what we do in farming is based on probabilities — a game of chance. What are the chances we will get timely rains to keep a crop from withering away to a low yield? What are the chances we will suffer disease […] Read more

Dyck’s future oat breeding projects include looking at increasing yields through restructuring the plant architecture, increasing protein content and developing oats that are less dusty and itchy.

Crops, Features, Oats

Two new oat varieties from Oat Advantage

These two oats varieties are Ore: they’re re-designed and re-imagined

By Angela Lovell January 11, 2019

It’s taken 10 years, and a lot of hard work and persistence for Saskatchewan oat breeder Jim Dyck of Oat Advantage, to launch his two, new oat varieties that are getting oat growers and miller excited. The two varieties — named ORe 3541M and ORe 3542M — will be available through SeCan. They’re are both […] Read more

(Photo courtesy Canola Council of Canada)

Canola, Crops, Markets

Canola Council resets course for ‘efficiencies’

By GFM Network News December 10, 2018

Facing new limits on available funding, Canada’s canola value chain organization plans to refocus its work on its “core strengths” and collaborate with other players. The Canola Council of Canada on Wednesday announced a revised work plan, coming out of a “priorities review” undertaken after one of Canada’s biggest grain companies called a halt to […] Read more

Crops

Managing longer crop rotations

In Part 3 of a three-part series, these farmers with long rotations catch a few breaks in a tough year

By Lisa Guenther December 5, 2018

This article is the last in a series looking at how three farmers manage longer crop rotations through the growing season. The original plan was to interview all three once they’d finished harvest. But, unsurprisingly, western Canadian weather has no respect for deadlines. All three farmers saw a wet September and two were still harvesting […] Read more

Crops, Wheat & Chaff

Tillage for better crop establishment

Q & A with Nutrien Ag Solutions

By Scott Anderson October 23, 2018

Q. Can tillage help with better crop establishment or fertility management? A: Crop establishment can be impacted by soil moisture and temperature, especially in areas where more warm-season crops such as soybeans and corn are grown. High soil residue levels act as an insulating layer to the soil and reduce the rate of soil temperature […] Read more

The basic message for producers from researchers, seed companies and crop specialists is don’t rely any longer on old seeding rules of thumb such as five pounds of canola per acre, or 1.5 bushels of wheat.

Canola, Crops

Canola going down for the count

Like Goldilocks: you don’t want too few or too many, but the count that’s just right

By Lee Hart October 22, 2018

It’s a message being delivered with all western Canadian field crops these days, but canola seed suppliers such as BASF’s InVigor line (formerly Bayer products) are clearly making the point — know the seed count going through the air seeding system and follow that up with a plant count in the field. InVigor, for the […] Read more

Crops, Wheat & Chaff

Submitting seed for germination testing

Q & A with Nutrien Ag Solutions

By Ernie Nycholat October 9, 2018

Q: When is the best time to submitseed for germination testing? A: A seed germination test is a critical first step in determining the viability of seed for planting a new crop. It helps determine if the seed should be planted, and helps establish a seeding rate that achieves target plant populations in the field. […] Read more

Brandon Hunnicutt and his family farm near Giltner, Nebraska.

Corn, Crops

Corn, corn, and more corn

There’s a lot of it, but  there’s also a plan behind Nebraska crop rotations

By Lisa Guenther September 25, 2018

If you drive through Nebraska in the summer, expect to see a lot of corn. It towers on both sides of grid roads and secondary highways, hiding deer just as well as forests do in northern Canada. Sometimes drought-tolerant crops such as sorghum fill corners and line borders, as a pollination buffer for seed corn. […] Read more

Plant density was low in some areas. The plants in these patchy regions were also much smaller than those in the rest of the field.

Canola, Crops, Features

Crop advisor casebook: Patchy problems in a canola field

A Crop Advisor's Solution from the September 25, 2018 issue of Grainews

By Samantha Marcino September 24, 2018

On June 11, while spraying his canola plants with an in-crop herbicide, Wade noticed regions of the crop had uneven emergence, causing some patchy areas. Wade farms 10,000 acres of canola, wheat and barley near Yorkton, Sask. He thought he might have an insect problem in his canola crop. “My guess is it’s flea beetles or cutworms,” he said. […] Read more

I took this photo of Matt and Brad Barlow near Griffin on July 28.

Editor's column, Wheat & Chaff

Editor’s Column: Be careful with clubroot

By Leeann Minogue September 5, 2018

We expect to be off to an early racing start with our 2018 harvest, but you’ll have to wait for the next issue of Grainews to see photos and read about our early results. For now, a quick report on my summer vacation. Clubroot workshop In early August, I went to Edmonton for the 2018 […] Read more

GFM Network News

U.S. livestock: Cattle futures slide under pressure from weak cash prices

ICE Canada Weekly: Canola likely to remain rangebound

U.S. grains: Soybean futures ease from 17-month peak as traders gauge China buying pace

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