“The most yield potential a crop has is when the seed goes into the ground,” says Paul Sullivan, CCA with Sullivan Agro Inc. “After that, stresses like emergence, weather, nutrient availability and timing all pull back on the total genetic potential of the seed.”

READ ALSO: New corn hybrids for 2025

Selecting the right hybrid with the most genetic potential to meet yield goals while managing local production stressors can be achieved, but Sullivan reminds farmers that they need to invest time in researching, discussing seed options and consulting advisors, such as seed representatives and agronomists.

Here are three considerations to help select the right hybrids for your farm:

Maximize ROI

Hybrid selection is one of the biggest determining factors when it comes to yield. And in many cases, yield is the greatest determining factor of a farmer’s return on investment (ROI).

“Selecting a hybrid that is appropriate for your farm and growing region is the first step,” says Ben Rosser, an Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Agribusiness (OMAFA) corn specialist. “Public and private corn trials are conducted across the province, so do your research, ask your neighbours about their experiences and your seed rep for the most local information on performance and yield.”

Not only should bushels be considered as part of economic potential, but other economic factors need to be considered too, such as drydown capabilities to decrease potential drying costs; seed cost; and pest or disease tolerance that can reduce quality and production performance.

“Hybrid maturity and end use markets also need to fit into the selection criteria, especially when it comes to managing risk tolerance for weather and field conditions,” says Rosser, who notes that soil conditions, planting and target harvest timing also need to be considered for each field when selecting the right maturity.

Marty Vermey, senior agronomist with Grain Farmers of Ontario, also points out that, since corn is driven by heat, selecting the appropriate heat units and relative maturity go hand-in-hand. “Maturity will differ across growing regions and between hybrids, so be sure to select appropriately for your farm,” he says.

Match your management style

“Every hybrid is different and requires a different management approach to maximize genetic potential,” Vermey says.

Knowing more about hybrid genetics allows farmers to take advantage of seed strengths and farm around the weaknesses. Management considerations such as population, planting window, soil type, fertility, crop protection products and harvest timing all need to be accounted for.

“Ask yourself what problems you want to solve through seed traits,” says Vermey, who recommends farmers make a list to help evaluate their risks and how their management approach will support selected hybrids.

Problems, or risks, can include weed control, insect pressures, standability, emergence issues, soil conditions, desired planting and harvesting windows, and nutrient concerns.

“Farmers need to match hybrids to overall management styles and equipment,” Vermey says. “Individual field conditions also need to be accounted for when it comes to aligning corn seed with crop management too.”

Trait resistance is something else farmers need to consider, especially in areas where corn rootworm resistance has emerged. Vermey reminds any farmers who are growing corn-on-corn follow OMAFA recommended management practices — and use trait technology wisely.

While resistance to European corn borer, for example, hasn’t been identified in Ontario yet, (though it has been confirmed in the Maritimes and Quebec), Vermey reminds farmers in that province to “monitor your fields diligently and be aware of any breakthrough insects you think you are controlling with traits.”

Ear flex can also be a consideration when researching corn hybrids. Sullivan explains that all hybrids will flex in at least one of three ways: ear girth, ear length and depth of kernel. Understanding the ear flex timing can also be factored into a management approach, especially when considering plant populations. For farmers using variable rate planting equipment and leveraging field nutrient based soil mapping systems, Sullivan recommends paying extra attention to ear flex and working with an adviser to select corn genetics to maximize crop potential.

Review and research

Hybrids can change quickly from year to year, but that’s no excuse not to take the time to learn more about them.

“Use all available resources when deciding hybrid selection and placement,” Rosser says.

Rosser reminds farmers of the importance of data when it comes to selecting the right corn hybrid, and the more data, the better. He recommends reviewing performance data over multiple growing seasons to get the best picture, and preferably data that has been collected across various growing conditions and environments.

“Look for hybrids with consistent performance across large data sets and multiple conditions,” Rosser says.

Vermey also recommends farmers talk to their neighbours to find out what works for them. “But understand your neighbour’s management – their time of planting, soil, nutrients and fungicide control – will be different from your own, so be sure to carefully research how a hybrid will perform on your own farm too,” he says.

Consulting one’s own trusted advisors, such as local seed representatives and agronomists, can also help farmers identify the strengths and weaknesses of hybrids being considered, Vermey says. And ideally, advisors should be local to help a farmer select the best fit for their growing region, heat units and disease and pest pressures.

“Don’t be afraid to try something new. Try adding one or two new hybrids every year to see how they work on your farm,” says Sullivan, who advises adding new hybrids in small increments, or on limited acres to reduce risk. He also recommends on-farm strip trials to measure performance and inform future hybrid selection.

The post Select the right corn hybrids for your fields appeared first on Grainews.

Glen Blahey is a Health and Safety Specialist with CASA. “There are three common types of collisions involving farm equipment and a typical road vehicle: Rear-end, passing and left-turn collisions.”

A typical tractor travels less than 40 kilometres per hour. Farm machinery is long and wide. Motorists can underestimate the length, width and speed of farm machinery, often with disastrous results. Rear-end collisions occur when motorists come up on farm equipment too quickly. Passing collisions often occur because motorists attempt to pass without having a clear view of oncoming traffic. Left-turn collisions happen because motorists often think the equipment operator is pulling over to allow the vehicle to pass but the operator is actually making a wide left turn.

• From the Manitoba Co-operator: Moving equipment is a high-risk operation

What can farmers do to prevent collisions? The first step is having a conversation with all equipment operators and truck drivers about how to safely and efficiently move farm machinery on public roadways.

In March, the Canadian Agricultural Safety Association (CASA) and the Canadian Federation of Agriculture launched “Let’s Talk About It!” a Canadian Agricultural Safety Week campaign focused on encouraging farmers to talk about farm safety. As a part of the campaign, CASA developed the Toolbox Talks, a series of brief, informal talks that help farmers discuss with their workers and their families about safely conducting farm tasks.

Some quick and easy tips to remain safe:

Be Visible. If motorists know slow moving farm machinery is on the road, and how that machinery is likely to move, the chance for a collision is reduced. A Slow Moving Vehicle (SMV) emblem is a triangular, bright-orange sign with a red border. It must be placed at the centre or to the left of centre of all slow moving farm vehicles and equipment. Make sure the SMV emblem is clean and visible. Lighting is also important. Tractors and other self-propelled equipment must have at least two headlamps visible from the front, two red tail lamps visible from the rear and two flashing amber warning lamps visible from both the front and the rear of the machine. Proper turning signals should be available and used at all times. Some provinces have other lighting requirements, check with your provincial department of transportation.

Be Cautious. When operating farm machinery on a public road, drive as far to the right as possible to give motorists room to pass, but stay on the road. Travelling on the shoulder presents its own hazards — it may be soft or have obscured hazards like culvert openings or depressions. Equipment operators should never allow extra riders on farm machinery. If something goes wrong, the extra rider is the most likely person to die. And always remember to buckle up your seat belt.

Be Alert. Only properly trained and licensed drivers should ever operate farm machinery. While it goes without saying that no one should ever operate farm machinery under the influence of drugs or alcohol, it’s also true that anyone who is overly tired should also avoid driving.

Farm workers following these guidelines minimize the chance of a collision. CASA wishes all farmers a safe, healthy and productive harvest season.

For more information on Toolbox Talks, visit agsafetyweek.ca. Do you have any questions about safety? Contact CASA at info@casa-asca.ca.

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I told my husband that I was sorry for the mistake, and I thanked my son for quickly tracking down the part. Our employee also now understands the importance of not parking vehicles behind me.

Harvest this year is going to be extra fun because we all feel behind before we start due to the late-season crops. I have already started praying for no frost until November! I’d like to share some practical ways to make things right that I learned from Gary Chapman and Jennifer Thomas this summer in their fabulous book called When Sorry Isn’t Enough. Chapman is also the author of The Five Love Languages, so you may be familiar with his practical approach.

• More ‘Farm Life’ with Elaine Froese: ‘Someday’ is not on my calendar

There are five ways to say sorry:

1. “I’m sorry.” You express regret. I was quick to do this after I heard the thud of hitting the truck. I also expressed regret to the semi-driver who grazed me as I was backing my SUV out of my garage onto my lane, rushing to get to the post office. I now always look down the lane before cranking out of the driveway! Sometimes expressing regret is all it takes to make restitution with the person you have offended, but recall the young kids who you’ve asked to say “sorry” and it comes out quickly from their little mouths, but with the wrong tone of voice, and no further change of behavior. Not a good thing.
2. “I was wrong.” Those folks who can accept responsibility for their hurtful actions get more traction with spouses who expect more that a quick sorry. This means that you accept the fact that you made a mistake and own up to it. I was not going to sneak around the next field with a dented shaft. Honesty is always the best policy in my books. Someone has torn a piece of sheet metal out of our shed, but we never have found anyone to own up to the mistake. Damage is done, but no one accepts responsibility. The hole is still not repaired!
3. “How can I make it right?” Making restitution. When I backed Wes’s pickup into a car parked in my blind spot with the pickup hitch making a perfectly square hole in the car’s front bumper, I was angry that the driver had not used his horn to stop me! I had to make it right with a $700 cheque to pay for a new car bumper, and I no longer drive the truck in town. Besides an apology, some people want to know what is going to change in the future with your actions so that you can make things right. In harvest season when stress is high, you really need to focus on a positive attitude to catch people doing things right, so that you can build up the emotional bank account of all the harvesters. Be willing to take some difficult feedback if you are cutting too high, or the meals need to be more timely to the field. Don’t take things personally, but seek out the ways other folks would like to be appreciated. Watch the tone of your voice on the FM radios. Long hours, dusty, itchy backs, and poor yields make people cranky if you are not careful to check your attitude. Just making fresh hot coffee for my son and our employees “makes lots of things right” during busy field times.
4. “I want to change.” Genuinely repenting. In harvest season you have habits around how you like to open up a field and the direction of the swaths. Sometimes getting folks to adopt a new way of doing things is stressful, until they can see the benefit. The swather driver needs to have some compassion for the grain cart guy or trucker as to the pattern created by the swaths. Are you open to suggestion to change your ways? Make a mind shift to be able to ask, “Is there something you would like me to do differently?”
5. “Can you find it in your heart to forgive me?” Requesting forgiveness takes courage, but the result is that you will feel better and lighter when you are forgiven. I appreciate a spouse who doesn’t yell or swear at me when I cause damage with backing up. He forgives me and we move on. Chapman says that “for those with a controlling personality, asking forgiveness is out of their comfort zone emotionally. To successfully learn to speak the apology language of requesting forgiveness or, for that matter, any of the apology languages, an extremely controlling individual will likely require the help of a counsellor or friend who is willing to be honest with him or her” (page 156).

So now you are primed for harvest, getting machines ready, and your ability to apologize in the right way. Here are Chapman’s tips of what not to say when apologizing:

• Haven’t you gotten over that yet?
• Why do you always…?
• What’s the big deal?
• Give me a break.
• You just need to get over it.
• You sound like your mother.

Try this instead:

• I did it, and I have no excuse.
• Can you ever forgive me?
• I realize that talk is cheap. I know that I need to show you how I will change.
• I will try to make this up to you by…
• You have every right to be upset.

I wish you all a very safe and successful harvest. In the sunny southwest of Manitoba we have crops that are great, and in the terms of a teenager… some that suck! Take care of everyone on your team, and yourself with good sleep, great food, and gracious attitudes. I will do my best this year not to back into anything!

The post Love is learning how to say ‘sorry’ at harvest appeared first on Grainews.

Saskatchewan alone produced 38.8 million tonnes of products that go through a grain auger — exceeding the government target for 2020 of 36.6 million tonnes. Bureaucrats like to pretend they can see the future and make targets to feed the hungry hordes they think will buy our crops. I have little faith in any such star gazing. All those predictions fail to recognize Rule 1 of Farming: Mother Nature is in charge.

Our 2013 record harvest with perfect weather makes for many stories about the bushels that could be rubbed out in a short time. Watching the combines roll, the grain cart chase them around the field and the semis and B trains haul it to the elevator are sights of great beauty. I thrilled to watch neighbours with three big yellow combines and a grain cart keep several B trains busy hauling directly to an elevator 20 miles away.

More from the Grainews website: Record crop meets plugged system

The equipment and technology has seen huge advances in the past century but the “Beauty of the Harvest” is timeless. Long hours, huge stress but in the end satisfaction like none other.

Times gone by

In 1926 at Milden, Sask., my grandfather Jerome Henry and dad Lou Henry said goodbye to the threshing machine and bought a shiny new Massey Harris 15-foot combine with a wagon hitch in place of a hopper. I am sure the excitement was great when that advance came along. A continuous “dump on the fly” — until the wagon was full. Then the full wagon was unhitched and an empty hooked up.

I visited recently with Joe Pender who many will remember as a Master Farmer from Meath Park, Sask., and distributor of Gandy Fertilizer applicators. He showed me a picture of some threshing equipment his father operated near Rosetown, Sask. It’s a 1928, a 20-foot Holt combine, dumping “on the fly” into a one ton truck.

In 1954, at age 14, I took dumps on the fly from a Massey 27 combine with a one ton Fargo truck and thought we were quite advanced.

Joe Pender also showed me a photo of a 1939 combine with a great story. It’s a five-foot Allis Chalmers pto combine pulled by a Farmall M tractor. Joe still has that tractor and combine along with the original invoice and operator’s manual. It only cut one crop. Anyone want a good used combine?

The Allis Chalmers combine had a 15-bushel hopper with a small unloading auger. His dad combined 450 acres of wheat with that combine that year at Meath Park, northeast of Prince Albert, Sask. The “trucker” used a team of horses and two wagons. The wagon held three hoppers so Joe’s dad could fill a wagon while the hired man took the loaded wagon to a bin. He used a grain scoop to put the grain in a bin! Joe was nine at the time and rode along with the hired man and even had a ride on the platform of the combine.

Joe said it was a good crop. Saskatchewan Agriculture stats quote average wheat yield for RM 490 to be 35 bushels/acre in 1939. Even if we use a conservative 30 bushel yield x 450 acres, that’s 13,500 bushels of wheat. That is 900 hoppers of combining and 300 loads of wheat for the hired hand to shovel — imagine the muscles. It was a perfect harvest year. Prince Albert weather records show very little rain in September and October of 1939. At 15 acres per day it would have been 30 days of very hard work.

But the “Beauty of the Harvest” with the five-foot combine only lasted one year. The good crop meant a bigger combine could be purchased.

Times change, machines change but the “Beauty of the Harvest” lives on in the hearts of all real farmers. It will be a sad day when this old scribbler cannot crawl up the ladder and rub out a few bushels.

The post The beauty of the harvest appeared first on Grainews.

When Marianne submitted this story, I was excited. Everything in the article rang true for me, both in my own life and what I hear from my female friends who are married to farmers. Scheduling work, organizing child care, running the house, keeping up the yard — all of those things get complicated when you’re married to a farmer and it’s harvest time.

I ran the story assuming that everyone who read it would nod to themselves, thinking, “It’s just like that at our place.” Or, better yet, “It’s nice to hear I’m not the only one!”

Instead, I received this fax from C. Pike at Waseca:

I can’t believe that farm women would complain about harvest time. Oh, if they have a bad-tempered husband who turns into a veritable terror at harvest, I could see it — but to complain because they are left to mow the lawn?

Let us turn back the clock to harvest time when the women of the farms would have to feed a dozen hungry men, with no electric stove, no hot and cold water on tap, no refrigerator, no freezer, no microwave, no cell phone.

Before the men arrived the husband would have chores to do, including getting the horses ready, but he or the older children would fill the wood box for the cookstove and bring in several pails of water from the well.

In many homes, the wife milked the cows by hand, washed the cream separator, prepared breakfast, made school lunches, baked bread — and with feeding the crew and the family that meant baking every day, dig vegetables from the garden, make a dozen pies. Then in the afternoon the hardworking men required a tea break which meant tea, sandwiches cake. The men would go to their own homes at supper time, for they had chores and besides, horses couldn’t keep working like a machine. In this area a travelling crew with their own cook was rare.

True that harvest on each farm couldn’t last more than a week at the most, unlike today when it can go on for weeks. On quite a few farms the wife drives the combine as well as provides the meals. Mind you, with today’s conveniences, the meals can be prepared and frozen ahead of time.

I can’t understand how anyone can complain about the year’s income being brought in. Perhaps they should have married an accountant. One who would mow the lawn, of course.

That’s me told.

From the Manitoba Co-operator website: An up-close look at what farming is really like

I considered rebutting with comments like, “expectations about driving children to activities have changed,” or “so many women have off-farm jobs these days,” but really, lounging in a lawn chair in the park while my son plays soccer is not quite as gruelling as baking bread daily in a wood-fired cookstove.

And I wouldn’t be fooling anyone who knows me. The other day I caught myself complaining about our SUV because “there’s a weird buzzing noise when I have my iPod plugged into the stereo and then turn on the seat heater.” I would have been the world’s worst pioneer.

There’s no doubt — things are easier now than they ever were. Both on the farm and in the house. C. Pike has a point.

When someone invents time travel, I’ll be the first one in line to take short trips into other eras to see history being made. But if they offered me the option of permanently relocating to any time in the past, I’d have to say no. There is really no better time or place to be a woman — on a farm or not. In Victorian England, even a woman married to an accountant wouldn’t have it nearly as good as I have it now (remember poor Bob Cratchit’s wife from A Christmas Carol?)

Our lot has been gradually improving over time.

So I’ll concede to C. Pike that she is definitely right, and we should try to remember that our complaints are really not that serious. Being a woman on a farm back in the days of threshing machines and hand cow-milking would have been much more difficult than the life we live today. Even in the middle of September.

But I’m willing to bet that While Mrs. Pike’s grandmother was kneading the fourth loaf of bread, her grandmother was sitting on a chair in the corner, mumbling something along the lines of, “You women today don’t appreciate how easy you’ve got it. You’re lucky to have all this flour to make bread. Back in the old country, my mother had to fight tooth and nail with her brothers every day, just to get a bite of the last diseased potato.”

Thanks for reading the article and sending in the great feedback, Mrs. Pike!

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