Author Archive: Felix.Weber

Winter wheat planting is off to a slow start in Ontario owing to the delayed harvest of beans.

Growers are, however, keen to plant more wheat and make adjustments, including broadcast seeding into standing soybeans and adjusting seeding rates. Wheat after hay or wheat has a high risk of Take-all disease. Wheat after silage should also be avoided due to fusarium risk. Where broadcast seeding, bump seeding rates to 2.5 million seeds/ac just as leaf drop begins. Agricorp also needs to inspect these fields this fall.

Here more tips on wheat planting with Wheat Pete’s Word On Real Agriculture:

https://bit.ly/2m4PCLZ

Sept 16-21 commemorates the discovery of phosphorus 350 yeas ago.

In conjuction with this week, two leading Cdn researchers have reviewed 100’s of ‘P” research reports and issued a new report that looks at gaps in knowledge and priorities for P research.

4R Management of Phosphorus Fertilizer in the Northern Great Plains:
A Review of the Scientific Literature

Funded by Fertilizer Canada

[fp-button color=’primary’]View Report[/fp-button]

Get more on managing P with these podcasts:

• Managing Soils For Phosphorus (Successful Farming)
• Why Phosphorus is Leaving the Farm and What to Do About it (No-Till Farmer)

2019’s weather has been less than kind to many crops, resulting in a lot of unevenness in crop stage. Some fields appear as if there were different crops in one field, making it difficult for farmers to make the decision when to swath or harvest.

Drone imagery is a valuable tool to help assess the percentage of the field that is ready for harvest.

The most widely used NDVI index is ideally suited for this purpose – the lower the index, the closer that part of the field is to the ripening stage.  Then by ground proofing the different index values (colour zones) in the field image to the crop stage, growers can better quantify the overall maturity and have more confidence in harvest timing.

Wheat Variety plot NDVI image

Every year brings its share of troublesome weeds, and the fall is the best time to control perennial and winter annual weeds.

There are 5 main benefits of a fall weed control program.

1. Control of perennial weeds like Canada Thistle, quack grass and perennial sow thistle is best with a pre-harvest application when these weeds are actively growing and translocating nutrients to the roots. 
2. As a pre-harvest aid to crop and weed dry down, improving harvest timing and grain sample quality. 
3. Control of winter annuals including chickweed, stinkweed, narrow leaf hawk’s-beard with a later post-harvest application, as these weeds germinate long after harvest, and even after a frost. Fall is also the best time to control dandelions
4. Reduce populations of troublesome weeds & crop volunteers. In the Prairies, over 60% of wild oats have group 1 resistance. Aid in controlling spread of weeds like water hemp, [...]

Many farmers often like to estimate soybean yield late in the season. Ideally, the closer the beans are to maturity, the better the estimate will be.

The traditional approach to estimating yield by the formula (pods/acre X seeds)/pod /(seeds/lb.)/(lbs. per bushel) is time consuming and tedious. There is a simpler approach that is based on counts in 1/10000th of an acre, by measuring 21 inches of row for any row width.

Follow the instruction in this Purdue University article:

[fp-button color=’primary’]Read More[/fp-button]

Soybean cyst nematode (SCN) is the number one pest of soybeans in Ontario and Quebec, causing significant yield loss, often without growers’ awareness of the problem until populations becoming endemic in a field.

Current surveys show SCN has not reached Manitoba but is present just across the border in North Dakota. Where soybeans go, so does SCN.

Yield losses often occur often before symptoms are visible in the field. Symptoms can be easily misdiagnosed for something else, like root rot, compaction, or lack of nutrients. Sometimes, by the time SCN is discovered to be the problem, populations are high enough to cripple yields.

Growers need to be proactive to identify and manage SCN while populations are low. Fall is the perfect time to scout for SCN by testing your fields soil for population numbers, ideally at the same time as collecting soil samples [...]

Think about this scenario for a moment:

A new client calls wanting to know how soon you might be able to grid soil sample 4,000 acres.

How accurately can you answer that?

You or your staff may already be maxed out with helping clients, but there are 7 good reasons why you may want to place more priority on your soil sampling business:

• Opportunity to expand precision ag consulting side of the business
• Another point of contact to build your relationship and understanding of client needs
• Repeat business opportunity through regular testing of client’s fields
• Increased confidence in soil test results by doing your own sampling rather than by a 3rd party
• More control over tailoring sample collection to  production recommendations for each client
• Gain deeper knowledge of fields while sampling: topography, problem areas, surface texture, perennial weed patches (eg Canada thistle, [...]

Clubroot is the most devastating soil-borne disease of canola because it is hard to detect until serious losses occur, is impossible to eradicate, and can last 10-20 years in a field.

The disease continues its march across western provinces, and more recently has been found in Ontario (Field Crop News).

In addition to field scouting, soil testing in the fall is the best way to help manage. It can serve two objectives; detect the presence of clubroot in a field, and quantify the level of spores throughout a field. Soil testing will allow growers to be proactive in developing a sanitation plan to control the spread of spores by equipment.

For more information, consult How to Test Soils for Clubroot pathogen (Canola Watch).

Exhibitor At The 21st Edition Of Expo-Champs

August 27th-29th, 2019

124, rang Charlotte
Saint-Liboire, QC
Exits 147 & 145 of Highway 20

Ag Business & Crop is pleased to take part in this year’s Expo-Champs in Saint-Liboire as an exhibitor.

Offering the tools and training you need for modern farming, Ag Business & Crop helps producers maximize their success by using the latest technology and methods of precision agriculture.

Visit us at booth C-047 on Rue Entreprises LeBlanc, and learn about our array of precision agriculture products, including:

• Wintex Soil Samplers
• Parrot Bluegrass & Bebop Drones
• SenseFly eBee SQ & eBee Plus Drones
• MicaSense RedEdge Camera
• AgiSoft Software
• Ag Business & Crop Liquid Storage Cover
• Spectrum Products

See the map below for [...]