December 2010 Archives
It's nearly a new year, meaning that right now several people are swearing off cigarettes and fast food and promising themselves to finally lose weight and get active. I'm all for personal goal setting (no matter how fleeting the commitment may be), but I also believe that our professional life could benefit from some New Year's resolutions, too.
And so, I give you, in true Grainews fashion — The Top Five Things You Should Do On
Your Farm This Year (the title could use a little work, I admit).
1. Re-evaluate your seeding rate on all crops. Canola seed differs greatly in size from variety to variety. A poor growing year for cereals can mean smaller, lighter seeds. If you're still seeding by a set bushels or pounds per acre, you could be hamstringing your crop. Instead, use thousand kernel weight for each seed lot, factor in germ and vigour and target a plant stand density. For more on this, watch upcoming issues of Grainews. We'll be talking a lot about this.
2. Change one practice on your farm. Try a new variety, research and implement a new row spacing, fertilizer blend or opener. Soil test, treat seed or use a fungicide. But don't forget to...
3. Leave a test strip. How do you really know if something makes or saves you money or improves grade or yield if you leave no comparison? Try a 20 or 40 acre piece when evaluating a new variety, leave at least one strip at the lower fertilizer rate or leave one pass fungicide-free and evaluate the difference. One pass that suffers yield is not going to break the bank, but it may prove that your money was well spent, and vice versa.
4. Learn a new marketing skill. No one says you need to become a stock broker, but if you don't use production contracts, buy futures or watch the basis, you may be leaving money on the table. Choose one thing — identity-preserved production, for example — and do some homework. You may still decide it's not for your farm, but at least give it some thought.
5. Practice farm safety. It only takes a second to don protective eye wear, turn off equipment or mark stairways and exits in a shop. A 20 minute cat nap can mean the difference between a safe ride home or a car wreck. Take five minutes and learn CPR. All of these things could save your eyesight, your arm or even your life.
Happy New Year, everyone!
And so, I give you, in true Grainews fashion — The Top Five Things You Should Do On
Your Farm This Year (the title could use a little work, I admit).
1. Re-evaluate your seeding rate on all crops. Canola seed differs greatly in size from variety to variety. A poor growing year for cereals can mean smaller, lighter seeds. If you're still seeding by a set bushels or pounds per acre, you could be hamstringing your crop. Instead, use thousand kernel weight for each seed lot, factor in germ and vigour and target a plant stand density. For more on this, watch upcoming issues of Grainews. We'll be talking a lot about this.
2. Change one practice on your farm. Try a new variety, research and implement a new row spacing, fertilizer blend or opener. Soil test, treat seed or use a fungicide. But don't forget to...
3. Leave a test strip. How do you really know if something makes or saves you money or improves grade or yield if you leave no comparison? Try a 20 or 40 acre piece when evaluating a new variety, leave at least one strip at the lower fertilizer rate or leave one pass fungicide-free and evaluate the difference. One pass that suffers yield is not going to break the bank, but it may prove that your money was well spent, and vice versa.
4. Learn a new marketing skill. No one says you need to become a stock broker, but if you don't use production contracts, buy futures or watch the basis, you may be leaving money on the table. Choose one thing — identity-preserved production, for example — and do some homework. You may still decide it's not for your farm, but at least give it some thought.
5. Practice farm safety. It only takes a second to don protective eye wear, turn off equipment or mark stairways and exits in a shop. A 20 minute cat nap can mean the difference between a safe ride home or a car wreck. Take five minutes and learn CPR. All of these things could save your eyesight, your arm or even your life.
Happy New Year, everyone!
It's an unfortunate fact that diseases can mutate and evolve to overcome genetic resistance. What's more unfortunate is that tightening up canola rotations can speed that evolution. Recently, new strains of blackleg have been showing up in canola — strains that are unaffected by current genetic resistance. While plant breeders are hard at work developing new resistant varieties, the Canola Council of Canada is reminding farmers about several things they can do to combat the disease and preserve what genetic resistance we do have now.
Agronomists, plant pathologists and this editor will tell you that the first step in controlling blackleg is keeping canola to a one-in-four year rotation. But if everyone did that, we likely wouldn't be having this discussion, so let's move on to other steps you can take to manage blackleg, according to the Council's latest release on the topic.
1. Choose a variety with an MR or R rating for the disease. The tighter the rotation, the more important the R rating.
2. Rotate varieties. This works because different lines carry different sources of resistance, according to the Council's release.
3. Scout early for signs of the disease and again just prior to maturity. Cankers or lesions that form at the base of the plant are responsible for significant yield loss.
4. Control volunteers in the years in between canola crops. This includes any host crop, such as wild mustard. Volunteers act as host to the disease, setting back any advantage to rotating away from canola.
5. Use certified seed to ensure genetic uniformity
6. Fungicide acts as protectant only, and must be sprayed in anticipation of the disease, not after infection is wide-spread. According to the Canola Council, research at AAFC Melfort found fungicide use made the most difference on those varieties with a less than R rating.
In addition to all this, remember to keep growing conditions in mind. Warm and wet weather can speed along development of the disease. And because blackleg spreads by wind, it's important to scout the field margins between last year's and this year's canola field (if growing side by side). The Canola Council also says that burning stubble is not effective control — the thick base of stalks which carries so much inoculum rarely burn completely.
Agronomists, plant pathologists and this editor will tell you that the first step in controlling blackleg is keeping canola to a one-in-four year rotation. But if everyone did that, we likely wouldn't be having this discussion, so let's move on to other steps you can take to manage blackleg, according to the Council's latest release on the topic.
1. Choose a variety with an MR or R rating for the disease. The tighter the rotation, the more important the R rating.
2. Rotate varieties. This works because different lines carry different sources of resistance, according to the Council's release.
3. Scout early for signs of the disease and again just prior to maturity. Cankers or lesions that form at the base of the plant are responsible for significant yield loss.
4. Control volunteers in the years in between canola crops. This includes any host crop, such as wild mustard. Volunteers act as host to the disease, setting back any advantage to rotating away from canola.
5. Use certified seed to ensure genetic uniformity
6. Fungicide acts as protectant only, and must be sprayed in anticipation of the disease, not after infection is wide-spread. According to the Canola Council, research at AAFC Melfort found fungicide use made the most difference on those varieties with a less than R rating.
In addition to all this, remember to keep growing conditions in mind. Warm and wet weather can speed along development of the disease. And because blackleg spreads by wind, it's important to scout the field margins between last year's and this year's canola field (if growing side by side). The Canola Council also says that burning stubble is not effective control — the thick base of stalks which carries so much inoculum rarely burn completely.
I'm a big fan of voting. Heck, I'd vote twice if it weren't so frowned upon. I vote in every federal, provincial and municipal election; about the only thing I don't vote for is Canadian Idol or Battle of the Blades. So when it comes time for the CWB elections (of which I am ineligible to vote for, darn it), I get a little bothered that very few farmers exercise their democratic right.
My friend Shaun Haney of realagriculture(dot)com fame posted about the hum-drum feel of this year's CWB election. I can't say I disagree. I'm the first to admit that the upcoming election was barely mentioned in my own magazine. Why? Well, because the more things are being talked about the more likely you'll find it in Grainews. What happened? Besides a few announcements of the election happening, I heard nothing. Nada. Zilch.
Does a boring election mean you shouldn't vote? No. Quite the contrary. The CWB, for better or for worse, is responsible for pricing a good portion of farmers' production — you should absolutely make your views heard by voting for your area's director (odd numbered districts this year, in case you hadn't heard). If you're like me and, at times, don't like any of the choices in front of you, you should still vote, but pick up the phone first and call the candidates in your area. Find one that seems in-line with your way of thinking and cast your ballot. Please.
Farmers have until Friday to get their ballots postmarked and en route to the CWB.
My friend Shaun Haney of realagriculture(dot)com fame posted about the hum-drum feel of this year's CWB election. I can't say I disagree. I'm the first to admit that the upcoming election was barely mentioned in my own magazine. Why? Well, because the more things are being talked about the more likely you'll find it in Grainews. What happened? Besides a few announcements of the election happening, I heard nothing. Nada. Zilch.
Does a boring election mean you shouldn't vote? No. Quite the contrary. The CWB, for better or for worse, is responsible for pricing a good portion of farmers' production — you should absolutely make your views heard by voting for your area's director (odd numbered districts this year, in case you hadn't heard). If you're like me and, at times, don't like any of the choices in front of you, you should still vote, but pick up the phone first and call the candidates in your area. Find one that seems in-line with your way of thinking and cast your ballot. Please.
Farmers have until Friday to get their ballots postmarked and en route to the CWB.
Profile
Grainews editor Lyndsey Smith answers readers' questions, asks her own and, now and then, discusses what's new and interesting in western Canadian production agriculture.
