43 It’s Farming. And It’s Better. Better Farming | December 2023 weeds such as lamb’s quarters, pigweed, ragweed, velvetleaf, common chickweed, dandelion and Canada thistle – another reason to try for weed-free fields. Row width can make a difference, but not always. When I worked with edible beans, the standard row width was 30 inches. That wide row gave us lots of white mould. The plants in wide rows just drooped over. If you plant in wider rows, you want an upright plant that does not lodge easily. An earlier recommendation from Ag Canada to reduce white mould was to plant in the direction of prevailing winds so that the winds would help dry the plants. I don’t think that is a valid proposition for 2024. Another recommendation was the use of fungicides. When I worked for OMAFRA, I led a project to use fungicides to control white mould in edibles. Approximately $100,000 was spent on fungicides to control mould in that project. I felt that $100,000 was wasted, but we did learn some things. First was that you cannot drift on white mould fungicides, meaning using aircraft is not very effective since the fungicide with the technology of the day was not getting the fungicide down into the canopy. We also relearned that by the time you see mould, it is too late to spray to stop it from spreading. Some felt that if you saw mould in parts of the field, you could protect the rest of the field. I do not subscribe to that belief. Once you see mould it means it has probably been growing for at least two weeks. The fungicides we used were protectants, not eradicants. That is, they protected the plants if spores fell on the plants, but if the spores had landed, they could not be eradicated. It’s like expecting pre-emergent only herbicide to control weeds that have emerged. There is a new form of protection coming to help fight against white mould. It is a biopesticide: Coniothyrium minitans. This naturally occurring fungus is an extremely specific antifungal representative targeting sclerotia of the white mould that attacks Ontario crops. This fungus lives off and destroys white mould sclerotia. It’s sprayed on soils that have sclerotia. Summary 1. Genetics are your No. 1 defence. Pick a variety with good tolerance. Plant less than full season maturity. 2. No-till. If beans develop mould, do not work the field. Plant the next crop no-till. 3. Lower seeding rate. 4. Use a white mould fungicide. Now switching to another topic. RED CLOVER WINNER Actually, there were a lot of winners. Everyone who planted red clover and had a successful stand was a winner. This year Semican Seeds offered a challenge as to who could grow the best red clover under seeded to winter wheat. It came down to a draw for first and second place between six growers. I will tell you something about these six growers. Four of them planted Pioneer 25R40. One planted Branson and one planted Pioneer 25R74. Of the six, three were no-till and three worked the ground. The one thing they had in common was an early seeding date for red clover. Four seeded in March and two in early April. Wheat yields were good, ranging from 108-126 bushels per acre and averaging 114 bushels per acre. One grower said that he attributed his good stand to lower wheat yields, meaning that wheat in the winning field yielded less than his other wheat fields. Nitrogen use was mixed. Stands had a minimum of 120 pounds per acre with most reported as receiving sulphur. Four of the six applied all their nitrogen in one application. There were various reasons given for successful stands: Weather (especially timely rains), luck, lower wheat yield, tillage before planting wheat, soil with good moisture-holding ability and double-spread seed at half-rate each time. Red clover seeding rate ranged from six to eight pounds per acre. For 1,000 pounds of red clover seed, the lucky winner by draw is Brett Griffith (see photo above) of Alvinston, and the winner for 500 pounds of red clover seed is Bill VanderLinde from Camlachie. BF crops: the lynch fileS PATRICK LYNCH Patrick writes a weekly crop production newsletter and is a popular speaker at farm meetings. Opinionated, controversial; formerly with OMAFRA and Cargill. CCA-ON. Brett Griffith, left, of Alvinston was named winner of a recent red clover competition. Here, Ryan Benjamins, CCA, congratulates Brett on the win. Patrick Lynch photo
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