Whether farmers focus on implement size or implement speed, it ultimately boils down to either acres per hour or acres per dollar. The 40-year old no-till trend is gradually reversing itself as farmers begin to see more exposed soil and new cultivation implements coming to the market. However, farmers are expecting a lot more from […] Read more
Crop Management — page 530
Size matters, but so does spread
Unbiased, third-party farm machinery testing resumes in North America
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Jim Schmidt might not have been the most popular person in the room when he announced recently that third-party farm machinery testing has returned to North America. “Producers are barraged by a lot information about machinery and technology, with very little unbiased information,” said Schmidt of Mechanized Design. “We know the Nebraska […] Read more
Video: Fertilizer won’t pay off without a plan
Producers all have a ballpark number about how much fertilizer they will use on a given crop. Their wheat will get 70 pounds of actual nitrogen, 30 of phosphorus and 10 of sulfur. No potassium is applied at all in large parts of the Prairies, with the expectation that the soil is rich in potash.
Part one of the multi-part series Fertilizer Return on Investment. Fertilizer won’t pay off without a plan Producers have the financial wherewithal to take some chances with increased inputs when commodity prices are higher and margins can cover all the costs of farming. These strategies pay off to a point: yields increase and with them […] Read more
New metering system offers improved control
At the heart of every air cart in the new line by New Holland Agriculture, beats a new metering system. The new system was designed to apportion seed and product at high rates and provide sectional control. The air carts have individual metering modules for each run under each product tank. The P.4950 will be […] Read more
Does double inoculation pay?
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
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 more
