As the weather starts to warm up and the snow starts to melt, we are looking toward seeding the 2022 crop. After the extreme heat and drought of 2021, a long open fall, and variable snowfall, many are curious or concerned about the soil moisture outlook for 2022.

In this episode of Sask Wheat's Wheat Profit Podcast, we are again joined by Les Henry to talk about soil moisture for 2022

Les is a legend in the agronomy world and is well known for his no no-nonsense, practical approach to agriculture. Les is a former professor and extension specialist at the University of Saskatchewan and has a small farm near Dundurn.

The topics covered include: 

As we move towards spring, it's a good time to start thinking about herbicides and weed management for the coming season.

Looming supply chain issues and the glyphosate shortage and price increase may leave some producers scrambling for pre-burn options this spring. Over the last year, we have seen the price of glyphosate rise significantly due to a storm of factors, including COVID supply chain issues, environmental actions in China, which has reduced outputs, hurricane damage to Bayer's largest glyphosate plant, and extremely high global phosphate prices. The shortage and increased cost of glyphosate creates significant challenges for pre-burn this spring and creates higher demand for tank mixes and alternative products, which could lead to tighter supplies of these products as demands increase.

In this episode of the Wheat Profit Podcast, we will be discussing strategies to compensate for glyphosate shortage and how to make the most of the product we are spraying. We will speak to herbicide expert Eric Johnson and sprayer expert Tom Wolf to provide some insight into strategies for the coming spring.

Eric Johnson is the Research officer for the Crop Imaging and Agronomy Lab at the University of Saskatchewan, and Tom Wolf is the Managing Partner of Agrimetrix.

Resources: 

https://www.saskatchewan.ca/business/agriculture-natural-resources-and-industry/agribusiness-farmers-and-ranchers/crops-and-irrigation/weeds/water-quality-and-herbicides

https://sprayers101.com/dealing-with-pesticide-shortages-in-2022/

Wheat Market Outlook and Price Report January 4, 2022

Wheat Market Outlook December 20, 2021

With winter approaching, there has been little precipitation to recharge dry soils across the province. This has lead many prominent chemical companies to release additional re-cropping restriction statements, advising producers not to grow sensitive crops such as durum following the application of herbicides that pose a higher risk of carryover due to the extreme heat and drought experienced this growing season.

In this episode, Sask Wheat's Agronomy Extension Specialist, Haley Tetreault, is joined by the SaskCanola Agronomy Extension Specialist, Kaeley Kindrachuk, and the Saskatchewan Pulse Growers Agronomy Manager, Sarah Anderson, to discuss herbicide carryover risks with Clark Brenzil, the the Specialist in Weed Control with the Saskatchewan Ministry of Agriculture. In particular, they focus on group 2 imidazoline products. In addition to the podcast, we have also released a collaborative document detailing herbicide carryover risk and considerations- which is available at saskwheat.ca under the agronomy tab.

Resources:

https://saskwheat.ca/agronomic-resources

https://www.saskatchewan.ca/business/agriculture-natural-resources-and-industry/agribusiness-farmers-and-ranchers/crops-and-irrigation/weeds/herbicide-residues

https://www.saskatchewan.ca/business/agriculture-natural-resources-and-industry/agribusiness-farmers-and-ranchers/crops-and-irrigation/weeds/herbicide-residues

Fall is approaching, harvest is in full swing in many areas and has already finished in others. Aside from a few rainy days, and some thunderstorms over the past month, we haven't seen much for precipitation or soil recharge.

The 2021 growing season was filled with many agronomic challenges, the most notable being that it was one of the hottest and driest on record in Saskatchewan and yield was significantly impacted in many areas. Grain prices have risen, but with that, so have input prices. When looking ahead to the 2022 crop year, the 2021 drought will continue to have impacts on management decisions.

In this episode of Wheat Profit, we are going to focus on soil fertility and considerations after a drought. We know that yields fell sharply below targeted yield, which means there should be higher residual nutrients. Higher nutrient residuals can reduce next year’s fertilizer bill, but there are some considerations to be made around nutrient availability and variability. Severe moisture deficits can also create significant yield variability throughout a field. Drought effects nutrient cycling, nutrient availability, and can even skew soil test results. But how will all this impact management decisions for next year?

The guest for this episode is Lyle Cowell. Lyle is the Manager of Agronomy services with Nutrien in North East Saskatchewan. Lyle covers fertility considerations after a drought, residual nutrients and what you can expect, nutrient variability throughout the field and what the main causes are, soil testing, and considerations for fall fertilizer applications.

As combines start to roll across the province, grain is headed to the bin or elevator, and grain quality is the next topic of consideration on farms. We know that dry conditions and intense heat can significantly decrease yield, but it can also potentially impact grain quality.

In this episode of Wheat Profit, we are joined by Daryl Beswitherick. Daryl is the program manager for National Inspection Standards at the Canada Grain Commission. We will cover some potential quality impacts in wheat caused by the heat and drought and what resources are available to producers to assess grain quality if they have concerns.

Our latest wheat watch on saskwheat.ca is about staging wheat for applying a pre-harvest product such as harvest aids and pre-harvest weed control. Staging wheat for pre-harvest weed control can be tricky, especially in years when the crop is uneven due to poor conditions. Pre-harvest staging is critical to avoid any herbicide residues in the grain, which can lead to Maximum Residue Limit (MRL) and marketability issues. A wheat plant is considered physiologically mature at 30% moisture; this means grain fill has stopped, and final yield and kernel weight/size has been determined. Spraying pre-harvest products such as glyphosate before 30% grain moisture can negatively impact grain quality and marketability.

If you are considering applying pre-harvest products, and have not yet done so, check out our website for more information: https://saskwheat.ca/harvest-resources

The Official Grain Grading Guide from the Canadian Grain Commission is available here: https://grainscanada.gc.ca/en/grain-quality/official-grain-grading-guide/

This is a special episode produced in collaboration with Sask Barley and the Barley Bin podcast. Herbicide resistance is a growing issue across the Prairies. One of the largest concerns for herbicide resistance is wild oats. According to the Herbicide Resistant Wild Oat Action Committee, approximately 69% of wild oats across the Prairies display herbicide resistance; 62% to group 1, 27% to groups 1 & 2, and 34% to group 2.

In this episode we explore the Seed Terminator and some on-farm trials on Josh Lade's farm near Osler Saskatchewan. Josh grew up in Australia, which gives him a unique perspective on herbicide resistance. His background has led him to help adapt and prepare his farm for management of current and future development of new herbicide resistant weeds.

Josh came to Canada in 2010 on a farm exchange and moved to Canada and started farming with the Wiebe family in 2013. The farm has been dealing with herbicide resistant wild oats since 2013 and they have developed an impressive management program, including harvest weed seed control, patch targeted spraying, herbicide layering, and on farm trials.

Additional Resources:

Josh Lade

email: [email protected]

https://weedscience.ca/wild-oat-action-committee/

https://www.seedterminator.com.au/journey/category/canada

The wheat market outlook for the week of July 26, 2021.

This is a special episode produced in collaboration with Sask Barley and the Barley Bin podcast.

Herbicide resistance is a growing issue across the Prairies. One of the largest concerns for herbicide resistance is wild oats. According to the Herbicide Resistant Wild Oat Action Committee, approximately 69% of wild oats across the Prairies display herbicide resistance; 62% to group 1, 27% to groups 1 & 2, and 34% to group 2. 

In this episode, we explore the management strategies employed to combat herbicide resistant wild oats on Josh Lade's farm near Osler, Saskatchewan. Josh grew up in Australia, which gives him a unique perspective on herbicide resistance. His background has led him to help adapt and prepare his farm for management of current and future development of new herbicide resistant weeds. 

Josh came to Canada in 2010 on a farm exchange and moved to Canada and started farming with the Wiebe family in 2013. The farm has been dealing with herbicide resistant wild oats since 2013 and they have developed an impressive management program, including harvest weed seed control, patch targeted spraying, herbicide layering, and on farm trials.

Additional Resources:

https://weedscience.ca/wild-oat-action-committee/