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Figure 4: Waterhemp in soybean.
Crops

Pest Patrol: Dealing with waterhemp and Canada fleabane

#PestPatrol with Mike Cowbrough, OMAFRA

By
Reading Time: 3 minutes In last month’s #PestPatrol, we discussed options for the control of glyphosate-resistant waterhemp. However, across the province, there appears to be a more immediate threat for the 2020 season from glyphosate-resistant Canada fleabane. This article will focus on management strategies to control both species at the same time. It is true that glyphosate-resistant Canada fleabane […] Read more
Figure 1: Light green waterhemp plants approaching the top of the soybean canopy after two applications of glyphosate that proved ineffective. At this stage, no herbicide will adequately control waterhemp.
Crops

Pest Patrol: Plan to manage waterhemp in 2020

#PestPatrol with Mike Cowbrough, OMAFRA

By
Reading Time: 2 minutes Waterhemp has spread further across Ontario during the 2019 season and can now be found in eight counties (Bruce, Chatham-Kent, Essex, Haldimand, Lambton, Middlesex, Norfolk and Northumberland). A close relative of pigweed, waterhemp is a competitive annual broadleaf weed that has been found resistant in the province to four different herbicide groups (Group 9: Roundup, […] Read more
Contrast in control of Roundup Ready alfalfa with herbicides applied in early fall (foreground) compared to late fall (background).
Crops, Forages

Pest Patrol: Killing off Roundup Ready alfalfa

#PestPatrol with Mike Cowbrough, OMAFRA

By
Reading Time: 3 minutes Six tank-mix partners are recommended for the removal of Roundup Ready alfalfa, and since they vary significantly in cost (Table 1 below), their effectiveness was evaluated in a trial conducted at the Elora Research Station in 2018-19. Growing degree day accumulation after herbicide application appeared to have the greatest effect on the control of Roundup […] Read more
Figure 1: Purple deadnettle in a wheat field — October 2018 at a yield-reducing population density of around 500 plants per square metre.
Crops, Winter Wheat

PHOTOS: Pest Patrol: Purple deadnettle and henbit control in winter wheat

#PestPatrol with Mike Cowbrough, OMAFRA

By
Reading Time: 3 minutes Q: I’m seeing more henbit and/or purple deadnettle in my winter wheat crop. Should it be controlled, and how? A: Henbit and purple deadnettle are often discussed interchangeably because they look similar, are from the same genus (Lamium) and have similar emergence patterns (mainly in the fall, but henbit will also emerge in spring). Both […] Read more
A cereal rye cover crop established after corn silage in the fall of 2018.
Crops

Pest Patrol: Planning for cover crops

#PestPatrol with Mike Cowbrough, OMAFRA

By
Reading Time: 2 minutes Q: I want to plant cover crops after harvest. Should I be concerned about any herbicide residues that would make it harder to get them established? A: Two important factors influence the potential for herbicide carryover that could negatively affect establishment of a desired cover crop: The sensitivity of the cover crop to herbicide residues. […] Read more
Volunteer corn.
Crops, Soybeans

Pest Patrol: Manage volunteer corn in your 2019 soybeans

#PestPatrol with Mike Cowbrough, OMAFRA

By
Reading Time: 2 minutes Q: Due to a challenging 2018 corn harvest, I’ll likely be looking at more volunteer corn in my 2019 soybean crop. What suggestions do you have for managing this weed? A: The only option to control volunteer corn in soybeans is to use one of the post-emergence herbicides from the Group 1 mode of action. […] Read more
Dr. Clarence Swanton.
Crops

Pest Patrol: Thank you, Dr. Clarence Swanton

#PestPatrol with Mike Cowbrough, OMAFRA

By
Reading Time: 2 minutes “Matty Cowlick” is indifferent to the recent retirement of Dr. Clarence Swanton, weed scientist in the department of plant agriculture at the University of Guelph. But I’m happy for him. I’m happy that Clarence will continue with his research program and to advise graduate students, and happy that he will have more time to spend […] Read more
Figure 4.
Crops

Pest Patrol: Use your phone to capture and document pest activity

#PestPatrol with Mike Cowbrough, OMAFRA

By
Reading Time: 3 minutes “If you want to have the upper hand on weeds, you need to know every little detail about their existence.” The above quote is straight from the great Jack Alex, retired botany professor and herbarium curator at the Ontario Agriculture College, who used to repeat it to me at every opportunity. Fortunately, most of us […] Read more
Drought stress symptoms in corn leaves where no soil-applied herbicides had been applied and weed control was done with a late post-emergence application.
Crops

Pest Patrol: Don’t be cheap with weed control

#PestPatrol with Mike Cowbrough, OMAFRA

By
Reading Time: 3 minutes “Weed control is an investment into the current and future crops on every field.” The above quote was parting advice from Norfolk and Oxford County farmer Ann Vermeersch at the 2019 FarmSmart Conference in Guelph. In front of 80 farmers and agronomists, I moderated a session with Vermeersch and Steph Kowalski, a certified crop advisor […] Read more
Some plants along the rail line are glyphosate resistant.
Crops

Pest Patrol: Sanitation of weed seed

#PestPatrol with Mike Cowbrough, OMAFRA

By
Reading Time: 3 minutes Q: Can we stop the spread of weed seeds? A: “I’ve been thinking a lot about sterility lately.” I knew as soon as the words came out of my mouth that I had slipped up. I was responding to a question in the audience at a local crop conference about ways to stop the movement […] Read more

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AGCanadaTV: In Case You Missed It – Your National Ag News Recap for the week ending December 6, 2019.

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