Crops: The Lynch File

With a three-year crop rotation of corn, beans and wheat, about $80 per acre of phosphorus and potassium is being removed in crops each year. In too many cases, this value is not being applied to rented land

by PAT LYNCH

There is a subtle loss occurring on rented land across Ontario. It is not as obvious as someone taking trees or soil from a rented farm, but it is as just as big.

Reducing P loading in the Great Lakes requires thinking ‘outside of the box.’ But there are ways producers can keep nutrients out of the water and also retain more on their farms

by PAT LYNCH

These days, the media are paying more attention to phosphorus (P) getting into the Great Lakes and the finger is being pointed at agriculture. And, indeed, we are responsible for some of it.

With U.S. corn acreage expected to jump and inputs from pesticides and fungicides to forage seed in short supply, growers will need to work closely with their suppliers to meet their needs

by PAT LYNCH

Some crop inputs will be sold out this year. Why? U.S. farmers plan to seed close to 100 million acres of corn in 2013, about seven million more acres than they seeded in 2012. To put things in perspective, there may be 3.5 million acres of corn in Canada in 2013. The increase in U.S. acres is twice the total Canadian corn acreage.

We should strive for those clean fields we had in the 1970s, on the grounds that it is easier to keep a field clean than it is to clean one up

by PAT LYNCH

A paradigm shift is a change from one way of thinking to another. It is a transformation, a sort of metamorphosis. It does not just happen, but rather is driven by agents of change. We have a paradigm shift going on now in weed control thinking and actions.

Special circumstances set us up for the largest seeding of cover crops ever in Ontario. They’re good for the soil, help increase yields for subsequent crops and sometimes can even be sold

by PAT LYNCH

There is an adage which holds that “good things can come from bad things” or something like that. This past year, there was a lot of bad associated with forages in Ontario. Supply was short. Fewer acres were seeded in 2011 than normal. Some stands thinned over winter due to old age. Then drought across North America greatly decreased forage supply.

Cover crops for forages are a huge untapped resource in Ontario. With shortages expected in 2013 and maybe 2014, don’t just think about planting more. Do it

by PAT LYNCH

The forage shortage in 2012 will continue for 2013 and maybe into 2014. That means you need more forages from every acre you crop.

Opinions differed at this year’s Canada’s Outdoor Farm Show. Most thought the plowing was too deep while some felt the plowing was too shallow. Plowing is an art

by PAT LYNCH

There was a lot to learn again at this year’s Canada’s Outdoor Farm Show equipment demonstrations. This year, it was plowing – not the art of plowing but demonstrating plows.

But it is hard to separate the plow from the plower and hard to separate plowing from plows.

Managing organic matter with tillage is an art. As conditions and factors change, you have to change how you practice this art

by PAT LYNCH

If you really understand organic matter and how it affects soil and yields, you will grow better crops. This article is written from the experiences I have gained by watching producers and imagining what is occurring in the soil.

Once portrayed as the last of the cultivated weeds, oats are making a comeback. But other crops, such as alfalfa and annual rye grass can also help you produce forage or build soil structure

by PAT LYNCH

If you want to reduce erosion, build soil structure and organic matter or produce forage for feed, consider summer seedings.

There is a long, extensive list of various crops which can do this, so I will concentrate on the main ones. These are oats, alfalfa and miscellaneous ones such as peas, tillage radish and rye grass.

Scouting and keeping good weed records are just one of the ways to manage weed resistance in your fields

by PAT LYNCH

There are at least four known ways that weeds develop resistance to glyphosate. They do it by mutations where genes mutate to deal with glyphosate. One of these methods is called exclusion. In this system, the glyphosate is controlled in the vacuole of the cell plant and not allowed to translocate through the rest of the plant.