Blog: Agronomy & Extension

By Manitoba Crop Alliance

As we head into spring, now is the perfect time to brush up on some important agronomy topics.

Manitoba Crop Alliance (MCA) has several articles and resources to help farmers implement best management practices (BMPs) on their operations. This resource roundup highlights information for targeting the correct seeding date, conditions and fertility, as well as management options if seeding gets delayed.

Spring cereals

1. Seeding date

We know that weather on the Prairies is unpredictable, and while we hope to get the crop in early, sometimes Mother Nature has other plans. More information on the ideal time to plant spring cereals, the impact of delayed seeding and agronomic management strategies is available in the following articles:

• Effect of Delayed Seeding on Spring Wheat and Barley
• Seeding Cereals: How Early is too Early?

2. Dry soil conditions

Across the Prairies, seeding into dry soils is inevitable in some years. These dry conditions require careful seeding BMPs to help reduce risk. Learn more from resources listed below, including a special collaboration article between the Alberta Wheat Commission, Alberta Barley, Sask Wheat, SaskBarley and MCA:

• Seeding Wheat and Barley into Dry Soils
• Manitoba Agriculture – Effect of Dry Conditions on Cereal Yields and Response to Nitrogen

3. Plant stands

Plant population influences all three of the primary determinants of yield: (1) number of heads per acre, (2) number of kernels per head and (3) weight per kernel. Do you know how your selected variety will perform under varying target plant populations? Learn more:

• Targeting Higher Cereal Plant Stands: Risks and Rewards

4. Nitrogen fertility

Another important aspect of seeding is making sure your crop has the proper fertility package. The following are important resources for making nitrogen fertilizer management decisions:

• Factsheet – Spring Nitrogen Application Options
• Factsheet – Optimizing Nitrogen Fertilizer Management Strategies for High-Yielding Spring Wheat in Manitoba
• Factsheet – Maximizing Spring Wheat Productivity: Yield, Yield Components and Lodging Risk
• Nitrogen Rate of Return Calculator – Alberta Wheat and Barley Commissions
• Manitoba Agriculture – Soil Fertility Guide
• Winter Wheat Fertility Checklist for Spring
• Weed Management in Winter Wheat

Winter wheat

While many winter wheat farmers choose to apply most of their nitrogen in the fall, early spring is a good opportunity to evaluate your fertilizer strategy. In the article below, Manitoba Agriculture’s John Heard goes through his checklist of spring fertility considerations:

• Winter Wheat Fertility Checklist for Spring

The winter annual growth habit of winter wheat makes it an effective competitor against many weed species. However, some weed control considerations should still be made. The following article outlines integrated weed management strategies and herbicide options for winter wheat:

• Weed Management in Winter Wheat

Significant snow accumulation throughout winter helps to keep the soil warm enough for winter wheat to overwinter. The following resources cover other factors that impact winter wheat survival, plus ways to assess the survival in your fields:

• Factors Affecting Winter Wheat Survival
• Winter Wheat: Fertility Requirement and Assessing Survival

By Anne Kirk and Chami Amarasinghe, Manitoba Agriculture 

The Manitoba Crop Variety Evaluation Team (MCVET) has been evaluating the effects of fusarium head blight (FHB) on spring wheat, winter wheat and barley varieties under conditions of natural infection for a number of years. Varietal resistance ratings for FHB, as presented in Seed Manitoba, are determined through inoculated trials conducted during the period the variety is tested in the variety registration system. While this provides good information on resistance to FHB, the data generated provides limited comparisons with other registered varieties. Post-registration FHB analysis provides an opportunity to compare fusarium damaged kernels (FDK) and deoxynivalenol (DON) accumulation among registered varieties over a number of locations in Manitoba. Fungicides are not applied to MCVET trials, and FHB infection is the result of natural infection. Due to variety turnover in MCVET trials, ongoing analysis is required to evaluate the response of newly registered varieties.

In 2022, DON accumulation was low at the majority of sites. At the spring wheat sites, mean DON accumulation was below the detection limit of 0.5 ppm at seven of nine sites tested; DON ranged from 0.5 to 4.2 ppm at the two sites where DON was detected (Table 1). Mean DON accumulation at the barley sites was below detection limit at eight of 10 sites and ranged from 0.5 to 1.4 ppm at the remaining sites (Table 2). Mean DON accumulation in winter wheat was below detection limit at six of eight sites and ranged from 0.6 ppm to above the detection limit of 5 ppm at two sites (Table 3). Varieties with the highest FDK and DON levels were generally rated as susceptible (S), moderately susceptible (MS) or intermediate (I) for FHB resistance. However, there is variability in FDK and DON within each of the five resistance categories.

FHB infection is highly influenced by environmental conditions, but there are management options that should be used to mitigate the risk of FHB. The first step is to select varieties with improved resistance to FHB. Resistance ratings published in Seed Manitoba are a good first place to look for disease resistance information. Caution must be used with one year of data, as presented in these tables. Other management strategies include crop rotation and fungicide application.

Thanks to Manitoba Crop Alliance for providing funding to conduct FDK and DON analysis and the Manitoba Crop Variety Evaluation Team and contractors who provided the harvested samples.

By Manitoba Crop Alliance

On Dec. 14 and 15, 2022, Manitoba agronomists met to discuss the latest developments in crop production, crop protection and soil management at the Manitoba Agronomists’ Conference.

The conference theme for 2022 was “Dialing Down the Heat: Agronomic Solutions to Climate Change” and much of the research shared was funded in part by Manitoba Crop Alliance (MCA).

Here is a summary of the posters shared at the conference that feature MCA-funded research:

Nutrient management

• Improving In-Season Corn Nitrogen Dressing Using Canopy Sensing in Manitoba
  Claudia Quilesfogel-Esparza, Mario Tenuta, Paul Bullock, University of Manitoba
• • (Abstract) (PDF)
• Optimizing Nitrogen Management Under Conditions of Extreme Moisture
  Timi Ojo, John Heard, Manitoba Agriculture and Resource Development; Ramona Mohr, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada; Trevor Fraser, Paul Bullock, University of Manitoba
  • (Abstract) (PDF)
• Fertilizer Use in Manitoba: Results From the 2021 Survey
  Ashley Ammeter, Morgan Cott, Manitoba Crop Alliance
  • (Abstract) (PDF)

Soil and water management

• Soil Temperature as Affected by Drainage Spacing in Heavy Clay Soils of Manitoba
  Nirmal Hari, Manitoba Agriculture and Resource Development
  • (Abstract) (PDF)

Crop management

• Economic and Agronomic Performance of Emerging Cropping Systems for Western Canada
  Ramona Mohr, Mohammad Khakbazan, Debbie McLaren, Yong Min Kim, Aaron Glenn, Maria Antonia Henriquez, Bill May, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada; Brian Beres, Francis Larney, Newton Lupwayi, Henry Chau, Lethbridge Research and Development Centre; Rob Gulden, University of Manitoba; Chris Willenborg, University of Saskatchewan; Terry McGonigle, Brandon University
  • (Abstract) (PDF)

Pest management

• New Fusarium Head Blight Disease Risk Maps for the Canadian Prairies
  T. Matengu, P. Bullock, M. Mkhabela, F. Zvomuya, D. Fernando, University of Manitoba; T. Ojo, R. Picard, Manitoba Agriculture and Resource Development; M. Henriquez, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada; R. Avila, A. Akhavan, Ministry of Agriculture, Government of Saskatchewan; M. Harding, Alberta Agriculture and Forestry
  • (Abstract) (PDF)
• Residual Weed Population Shifts in Manitoba – 1978 to 2022
  K. Brown-Livingston, S. Hladun, Manitoba Agriculture and Resource Development; J.Y. Leeson, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada
  • (Abstract) (PDF)

Thank you to the conference partners – University of Manitoba, Manitoba Agriculture and the Prairie Certified Crop Advisor Board – for hosting an excellent conference!

For a full list of poster presentations and speakers from the 2022 conference, visit the Manitoba Agronomists’ Conference website.