Using a liquid inoculant on soybean seed and a granular inoculant in the seed row has become standard practice for growers planting beans on virgin fields. This is intended to quickly establish a population of rhizobia bacteria in soil on which beans have never been planted. Some agronomists say one inoculant — on the seed […] Read more
Crop Management — page 526
Soybeans can handle more phosphorus than suspected
Soybeans are tough. They can withstand heat, drought, drenched soils and many other stressors. However, University of Manitoba researchers were surprised to learn that beans have another tough quality: they can tolerate a relatively high rate of phosphate fertilizer next to the seed with little impact on plant stand or yield. The researchers applied 20, […] Read more
Fall phosphorus broadcasting worries researcher
Larger farms and a lack of help in the spring have resulted in more western Canadian producers choosing not to apply fertilizer during seeding. As part of the trend, growers are broadcasting phosphate in the fall to avoid the hassle of handling another product in the spring. University of Manitoba soil scientist Don Flaten worries […] Read more
To pea or not to pea, disease is the question
Abstinence makes soils grow fonder when it comes to pea yields, because it’s better to avoid fungal battles in the first place
EDMONTON — Limited options for dealing with root rot in peas means growers must develop new management strategies, says a plant pathologist. Michael Harding, a research scientist with Alberta Agriculture in Brooks, said farmers need to adopt ways to avoid the disease instead of trying to eliminate it from their fields. “We’re going to talk […] Read more
Lighten up after big booms with aluminum
The first Pommier aluminum spray booms that arrived in Manitoba from France a decade ago started an aluminum trend that’s spread throughout North America. Today’s aftermarket 120-foot aluminum booms weigh about the same as the original equipment manufacturer 90-foot steel booms. Dan Light, owner of Ultra-Light Aluminum Boom Products in Lisbon, Iowa, said aluminum booms […] Read more
Gramlow tacks rubber tracks and GPS onto planter
If the local dealer can’t supply GPS steerable OEM factory rubber tracks, aftermarket companies like Gramlow probably can
When plans for a rubber-tracked GPS-guided steerable corn planter bog down because the dealer can’t find the parts, help might be available from Gramlow Ltd. “Centre sections on planters are too heavy much of the time. The original tires aren’t up to carrying the full load,” says Richard Gramlow, co-owner of Gramlow in Fullerton, North […] Read moreOld friends killing old foes again
Old school herbicides Avadex and Edge are teaching new lessons to resistant wild oats
Two “old friends” might be enlisted in the chemical fight against herbicide resistant weeds. One of them is Avadex, said Mike Grenier of Gowan Canada, which acquired Avadex from Monsanto in 2004. Avadex, with the active ingredient of triallate, is a Group 8 herbicide that has been shown in trials to control wild oats that […] Read more
Honey Bee goes big, cuts weight
Saskatchewan company builds a 50 foot wide combine header while keeping it lightweight
Getting some air is generally not something producers are looking for with their combines’ flex headers. Growers don’t want gaps with the ground when they are down low harvesting the last of the lentils, peas, chickpeas or soybeans. A new combine header from Honey Bee of Frontier, Sask., is causing some buzz with farmers. The […] Read more
CaseIH focuses on customization
Precision Planting parts can be added to older Case machines
Farmers who plant soybeans and corn are frustrated when buying a planter that isn’t designed to accept the exact components they know work on their farm. CaseIH and Precision Planting looked at this situation and saw an opportunity, according to CaseIH crop production marketing manager Dan Klein. “We looked as far as possible into the […] Read more
Variable rate fertilization makes big farms more efficient
One reality of modern agriculture and the trend toward larger farms is that efficiency often trumps agronomy. This is especially true during seeding, when many managers, armed with data showing yield losses of more than one percent for every day that seeding is delayed, try to compress planting into fewer and fewer days. Farmers who […] Read more
