Wet weather, now accompanied by the first significant snowfall for much of southern and western Ontario, is creating a new level of angst for a large number of farmers. Some soybean fields remain standing and the prospects of those fields seeing a winter wheat crop have likely disappeared with the turning of the calendar to […] Read more
Pearce: Ont. farmers remain frustrated by wet fall
Pearce: Rains drench S. Ont. ahead of soy harvest
The totals are in, the maps have been drawn, and they confirm what many farmers and residents across north Middlesex and much of Perth counties already suspected: it rained, a lot, on Friday (Sept. 20). How the deluge will ultimately affect growers about to harvest soybeans remains to be seen, but the intensity with which […] Read more
Pearce: Rootworm injury in first-year corn a concern in U.S. Midwest
Reports in the past month citing corn rootworm injury to certain hybrids in first-year corn in the U.S. Midwest are providing a red flag to growers — including reports of some emerging issues here in Ontario. Last month, University of Illinois entomology professor Dr. Mike Gray, sounded something of an alarm regarding the discovery of […] Read more
Pearce: Concerns over neonics, bee health spur Ont. notice
Every day, there’s another story, another study or another opinion expressed on what to do or who’s to blame in the issue surrounding the use of seed treatments in corn and soybeans, and the impact on bee health. It’s a contentious issue, one that has many on either side — and in between — frustrated […] Read more
Pearce: Ont. corn estimated a week behind schedule
Corn production, generally, has seen a slight drop-off in terms of expected yields and performance in the field. Monthly estimates from USDA have been downgraded by an almost two-bushel per acre drop in the past week. But in Ontario, growers are concerned with the effects of higher-than-normal rainfall and a relatively sharp drop in temperatures […] Read more
Bayer working to find answers to bee deaths
Bayer CropScience says it’s working to address concerns that its neonicotinoid insecticide seed treatments are contributing to bee mortality. During a recent grower information day at the company’s research farm here, Bayer representatives Greig Zamecnik and Luc Bourgeois said company researchers and advisers are working on several different levels, including tests on a new dry […] Read more
Weed resistance – Palmer amaranth marches north
Three years ago, Dr. Ford Baldwin stood in a field near Widener, Arkansas, and spoke of the many challenges facing growers in the Mid-South of the U.S. He talked about the advance of resistant weed species and how, five years prior to that, he’d written about the looming “train wreck” represented by glyphosate resistance. He […] Read more
Ontario crops: not just wet, but very wet
Call it a lot of bad news contrasting against the potential for some upside. Yes, early July — particularly in the southwest corner of Ontario — was not only wet, it was very wet — a deluge that has damaged some crops and probably lowered yield. But the bright spot to this wet first half […] Read more
Pearce: Can we hybridize wheat?
Considerable discussion in the past few years has focused on improving wheat, both in terms of quality and yield. Much has been made of corn’s hybridization and the advances that came from that plant breeding process — and that’s led to similar debates on the ease or difficulty of hybridizing wheat, or even soybeans. Highlighting […] Read more
Pearce: With wheat in head, Ont. aerial applicators get ready
One farmer’s deliverance can be another farmer’s delay — and that seems to be the case for many growers in parts of southern Ontario. Rains in the past week have left some fields with flooded portions, mostly at the headlands. In spite of appearances, there doesn’t seem to be a lot of concern for those […] Read more
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