winter wheat

Getting herbicides on your winter wheat

Everyone wants to get their winter wheat sprayed early in the spring. Find out how soon you can get started

There are many reasons to grow winter wheat. But one mark against this crop is its vulnerability to weeds. Winter wheat growers want to get in a herbicide application as early as they can during the growing season. This can be a problem. Ontario farmers have observed that applying too early can injure the growing […] Read more

young farm family

Potato partnership brings prosperity

Atlantic Region: Outstanding young farmers work in 
partnership to grow potatoes on Prince Edward Island

Andrew and Heidi Law-less, the 2014 Outstanding Young Farmer nominees representing the Atlantic Canada region, are both from a P.E.I. farming background. Heidi grew up on a mixed farm (purebred Angus cattle, potatoes and grain). Andrew is the third generation on the Lawless potato farm a stone’s throw from the little town of Kinkora where […] Read more


crop sprayer

Taking notes makes farming easier

For someone that hasn’t been farming long, there are lots of things to remember. Notes can help

I play the fool sometimes, to illustrate the simpler yet important points of farming that an expert may no longer consider. And I’m guessing some of you, the ones who didn’t grow up with smartphones and GPS, need constant reminders of the potential efficiencies clipped to your belts. It was supposed to be too cold. […] Read more

Coverage is key when using desiccants

Coverage is key when using desiccants

A crop desiccant is an herbicide intended for the rapid drydown of the crop, not for long-term weed management. So it shouldn’t come as a surprise that applying a diquat-based desiccant entails a few distinctive “best practices.” Firstly, you need to use a higher water volume. Contact desiccants should be applied with at least 20 […] Read more


Precision matters with fusarium

Even the best wheat fungicides only offer suppression of fusarium head blight (FHB), so it’s crucial to follow label instructions closely to protect as much of your hard-won yield and quality as possible. The application window for most FHB fungicides is as short as two to three days, so timing is tight. This coincides with […] Read more

The youngest leaves were most affected and were severely yellowed in this barley crop.

Crop Advisor’s Casebook: Yellowed sixth and seventh barley leaves tell a tale

A Crop Advisor's Solution from the April 18, 2011 issue of Grainews

As Rodney drove by his field mid-June last year, he got a nasty shock. His barley crop — progressing well up until that point —was turning yellow. “I’ve never seen this in my 20 years of farming,” Rodney told me. “My barley crop is under a lot of stress,” he said. Rodney farms 1,000 acres […] Read more