Reading Time: 4 minutes In 2020, a few farmers observed leaf injury in their soybean crops. The injury caused parts of the leaf to turn white, then yellow (see photo at top). This injury is typically caused by “bleaching” herbicides. It was odd, though, because the bleaching herbicide had been applied to the previous year’s corn crop, and it […] Read more

Pest Patrol: Crop injury from herbicide residues more common in 2020
#PestPatrol with Mike Cowbrough, OMAFRA

Pest Patrol: Control of income-robbing weeds
#PestPatrol with Mike Cowbrough, OMAFRA
Reading Time: 2 minutes All farmers know that poor weed control reduces income. Staying on top of income-robbing weeds requires two things: first, knowing which species cause farmers the most grief and, second, understanding which management practices consistently provide good weed control. I asked over 30 agronomists from across Ontario to share their biggest challenges and successes in weed […] Read more

Pest Patrol: Dog strangling vine control with herbicides
#PestPatrol with Mike Cowbrough, OMAFRA
Reading Time: 2 minutes An invasive perennial weed from the milkweed family, dog strangling vine is extremely difficult to control once it gets established (Figure 1 at top). Progress has been made on biological control of this weed in Ontario through the release of Hypena opulenta, a leaf-feeding caterpillar. However, integrated strategies that include both biological and chemical methods […] Read more

Pest Patrol: How accurate are plant identification apps when it comes to weeds?
#PestPatrol with Mike Cowbrough, OMAFRA
Reading Time: 2 minutes Recommendations for plant identification apps were recently making the rounds on social media. Of course it would be nice to accurately identify an unknown weed in your field by taking a picture instead of sending it to an “expert” or a diagnostic lab. However, many of the top-rated plant identification apps are not particularly accurate […] Read more

Pest Patrol: The latest word on nipplewort in cereals
#PestPatrol with Mike Cowbrough, OMAFRA
Reading Time: 3 minutes Here’s a question in my in-box. “I have a customer with a no-till rotation that has nipplewort — a lot of it. We found some pretty decent options for most crops in the rotation to clean it up before planting, but he’s got some in his wheat this year too. “What would be our best […] Read more

Pest Patrol: The importance of doing a ‘jar test’ with fertilizers and herbicides
#PestPatrol with Mike Cowbrough, OMAFRA
Reading Time: 4 minutes Each year I get more questions about mixing the liquid fertilizer, ammonium thiosulphate (ATS), with herbicides. With reductions in atmospheric sulphur deposits, Ontario research has shown positive yield responses in some crops when sulphur fertilizers are applied, so it makes sense that farmers are looking at ways to add sulphur to their crop in an […] Read more

Pest Patrol: Weed control in IP soybeans
#PestPatrol with Mike Cowbrough, OMAFRA
Reading Time: 2 minutes For more than a decade now, the University of Guelph and OMAFRA have been comparing the level of weed control, crop safety and grain yield associated with different herbicide programs in food grade, non-GMO soybeans, otherwise known as IP (identity preserved) soybeans. Table 1 (see below) summarizes the weed control and crop injury achieved with […] Read more

Pest Patrol: Why growing cereals is bad for weeds
#PestPatrol with Mike Cowbrough, OMAFRA
Reading Time: 3 minutes The benefits of growing winter wheat in a crop rotation have been well established. Long-term research at the University of Guelph has shown a 10 bu./ac. increase in corn yields and a five bu./ac. increase in soybean yields when winter wheat is grown. Other benefits, such as increased soil organic matter when cereals are grown, […] Read more

Pest Patrol: Herbicide-resistant wild oats in spring cereals
#PestPatrol with Mike Cowbrough, OMAFRA
Reading Time: 4 minutes Q. Are there any solutions to control herbicide resistant wild oats in spring cereals? A. Wild oats have been an undesirable weed in spring cereal crops for many years, and its control has been limited to a handful of herbicides within the same mode of action (specifically, WSSA herbicide Group 1). Until recently, there have […] Read more

Pest Patrol: White mould and Canada fleabane
#PestPatrol with Mike Cowbrough, OMAFRA
Reading Time: 2 minutes I could barely contain my excitement. What was this fluffy white stuff that had taken down large fleabane rosettes? Had I accidentally stumbled upon an effective biocontrol option for glyphosate-resistant Canada fleabane? I wondered, what would it take to reproduce this potent material so we could inoculate plants throughout Ontario? I quickly took a sample […] Read more