Reading Time: 5 minutes David Bekkering knows a thing or two about corn, and given the size of his operation, it only makes sense. As farm manage er of TFS Expanse, knowing how it’s grown and turned into feed goes a long way to defining success for his operation. Bekkering and his brother James run four Alberta feedlots with […] Read more
A ‘new’ corn trait makes for better feed
Enogen hybrid trait boosts an enzyme that enhances the breakdown of starch into sugar and increases ruminal starch digestibility in cattle
Going for nutrition rather than bushels per acre
Silage-specific corn hybrids can offer better returns in beef and milk
Reading Time: 5 minutes When commodity prices are higher than normal, it’s sometimes hard to switch gears and think about corn production using a metric other than bushels. But precision agriculture techniques can also be used to maximize feed characteristics for meat and milk production. At the 2022 edition of Canada’s Outdoor Farm Show, seed companies were distributing their […] Read more
Are corn and soybeans on the wane?
Could other crops erode their dominance in Eastern Canada, and if so, which ones?
Reading Time: 5 minutes In the next 10 to 30 years, could corn and soybeans became lesser crops in Ontario and Eastern Canada? What would that look like and how might that unfold? Before you say, “It’ll never happen,” think back to 1992 and changes such as transgenics, GPS and precision ag technologies and production capabilities that have virtually […] Read more
Focus on the ear leaf in corn production
Keeping the corn plant weed and stress free early allows the plant to form a larger cob, up to its genetic potential
Reading Time: 6 minutes It seems every growing season brings something new for growers to manage. Sometimes it’s a new disease or its anticipated arrival. Other years, it’s learning to cope with the impact of weather conditions, or a sudden weed flare-up. It’s a testament to modern agricultural science that the more we learn, the more questions we ask. […] Read more
A new era of agronomics and genetics for corn
The “how” and the “why” of growing corn are attracting a lot of fresh thinking
Reading Time: 7 minutes Corn production has risen to a new level of importance, both for growers and for the industry that supports them. In spite of market pressures and uncertainty in global trade, growers, particularly those in Ontario, are firmly committed to planting row after row of the crop, basically as much as they can. Yet the reality […] Read more
High-speed planting zooms ahead
But is it because of the time savings, or the yield increase?
Reading Time: 6 minutes Hard to believe it’s already been eight years since high-speed planters were introduced in North America. The vanguard consisted largely of European manufacturers like Horsch, Amazone and Väderstad, with additions from John Deere, Precision Planting and, more recently, AgLeader. In that time, more growers have been adopting and adjusting their spring operations to use the […] Read more
Corn hybrids still waiting to launch with farmers
Despite limited adoption so far, corn breeders continue to develop hybrids suitable for production across Western Canada
Reading Time: 5 minutes Four years ago we heard predictions of 10 million acres of corn in Western Canada by 2026, but it turns out that they have yet to launch on that trajectory. Grain corn acreage in Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta peaked in 2017 and remained between 470,000 to 480,000 acres for the next two years. While this […] Read more
Strip till goes mainstream
Improvements in guidance and a focus on soil health are the primary drivers
Reading Time: 7 minutes The concept is simple. With just one pass, run a tillage implement through the field that clears a strip of residue and builds a small ridge that will get the crop off to a fast start next spring because you can plant straight into it, and it will warm faster than the rest of the […] Read more
Conservation tillage driving Brazil’s corn and soybean explosion
No-till farm group says no-till is the key to long-term sustainable agriculture
Reading Time: 4 minutes Crop production in Brazil has made dramatic gains in recent decades — and there’s potential for plenty more, say advocates of no till and conservation tillage in the country. In fact, members of the Brazilian Federation of No-Till Farming say no till is the key to achieving a long-term sustainable agriculture without additional deforestation. Soybean […] Read more
Risk versus reward in the quest for higher corn yields
More quality criteria are steadily creeping into the conversation on corn
Reading Time: 5 minutes Farming is known for its learning moments, and one key lesson to come out of the 2018 growing season was that the chase for higher yields doesn’t come without risks or hazards. Or, as is said with maybe equal justification, no good deed goes unpunished. The past 10 years have seen incredible growth in corn […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
