Tag: primers

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 […]

Have you ever had a field full of leggy seedlings that looked tall and skinny with bent stems and wondered what the cause was? Wonder no more! In this blog post we are examining the causes of leggy seedlings and solutions for preventing this in the field. Environmental causes of leggy, skinny seedlings If newly […]

In the pursuit of better and bigger crops, farming is becoming more technologically advanced and capital intensive. The need to find ways to save money, while continuing to reach for those high yield goals, is more important than ever for Canadian producers. If this sounds like a conundrum that you’re facing, soil testing might be […]

The United Nations General Assembly has declared 2020 the International Year of Plant Health (IYPH). This global declaration, which follows International Year of Soil in 2015, is meant to raise awareness on how protecting plant health can help end hunger, reduce poverty, protect the environment and boost the economy of many countries around the world. […]

Lodging occurs when the crop falls over and does not return to a standing position. Crop lodging can be very costly to producers and can pose many challenges during harvest. For instance, it is common to see secondary growth on the flattened crop extending maturity and diminishing grain quality. For the past couple of years, harvest in some parts […]

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. […]

Photo credit: Chatterton et al., 2017 Root rot and clubroot are two serious diseases which can, at best, cause yield losses and, at worst, cause premature plant death. While clubroot is a disease solely affecting brassica crops, such as canola, root rot can take hold in cereals, pulses, canola and other field crops when conditions […]

Of the sixteen nutrients that plants need to grow, develop, reproduce and remain healthy, there are seven that we refer to as micronutrients: zinc (Zn), copper (Cu), manganese (Mn), iron (Fe), boron (B), chloride (Cl) and molybdenum (Mo). While these nutrients are used in minute amounts, they are just as important to plant growth and […]

As we discussed in our previous blog post, plants require large amounts of macronutrients to grow and thrive. The secondary nutrients – calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg) and sulfur (S) – are just as vital to plant growth and development, though they are required in lesser amounts than the macros. Like the macros, the secondaries each […]

Plants require a total of 16 nutrients to grow, develop, reproduce and remain healthy. Three of these nutrients – nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) – are required in relatively large amounts. These are known as macronutrients. Existing in a delicate balance with each other, the macronutrients each have a big role to play […]