Mike Cowbrough's Blog (2)

Canada Breaks Ground on Largest Carbon Capture Project, Creating Potential Opportunities for Agriculture

Canada has broken ground on what is expected to become the country's largest carbon capture and storage facility.

Conservatives commit to hold Liberals to account over research farms

The Conservatives have made the research farms a topic of discussion this summer

Trump bans Canadian dairy in latest trade war move

Additional executive orders, which comes into effect Sept. 29, include motorcycles and alcohol

I’m new to growing winter wheat; when should I seed it and should I seed deeper to reach moisture?

It is good timing for this question as winter wheat is being planted right now! Winter wheat used to be a common sight across Manitoba, with over 600,000 acres planted in 2013. Now, winter wheat acres average around 35,000 – 45,000 acres annually. That said, with improved genetics and its weed suppression benefits, winter wheat is starting to be tried by growers again. SEEDING DATE Seeding date is very important. For the best chance of winter survival, winter wheat should be around the 3-leaf/1-tiller stage going into freeze up, with a developed crown. Planting too late will result in small plant that will have a less developed crown. Planting too early will result in plants with too much growth going into winter, making them more susceptible to freeze injury. In Manitoba, the ideal seeding timing is between late August, into the first two weeks of September. In more norther regions, ideally winter wheat should be seeded by Sept. 15. That said, planting still can occur later than th

What is the difference between Fusarium and Gibberella in corn, and how do you identify them?

This isn’t as much a common question, but I ask myself this every year for clarification. The two diseases are really tricky to differentiate as both stalk and ear rots, so it is a perfectly valid discussion to have annually. Management of stalk rots Gibberella stalk rot is caused by the same pathogen that causes Fusarium head blight. It is a seedling pathogen, and can survive on crop residues for many years. It thrives in warm, wet conditions. Fusarium stalk rot can overwinter in infected seed, crop residues and in the soil. Prior to silking, Fusarium stalk rot prefers dry weather for infections, and following silking it functions best in wet weather. Ideal management practices may be hard to determine because they proliferation of the pathogen relies more on good soil moisture conditions rather than tillage or rotation. Selecting hybrids that have resistance to any other stalk rots can also provide some resistance to Fusarium stalk rot. Management of ear rots Gibberella ear rot ca