15 Ate Today? Thank a Farmer. Better Farming | April 2024 Old dogs, new tricks higher soybean yields? Planting the newest soybean varieties is one way to increase yields. As with winter wheat, earlier planting dates also expand yield opportunities. Local planting date studies show a solid 3.0 to 5.0-bushel yield gain for planting soybeans 10 to 14 days earlier than mid-May. Seed treatments and the value they bring go hand in hand with earlier planting dates. They reduce risk by protecting soybean seeds from the insects and pathogens that thrive under cooler, wetter conditions often experienced earlier in the planting window. Dive deep into the seed treatments you are using, as not all seed treatments are the same. Various “cocktails” are added to take away that early planting stress you may be experiencing. Fungicides are necessary, especially in areas with high white mould pressure. Don’s comments suggest that we must keep beans disease-free all year for higher yields. The biggest yield loss occurs during pod abortion. Keeping pods happy and stress-free leads to bigger yields. Fertility and feeding the crop, with subsequent crop removal, are important – especially with the higher yield levels we are achieving. Potassium is one element that needs to be improved on for top-end yields. These ideas are just a few management practices aimed at increasing soybean yields. Drones for pesticide application There is a lot of excitement about the possibility of using drones to apply pesticides in Ontario. Think about it – a lot of Ontario field shapes and sizes are odd and small. Getting across those fields with larger equipment is a challenge at times. Add to that the curveballs that Mother Nature throws us and often we cannot get into the field to apply a pesticide when above-average rainfalls occur. Timing for a disease like white mould is critical. OMAFRA application technology specialist Jason Deveau presented some interesting research findings at the annual Certified Crop Advisor meeting in January. He showed that the downwash effect of drones and subsequent spray pattern is not ideal for proper control of pests (insects, weeds, or diseases) with current technology. One would think drones are like helicopters. But this is not the case, as each motor on a drone can spin in different directions and at different speeds. Jason asked us to visualize a corn crop at tassel time when a helicopter passes over. Do you see the tassels move dramatically? The answer is no. If you have a drone flying over, the answer is yes. This gives you a visual sense of why more drone research work needs to be done before we can use this technology in Eastern Canada. So, my take-home would be to hold off on making that purchase for pesticide applications. And remember that it is currently illegal to spray a pesticide with a drone in Ontario for large acreages (non-research permit-based areas). Intrigued about this? Check out Jason’s great website on drones and sprayers at http://www.sprayers101. com. Corn rootworm challenges Whether it’s an insect, weed or disease, Mother Nature has a unique way of overcoming what agriculture throws at it. By that, I mean becoming resistant to continual use of pesticides or other activities. In the corn rootworm world, there is heightened awareness to resistant corn rootworm in specific locales across Ontario and other areas in North America. These areas are similar in terms of high use of corn rootworm traits year in and year out on continuous corn. This continued use has allowed Mother Nature to build up populations of corn rootworm with resistance to corn rootworm Bt traits. Corteva’s Sam Eathington presents at AgronCon 2024. Paul Hermans photo
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