Reading Time: 4 minutes One phrase often heard when the talk turns to getting more bushels out of a crop is the advice to “control the controllable.” Speakers making presentations use the term as a call for growers to streamline their focus on a select number of management practices. Factors such as planting depth, row width, weed, disease and […] Read more
Bringing soybeans into a more favourable light
Illinois researchers investigate transitory shadows to brighten soybean yields
Definitely the road less travelled
Taking to organic in crops and in hogs takes trust, vision and teamwork
Reading Time: 7 minutes Brett Israel is looked upon as a young, entrepreneurial producer with one eye firmly fixed on the road ahead, while honouring and respecting those who have come before him. It can be a bit of a tightrope walk for Israel, whose family has been farming on the same concession in Wellington County for six generations. […] Read more
A new yield genetics
A distant soybean relative may open the door to even higher yields
Reading Time: 4 minutes For years, there’s been a concern that soybean breeding somehow lags behind that of corn, and that for some reason soybean breeders haven’t been working as hard to raise their yields as corn breeders. It’s a debate that arises primarily from comparisons of trend-line yields in corn versus soybeans in the past 30 years. And […] Read more
Sharing the lessons learned on dicamba in soybeans
Misconceptions about the power of the technology remain, in spite of some harsh in-field realities
Reading Time: 5 minutes When Xtend soybeans were showcased at the 2015 Canada Outdoor Farm Show, there was great fanfare but also a considerable amount of caution accompanying the technology’s unveiling. Yes, it was the next in a series of herbicide-tolerant technologies, launched at a time of growing concern over glyphosate-tolerant weed species. It was believed that the newer […] Read more
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Higher yields begin with enhanced management practices, which means continuous learning
Reading Time: 6 minutes In recent growing seasons, the disparity between corn and soybeans has been getting harder to ignore. The frustration has been getting harder to ignore too. Why can’t farmers raise their soybean yields as quickly and as reliably as their corn? There’s little debate that corn yields have advanced greatly in the past 20 years, to […] Read more
Looking ahead to farming’s future investment
For Adam Ireland, farming means more than just growing a crop, it’s doing things the right way
Reading Time: 7 minutes These days, describing what it means to be a farmer is almost as challenging as, well, being a farmer. Part science, part art form, the job description also requires an expert understanding of agronomy, commodity markets, weather, emerging trends and technologies, consumer demand, environmental issues… the list goes on and on. And as if that’s […] Read more
The wild ride in soybean markets continues
Most years offer some reasonable pricing opportunities. This winter, they may be difficult to find
Reading Time: 5 minutes From small beginnings in the deep southwest of Ontario, soybeans in 2018 have expanded across Canada in a very big way. In fact, when you commence the drive from Windsor, Ont., soybean fields dominate the landscape along the 401 corridor and into Quebec. It is the same in parts of Manitoba, with smaller acreages dotting […] Read more
The export perspective on soybeans
The window is open for producers and the trade alike, but be forewarned. As our experts tell us, not all markets provide the same opportunities for IP growers
Reading Time: 8 minutes When looking into how soybeans get traded around the world, the important thing is to keep it all in perspective. In fact, nothing is more important. But that’s not to say it’s easy. On the U.S. side, there are plenty of challenges, thanks mostly to the political upheaval of the last couple of years and […] Read more
Growing soybeans in southern Alberta
Farmers would like the rotation option, but heat units are marginal and soybeans must compete with high-value irrigation crops
Reading Time: 7 minutes For some Prairie farmers, the question of whether to introduce soybeans into the rotation may seem like a no-brainer. They’re good nitrogen fixers and have proven a hit on rain-fed land in Manitoba and Saskatchewan, where soybean acreage has increased dramatically over the past decade. But if you’re a producer in Alberta, the answer is […] Read more
The crop rotation effect
At last, scientists hope to explain exactly why rotations are such a good practice
Reading Time: 7 minutes It’s one thing to know the benefits of a practice, it’s another to understand the “why,” especially when it comes to biological functions where the road to understanding can be anything but simple. In cropping terms, science has known about the benefits of longer rotations for years, but not about the exact reasons why. This […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
