Inputs - by Top Crop Manager

There are so many variables in a cropping season, and when it comes to your inputs, a precision application can be beneficial in more ways than one. As Andria Karstens, field product specialist for Western Canada with Climate FieldView, explains in this episode, crop scripting and targeted applications can answer lots of the common questions that growers ask every year and streamline your process from one year to the next.

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Sponsored by Climate FieldView.

While there are indicators that help predict disease prevalence in a growing season, the many factors that influence crop disease risk and severity keep farmers, agronomists and pathologists on their toes.

2020 has been a wet year for many on the Prairies, but this has less of an effect on crop disease than you may expect, according to Kelly Turkington, a plant pathologist with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada in Lacombe, Alta. Turkington explains why infection levels vary by year, a variety of management methods, and the importance of pathologists in determining disease prevalence and severity.

Never miss an episode of Inputs by subscribing to the podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

In this second bonus episode as part of our Harvest Hub series, Top Crop Manager's Western Field Editor Bruce Barker talks to Charley Sprenger, project leader at the Prairie Agriculture Machinery Institute (PAMI), about management of stored pulses. This episode is part of Harvest Hub, a week of content dedicated to sharing insights and tips to help Canadian farmers prepare for harvest season.

Resources mentioned in this episode:

• PAMI storage factsheets
• Saskatchewan Pulse Growers
• Alberta Pulse Growers
• Manitoba Pulse and Soybean Growers

Never miss an episode of Inputs by subscribing to the podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

Farmers across Canada experienced a "harvest from hell" in 2019; one that couldn't end soon enough (but for many, one that continued through spring 2020). Top Crop Manager's Harvest Hub will share content to help you prepare for what harvest 2020 might bring, including this bonus episode of Inputs featuring our Western Field Editor, Bruce Barker and Charley Sprenger, project leader with the Prairie Agriculture Machinery Institute (PAMI). Bruce and Charley chat about grain storage principles, aeration, preventing grain spoilage and much more.

Resources mentioned in this episode:

• PAMI storage factsheets
• Sask Ag Natural Air Grain Drying factsheets

Never miss an episode of Inputs by subscribing to the podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

Insect pest pressure in the 2020 growing season is quite clearly divided between Eastern and Western Canada. The hot, dry conditions in Ontario have resulted in an increase of insect pests in variety and populations. On the Prairies, the wet conditions haven’t allowed many insect pests to flourish, so pressure is lower across the board, but there are some new insects to watch out for.

Tracey Baute, field crop entomologist with the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA), and Tyler Wist, field crop entomologist with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) in Saskatoon, shed light on the environmental conditions create insect pressure, which insects to watch for in August, and useful resources that will help identify and manage insect pests.

• @TraceyBaute on Twitter
• Field Crop News
• Corn silk-clipping threats
• Baute Bug Blog
• Hashtags to follow on Twitter: #scout20, #ontag
• Great Lakes and Maritimes Pest Monitoring Network
• OMAFRA Publication 811, Agronomy Guide for Field Crops
• Pest Manager app (second app in the list)
• @TylerWist1 on Twitter
• Field Heroes
• Field crop and forage pests and their natural enemies in Western Canada: identification and management
• The new Prairie Pest Monitoring Network website
• Western Forum on Pest Management
• Meghan Vankosky and Boyd Mori on Twitter

Scouting fields is an essential method of monitoring crop development and evaluating pest and disease risk. It should happen frequently through the season, ramping up to every couple of days when risks are higher. Recently, digital tools have become more popular and as Lydia Parker, field product specialist with Climate FieldView says, digital scouting tools can be a great tool to supplement the boots-on-the-ground decision making that happens in season.

Never miss an episode of Inputs by subscribing to the podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

Sponsored by Climate FieldView.

The 2020 Plant Health Summit gathered farmers, agronomists, researchers and industry members at the TCU Place in Saskatoon to learn about the latest research and strategies for optimal crop health.

In the seventh and final episode of our Plant Health Summit Series, Tom Wolf, a spray application specialist, co-owner of Agrimetrix Research and Training in Saskatoon, and co-creator of Sprayers 101, discusses the importance of timing, best fungicide spray practices, and how to get the most out of your spray days with associate editor Alex Barnard.

The 2020 Plant Health Summit gathered farmers, agronomists, researchers and industry members at the TCU Place in Saskatoon to learn about the latest research and strategies for optimal crop health.

Our sixth episode features Leon Kochian, Canada Excellence Research Chair in Global Food Security at the University of Saskatchewan, in conversation with Stephanie Gordon about next-generation technologies for tomorrow’s crops, what this all means in layman’s terms and what we can learn from his experience working in agriculture globally.

The 2020 Plant Health Summit gathered farmers, agronomists, researchers and industry members at the TCU Place in Saskatoon to learn about the latest research and strategies for optimal crop health.

In the fifth episode of our Plant Health Summit Series, Syama Chatterton, plant pathologist at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) Lethbridge Research and Development Centre, discusses her research on aphanomyces and root rots; Dan Orchard, agronomy specialist with the Canola Council of Canada, and Curtis Henkelmann, a producer who farms in a clubroot region, discuss what they’ve learned about clubroot over the years and what other provinces can learn from Alberta.

The 2020 Plant Health Summit gathered farmers, agronomists, researchers and industry members at the TCU Place in Saskatoon to learn about the latest research and strategies for optimal crop health.

In the fourth episode of our Plant Health Summit Series, Tyler Wist, a field crop entomologist with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada in Saskatoon, and John Gavloski, an entomologist with Manitoba Agriculture and Resource Development, discuss beneficial insects and neonicotinoids with Top Crop Manager's Stephanie Gordon and Alex Barnard.