Field Crop News is a resource for Ontario field crop production. It is managed by the Field Crop Unit of the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA). Browse our library of information by:
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Weekly Cereal Pest, Winter Wheat Growth Staging and GDD Update
Cereal Leaf Beetle and True Armyworm Update Cereal leaf beetle (CLB), and true armyworm are common cereal pests in Ontario. To help support growers in their management of these pests and to better understand their prevalence, 28 fields across Ontario are being scouted weekly for cereal leaf beetle (CLB) and true armyworm (TAW). Crop growth…
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Crop Conditions – Week of May 2nd, 2024
Frequent rains and wet soils across the province have slowed or prevented field work. Soil compaction is likely to be an issue this year, especially for farmers trying to get manure spread ahead of spring planting. Fertilizer has been moving out to farms with storage. Retailers are full and ready to apply product once soil…
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Crop Conditions – Week of April 22, 2024
Field Conditions Light rains and cool temperatures this past weekend and early this week slowed field drying and limited opportunities for early planting of field crops. While it is generally too wet for field work, conditions are variable depending on rainfall received. The remainder of this week was mostly sunny, but expectations are tempered by…
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Crop Conditions – Week of May 2nd, 2024
Frequent rains and wet soils across the province have slowed or prevented field work. Soil compaction is likely to be an issue this year, especially for farmers trying to get manure spread ahead of spring planting. Fertilizer has been moving out to farms with storage. Retailers are full and ready to apply product once soil…
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SHAP: Soil Health Assessment & Plan In-Field In-Office Match SHAP to your needs Assess Benchmark 5 Key Soil Health Indicators Improve Find Potential for Improvement Adapt Take a Flexible approach Interpret Use the SHAP Score Calculator to compare your test results to a database of results from similar Ontario soils. Use this benchmark to identify…
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Soil Management Day – August 23, 2023
Join the OMAFRA Soil Team and the Ontario Soil Network in London for a full day of collaborative learning. Dive deep into diagnosing and finding solutions for real soil health challenges in a real field! Share learnings and experiences with other soil health professionals, and pick up a great new ideas along the way. A…
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When do cover crops, with and without manure applied, release nitrogen that can be used for my corn crop?
Cover crops can produce nitrogen. We looked at when different species release nitrogen and the impact that adding manure has on the timing and release of nitrogen. The simple answer Predicting nitrogen (N) availability from cover crops is complicated. Cold and wet conditions in the spring negativelyimpact soil microbial activity and can result in significant…
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When should I spray my cereal rye cover crop before soybeans?
Cereal rye is a versatile cover crop that can be seeded late into the fall in Ontario. Not to be confused with annual ryegrass – a grass that can be challenging to control – it is a winter cereal that overwinters reliably and grows rapidly in the spring. Delayed termination of rye by herbicide prior…
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Is the yield potential of alfalfa increasing?
The relationship between alfalfa breeding efforts and yield potential is complicated. While most literature on annual grain crops shows yield improvements with the release of new varieties over time, a literature search on alfalfa yield will show improvement, stagnation, and declines, depending on the paper. One of the latest attempts to discern what is really…
