"In this episode of Wheat Pete's Word, Peter Johnson celebrates a slightly belated Canada's Agriculture Day with a heartfelt "hats off" to the producers navigating the tough realities of weather and livestock. With the polar vortex finally breaking in the East, Pete shifts from shivering at minus 20 to digging into some truly staggering yield data. Between 154-bushel dryland soybeans in Maryland and the science of residue breakdown, there is plenty of agronomic meat on the bone this week."
"Pete dives deep into the "residue reality," challenging the common belief that modern genetics or fungicides are to blame for stalks that won't disappear. Instead, he looks at the sheer volume of stover we are producing today compared to forty years ago and how a diverse crop rotation might be the secret weapon for those making no-till work. From the complexity of the wheat genome to the logistics of 120-foot sprayer booms, this episode is all about using data to make better decisions on the farm."
Canada's Agriculture Day is observed with praise for producers coping with severe weather and livestock responsibilities. The polar vortex has broken in the East, producing seasonable temperatures while some regions remain unusually snowless. A 154-bushel-per-acre dryland soybean result in Maryland highlights extreme yield potential supported by practices such as roller crimping corn stalks for no-till. Corn stover production has risen from about 5,500 pounds in 1985 to over 10,000 pounds today, increasing residue-management challenges. Residue persistence is attributed primarily to higher stover volume rather than genetics or fungicides, and diverse crop rotations help make no-till systems work. Agronomic considerations include wheat genome complexity and the operational implications of very large sprayer booms, underscoring the value of data-driven decisions.
Read at Realagriculture
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