When the gravity pulling your crop down to the ground is stronger than the counter forces keeping it standing, lodging will occur. Crop lodging causes serious losses of yield and quality in many crops grown in Western Canada, especially cereals. Assessing the root cause of lodging and taking measures to help prevent it are key for guaranteeing crop standability and preserving yield and quality.
For the past few years, we have talked about the concept of “antibiotics + vitamins," referring to what the combination of fungicides and adequate nutrition can achieve for your crops. The right combination is critical for promoting health and fending off diseases and pests, and it all starts with a fungal screening of the seed.
I’m sure you’ve seen how hard water can leave its mark in and around plumbing fixtures and on clothing, but have you taken the time to consider what it means for your spray solutions?
Water across the Prairie provinces varies from moderately hard to very hard. If you are farming on the Prairies, you are, without question, dealing with some degree of hard water. And, as you may know, hard water goes hand-in-hand with high pH (greater than 7). Not only will hard water decrease the effectiveness of your crop protection products and foliar fertilizers, repeatedly spraying high pH water can make the soil acidic, creating a stressful growing condition for crops.
It’s a micronutrient needed only in small amounts, but iron (Fe) plays a critical role in photosynthesis, helping to keep crops green, healthy and thriving.
Iron is involved in chlorophyll development and plays a role in energy transfer, metabolism and respiration. It is also important for the structure and function of proteins and enzymes and can increase nitrogen fixation and use.
