Too early for aphids in Ontario's soybean crop Monday, June 4, 2012 by SUSAN MANNThe aphids southwestern Ontario farmers were seeing in their wheat crop a few weeks ago won’t affect soybeans, says a provincial agriculture ministry soybean specialist.That’s because the aphids that attack wheat are a different species from the ones that go for soybeans. “They really have no connection,” says Horst Bohner.Bohner hasn’t seen any soybean aphids in fields yet nor has he heard if anyone has seen any. The pests are blown in from the United States causing a lot of the soybean aphid problems in Ontario.Aphids can reproduce quite quickly when the weather is dry and hot but in a cool, wet year aphids don’t proliferate as well. Soybean aphids seem to like temperatures in the 25 degrees Celsius range. If it gets hotter than 30 degrees Celsius their reproduction slows down and their numbers might not explode.In wheat, agriculture ministry cereals specialist Peter Johnson says more than three weeks ago there were some high aphid numbers in wheat fields predominately in Kent County “and we were doing a little bit of spraying.”There were only a few isolated fields that got enough aphids to be over threshold.Johnson says it’s quite unusual in Ontario for there to be aphid numbers in wheat that are significant enough to raise concerns. The standard threshold is 12 to 15 aphids per stem before heading and 50 per stem once the head has come out.There are always some aphids in wheat every year, he adds. But it’s unusual to see high enough numbers that require spraying, he explains, noting the species they found predominately this year was the bird cherry oat aphid.One of the main things aphids do in wheat is transmit a disease called barley yellow dwarf virus that affects all cereal crops, including barley, oats, spelt and rye along with wheat.For soybeans, typically there are a few aphids in a few pockets across the province every year. But the real question is whether they will reproduce quickly and move around. For that to happen, it depends on the weather and the number of beneficial predators around. Bohner says it’s way too early to predict what kind of aphid situation there will be in soybeans this year. “All I know for sure is I don’t see any right now.”So far the soybean crop has had a very good start. “Whenever you have heat early on like we did after seeding, beans love that so they had a good push to get out of ground,” he says. BF Ontario shepherd's PR campaign doesn't faze CFIA or sheep producers elsewhere Tribunal cancels previous orders connected to a retired veterinarian
Stinger Spade Bits kit from Spyder Friday, September 20, 2024 By Braxteen Breen, Whether you are constructing/repairing fencing and other structures around the farm, you can get those tasks completed on the farm quickly with the Stinger Spade Bits kit from Spyder. The Spade Bits kit provides an economical solution for someone who wants to make... Read this article online
$18.4M Boost for Canadian Cereal Grain Innovation Thursday, September 19, 2024 Gate Project Receives Major Funding for Research Canada's position as a pioneer in cereal grain research is set to strengthen with the Gate Capital Campaign raising $18.4 million. This funding will support the Global Agriculture Technology Exchange (Gate) initiative, a project... Read this article online
BASF introduces Surtain herbicide for field corn growers Tuesday, September 17, 2024 Field corn growers in eastern Canada have a new crop protection product available to them. After about 10 years of research and trials, BASF has introduced Surtain, a residual herbicide for corn that combines PPO inhibitor saflufenacil (Group 14) and pyroxasulfone (Group 15) in a premix... Read this article online
We Didn’t Start the Fire! Impacts of Wildfire Smoke on Corn Monday, September 16, 2024 Assistant Professor of Corn Production at Purdue University’s College of Agriculture, Daniel Quinn, PhD. recently provided fascinating insights into the impacts of fire on major corn producing areas, many of which have been impacted by smoke from wildfires. Quinn was the keynote... Read this article online
New home for the Christian Farmers Federation of Ontario Saturday, September 14, 2024 The Christian Farmers Federation of Ontario (CFFO) has announced it has moved into its new office building in Ingersoll. Located at 274620 27th Line in Ingersoll, the new office will serve as the hub for CFFO’s ongoing efforts to advocate for and support Ontario’s Christian farmers.... Read this article online