Ontario Grain Farmer Magazine is the flagship publication of Grain Farmers of Ontario and a source of information for our province’s grain farmers.

Grain Farmers of Ontario

Author: Jason Deveau

How crop canopies affect aerial swath width

AGRONOMIC INFORMATION FROM ONTARIO'S CROP SPECIALISTS

March 2025 - Tar spot is a fungal disease caused by Phyllachora maydis and is becoming a signiﬁcant economic concern in Ontario. Left unchecked, the disease causes rapid, premature leaf senescence. This reduces photosynthetic capacity and, ultimately, yield.…
Drop hoses

AGRONOMIC INFORMATION FROM ONTARIO'S CROP SPECIALISTS

March 2024 - IT’S AN OLD IDEA THAT’S NEW AGAIN. Why spray top-down through several feet of tassels and leaves only to cover the upward- facing surfaces when you can spray sideways a few inches and cover all…
Spray drift

A LESSON IN PHYSICS FROM ISAAC NEWTON

June 2023 - FOR SPRAY OPERATORS to reduce the potential for pesticide drift, they must be situationally aware, willing to make operational changes, and they must possess a basic understanding of why drift happens — and that means…
Drone spraying

AGRONOMIC INFORMATION FROM ONTARIO'S CROP SPECIALISTS

March 2023 - REMOTE PILOTED AERIAL Application Systems (RPAAS), or drones, are making their way onto many farms as a valuable tools for spreading cover crops, scouting, and more (though pesticide application in Canada by drones is currently…
Beluga drop hoses

AGRONOMIC INFORMATION FROM ONTARIO'S CROP SPECIALISTS

June 2022 - IN 2019 WE evaluated the spray coverage from nine application methods on corn silks. The results showed that a directed application from drop hoses (aka drop pipes, drop legs) suspended between the rows produced significantly…
Cropside: Angled sprays

AGRONOMIC INFORMATION FROM ONTARIO'S CROP SPECIALISTS

August 2021 - WHEN T3 WHEAT rears its head, the first rainy day brings questions about spray angles. Let’s begin with a graphic that illustrates how angled sprays cover a vertical target like a wheat head (Figure 1.).…
Ontario corn fungicide rodeo

EVALUATING SPRAYER OPTIONS

June 2021 - GIBBERELLA EAR ROT is a significant disease of corn, especially with the accumulation of mycotoxins produced from the causal pathogen(s). With crop management practices providing only modest improvements in disease control, strategies to increase the…
Cropside: Twin fans

AGRONOMIC INFORMATION FROM ONTARIO'S CROP SPECIALISTS

September 2020 - WHEN WHEAT REARS its head, sprayer operators consider dual fan nozzle arrangements to improve vertical coverage. Which design, or nozzle arrangement, is best? In 2013, we ran vertical coverage demonstrations using a series of dual…
Cropside: Recirculating booms

AGRONOMIC INFORMATION FROM ONTARIO'S CROP SPECIALISTS

September 2019 - CONVENTIONAL BOOMS Larger sprayers feature booms with five to 13 sections that terminate in caps (or valves for flushing). Pressurized liquid is fed to the middle of each section and must exit at the nozzle…
Cropside: Nozzle strainers

AGRONOMIC INFORMATION FROM ONTARIO'S CROP SPECIALISTS

September 2018 - THE LEVEL OF sprayer filtration required for any given operation depends on a lot of variables. Potentially, you have opportunities to install filters at the tank opening (a basket), the suction-side of the pump, each…