41 The Business of Ontario Agriculture Better Farming | December 2023 CABEF is a registered charity (#828593731RR0001). For more information on all registered charities in Canada under the Income Tax Act, please visit Canada Revenue Agency www.cra-arc.gc.ca/charities. Contact CABEF today to learn how you can become a “Champion of CABEF” at info@cabef.org Congratulations to this year’s CABEF scholarship recipients. @CABEFscholarship cabef.org Meet the next generation of Canadian agri-food leaders These exceptional students are the winners of the 2023 CABEF Scholarships. We are proud to support each of them with $2,500 for their ag-related post-secondary education. Help us empower more students to pursue diverse careers in agri-food. Strengthen the future of Canadian agriculture and food by investing in the cream of the crop. Become a Champion of CABEF and directly support a scholarship for a Canadian student. Sarah MacDonald Vanderhoof, BC Erin Hughes Longview, AB Wyatt Pavloff Perdue, SK Milan Lukes Winnipeg, MB Kyla Lewis Dorchester, ON Matthew Bishop Round Hill, NS in improved water and nutrient uptake. Well-structured soil can reduce the effects of compaction and increase water-holding capacity. All of these things can reduce plant stress. Increasing soybean yields does not always involve adding more inputs without first considering the overall growing environment. Sometimes it is taking away stresses. In a LYE, there are often soil limitations such as drainage, soil structure, crusting, compaction and low nutrient availabilities that reduce yield potential. There is a greater yield penalty in a LYE when stresses mount than in MYE or HYE. If the plant population is lowered by these additional stresses, then yields invariably will be lowered because there are limited resources to support a plant response to branching and adding more flowering nodes and pods. Improving soil health and increasing resiliency should be a focus. In a HYE, often soil health is optimized, nutrients are non-limiting and soil structure is improved with good aggregate stability, which encourages root expansion and an adequate supply of plant available water during periods of drier weather. Yet rapid drainage when excess rain occurs usually have lower populations that reduce lodging. Inherently management is attuned to reducing stress from disease and insect development and timely action is taken to protect a good crop. Attaining large increases in yield in a HYE is difficult as it occurs in small increments. Moving from 85 to 90 bushels is often more challenging than improving yields from 45 to 50 bushels. When I observe what the participants are doing in yield competitions, I see that they focus on the 47.2 per cent of unknown factors – willing to try new things often focusing on stress reduction utilizing bio stimulants and biologicals and other foliar products in season. The basic agronomy in these plots is covered; it leaves the participant free to focus on unknowns and trying new things. There is no question environmental conditions heavily influence final yields in soybeans. Let’s focus on what we can control. In terms of practical production, covering the basics is a prerequisite. Regular crop scouting is essential because this is when we learn about things that impact yield potential. Trying new concepts and products helps us learn what reduces stresses and improves crop performance. And setting up strip trials with treatments and checks helps us move the knowledge base forward. BF DALE COWAN Dale is agronomy strategy manager and senior agronomist for AGRIS Co-operative. He has been a regular contributor to Better Farming since its launch in 1999. CCA-ON, 4R NMS. crops: yield matter$
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