Dave Hooker
@cropdoc2
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Blessed | Assoc Prof | PhD | Univ Guelph Ridgetown | Cropping Systems | Farmer | Dad/G'Dad of 4/3 | Sound Tech | vlogging | photography | dhooker @uoguelph .ca
Ridgetown, Ontario, Canada
Joined September 2010
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Rented farm for 40 years was sold, now someone else is working the farm. I'll never get used to seeing someone else working it.
#emotional
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My brother, who is a surgeon in Fort Worth, TX, is the talk of the neighborhood after building an ice rink in the front yard. A proud Canadian. Unfortunately, he's a Canadiens fan.
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Dad, of 87 years, doing what he loves to do, judging by the smile. Starting the first field of soybean in 2020. I'm not sure what I'd be or where I'd be today without his influence on the farm. I remember spending hours on the tractor with him when I was 4 ... !!!
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In-furrow phosphorus (or lack thereof) highly visual.
#wheat
Ridgetown long-term fertility plots. Cc:
@wheatpete
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As promised, independent
#OntAg
data on Miravis Ace vs. Prosaro vs. Caramba across all 6 farm fields tested x 4 reps ea in 2018, 2019. FHB/DON later. cc:
@14Ram
@DCHighlander
@WheatPete
@dietrich_ed
@Shawridgefarm
@BarlowFarms1843
@case333090
@FreyTodd
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Nitrogen Fertilizer and Soil Organic Matter: What Does the Evidence Say?
"Synthetic N increases microbial biomass,
increases both the readily-decomposable and less-readily decomposable pools of soil C, and increases the “new” C inputs while also slowing the loss of “old” soil
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Photo was taken a few weeks ago. Tree root effects from a windbreak of Norway Spruce on one of my fields. Research shows crop yields are higher up to 10x the height of the trees into the field, but nearby losses are frustrating.
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Good news. Crop growth rates have been close to maximum since July 1st in Ontario. Former
@RidgetownCampus
student Jody Aldred
@aldred97
in the same corn on July 1st vs. July 11th. Wow!
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Conceptual relationship between recreational tillage and fall weather, especially on soybean stubble. A bit frustrating.
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Corn silk morphology and chemistry is fascinating for several reasons. In the photo below, note the hairs on each silk for capturing pollen; each silk is attached to an ovule (kernel). Once a corn pollen grain lands on the silk, moisture and phytohormones cause the pollen grain
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Reshaped 6000' of grassed waterways on 2 farms this weekend. The previous ones were rough and with limited capacity as water tended to flow along the edges. Now smooth with parabolic bottoms again. Since we stopped mb plowing wheat stubble about a decade ago, peak water flow
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It may be obvious, but one caution using the corn yield component method for estimating yields in late-planted corn: kernel numbers may be similar in early vs. late, but kernel weight tends to be lower in late planted.
Photo credit: Dr. Bob Nielsen (Purdue)
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A friend of mine who struggles financially just bought a 65" TV with CERB money. I'm a bit upset!
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Grrr! The corn cropper's coyote (raccoon) destroyed every stalk of the ultra early corn hybrids in the early planting date block in a planting date x hybrid maturity experiment. Close-up on the left.
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It was a surreal experience with my greatest academic mentor and friend of +30 years -- Dr. Tony Vyn of Purdue University. He was my Advisor for my MSc and PhD in the 90s. Earlier this wk, we did a presentation together, for the first time, at the Ontario Ag Conference.
#OAgC22
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Know your soybean developmental stages with this handy sheet. Enjoy! :)
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Volunteer corn in V2 soybean from destroyed 200 bpa high DON corn crop in 2018. Grower used a forage harvester and blew chopped corn back onto field last fall.
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Straw and chaff spread near perfect using modified spinners on our 2366, although only 25' to spread with this
#STO
(small time operator). :)
#important
#plant2022
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Congratulations Emma Dieleman, MSc on your highly successful MSc defense! Well done!
@emma_dieleman
@JoshNasielski
@RidgetownCampus
@plantagguelph
@UofGuelphOAC
@drbeans1
@esk_milad
@JoFollings
@realagriculture
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It was interesting to listen to 184 years of combined wisdom this morning! Neighbour stopped by for a visit while dad and I were fixing the combine at the edge of the field.
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Hey
#OntAg
, wow this is a hot topic. Wait to harvest wet corn, or start soon and pay more for drying? The decision is highly complex, but an important one!
Does anyone want to guess how much moisture loss will occur in grain corn between now and Nov 1 given the weather
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Finally. The herbicide injury study guide for my crop diagnostics course
@RidgetownCampus
is finally assembled. Its a keeper! Thanks
@psikkema1
for the excellent photos. Cc:
@drobinridgetown
@FtardifUofG
@plantagguelph
@UofGuelphOAC
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It's always sweet to see my former
@RidgetownCampus
students working neighboring farms at the same time as me! I'm surrounded by four of them around this farm. The stories they can tell. :) Abbey's kicking up a storm!
@farmerabbeyt
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Nearly all corn is variable and yellow. Before blaming a nutrient or soil issue, consider the biggest deficiency is likely temperature. :)
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Great pic. We've all seen old fence row "check strips" like these during drought ... highlights soil quality and system resilience.
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Ahmed is a student of mine -- he finished his first 2 semesters (online)
@RidgetownCampus
-- I never met him in person until he started a summer job with me about a month ago. He's a gem!
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The prettiestl! Wheat variety-PGR-N mgmt at
@RidgetownCampus
installed by Jon, Ken and Carlene. Treatments duplicated near London
@wheatpete
and Winchester
@JoshNasielski
and
@ilex88
. Grad student
@KurtisPilkingto
cc:
@GrainFarmers
@OMAFRA
@JoFollings
@Syngenta
@belchimcanada
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Several students made my day. One of them handed in his completed final exam, and said, "thanks for teaching me."
@RidgetownCampus
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OCCC Cereal-Fungicide Performance Trial at Ridgetown looks great. cc:
@JoFollings
@Ellen_Sparry
@WheatPete
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Timing window of all registered fungicides on reducing DON ... bracketed by silk emergence and beginning of silk browning. Best at full green silk. Note the (*) below indicates statistical differences from the non-treated check.
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Incredible hybrid differences in stay green, NLB, GLS and tarspot.
@RidgetownCampus
Ontario Corn Performance Trial.
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Nothing new here. The effect of 100 kg/ha MAP in-furrow at winter wheat planting, at the long-term P+K expt
@RidgetownCampus
. STP is 10 ppm Olsen. No visual diffs in plots built to 25 ppm.
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#OntAg
! Switching to more soybean? Think twice! Data clear. ⬆️soybean freq in crop rotation, w/o wheat, ⬇️ corn-soy yield potentials (Figs 1,2), ⬇️carbon input (Fig 3), ⬇️soil OM plus many other negatives. Fig. 4 is telling; Alert! Alert! Alert! cc:
@WheatPete
@WiscCorn
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UNREAL damage in this field from pea harvest just after heavy rain. WOW. I guess this is always a risk growing veggie crops.
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Every grain handler needs to wear a dust mask -- especially when the grain may be contaminated with mycotoxins. Period. Not an option. Know the symptoms of breathing in dust and dust-laden mycotoxins. From Wisconsin:
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🤣 Message to students: maybe not have ChatGPT calculate fertilizer requirements on your assignments.
Example:
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A bunch of students decided to check out a field near Blenheim, ON. I assured them it was industrial hemp. 😇
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Birthday boy is 83 yo today! BBQ'd a steak dinner for him and step-mom earlier, now harvesting wheat. A good day...
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Congratulations to Dr.
@Jocelynlsmith
in a magnificent PhD thesis and defense.
@UofGuelphOAC
@RidgetownCampus
photo: Dr. Victor Limay-Rios
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This is most relevant these days. Crop rotation efx are highest in hot/dry yrs (like 2020?) both Rtown and Elora long-term trials. In this figure for example
@RidgetownCampus
, in hot/dry years, corn in CSW rotn strip-till yielded ⬆️33% than continuous corn; C-S yielded 22% ⬆️.
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Many considering using a min label rate of glyphosate due to $$. Several tips from
@psikkema1
work to help maintain efficacy (+many others): spray when weeds are small, use rates according to weed spp present, use low water vol, apply 9am-6pm, use quality water.
@RidgetownCampus
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Congratulations to my colleague Doug Young who was presented with the Dr. Ron Pitblado teaching award at yesterday's
@RidgetownCampus
convocation. Well deserved Doug! And oh yeah, happy retirement!
#ontag
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Thoughts welcome on this: what soil function(s) is/are limiting crop performance the most in your fields? The answer will surely depend on the field and even site-specific within the field.
Perhaps instead of improving soil health indicators, or increasing health scores, which
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These need to be common across Ontario.
Productive farming and a diverse environment for 🦋🐞🐝🐜🐛working side by side.
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Saved our pennies and finally upgraded some tillage equipment on campus.
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Unbelievable! Recently, an anonymous someone told me, "...teaching science to college-level applied ag students is not really valuable."
Well, maybe at the cellular level, in some cases. 😄 Seriously, a solid scientific understanding produces informed decisions, esp when
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#CornWatch
Remember, corn is not at R5 (denting phase) until almost *all* kernels are dented, just not a few. Once at R5, it will take ~30+ d to BL (longer as R5 is delayed).
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Another excellent start to the winter barley trials on
@RidgetownCampus
, thanks to my techs Jonathan and Ken.
@SeCanPhil
@SeCanWillie
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Oat cover crop surviving the winter so far. A few green leaves may not be strong evidence but new root growth is.
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Trying my best to incorporate "Dr. Dave humor" in videos made for online teaching this semester. This is the intro to my 50th video since September. hee hee! Thought I'd share.
@camtasia
@RidgetownCampus
@plantagguelph
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Incredible! Wheat growers in
#OntAg
know so well. Image of stripe rust rupturing a leaf surface.
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I guess I've seen worse tramp damage. Quick calcs (very rough) with the dual wheel one: 5% loss in 100 bu yield @ $7/bu = $35/ac.
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Ontario Corn Performance trial
@RidgetownCampus
. Interesting patchwork of canopy colour across hybrids. Uniform N rate and population.
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Today at
@oagc24
: Dr. Tony Vyn from Purdue University (formerly from
@UofGuelphOAC
@plantagguelph
) with a very touching tribute and dedication of his presentation to the late Ken Janovicek, who was a great influencer of many faculty, staff and students. Miss you Ken. Cc:
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The first trial with a new-to-us drill.. OCCC WW Performance Trial at Inwood. Timely planting!
@WheatPete
@Ellen_Sparry
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In my cropping systems course
@ridgetowncampus
with diploma students, we've been discussing a v simple soil organic matter budget to help understand some SOM dynamics. Thought I'd share some infographics I made! :) In the following example, 1,711 kg/ha/yr of SOM are lost
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Moments before 1" of rain in 10 minutes on Sunday eveing, just south of Belmont, Ontario.
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Corn was planted in fit soil on March 14
@RidgetownCampus
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Can't say that ave Ontario soybean yields aren't keeping pace with corn anymore. Given this data FWIW.
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My research program has been saving pennies to purchase the latest Gen V Pluribus from
@DawnEquipment
for strip till, fertility and cover crop trials. Assembly is nearly complete.
@JoeatDawn
@KearneyPlanters
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Had 6 current or former students ask me an ag related question by text, twitter or facebook today. All wondered if they should plant corn or spray wheat. :)
#bestjobever
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Great day for 2nd app of N on wheat! My favorite crop. "Crop of all Crops" as a famous someone says.
#Economics
#Systems
#Carbon
#SoilMicrobial
#DiverseRotation
#HighCornSoyYields
#PestControl
#CoverCrop
#ErosionControl
#TimeEfficiency
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DONcast-corn is being developed and validated, maybe for 2021. Current humid/wet/30C in the green silking phase is very similar to 2018. Perhaps consider a fungicide to reduce DON by 50% max on susceptible hybrids? BTW, some fungicides have zero effect on DON.
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I'm excited about my new cropping systems colleague at the main campus
@plantagguelph
. Welcome to
@uofg
@UofGuelphOAC
Dr. Adrian Correndo
@aacorrendo
!
We are very proud and wish him the best!
@aacorrendo
was part of Ciampitti Lab (2018-2023) pursuing his Ph.D. in Agronomy & as a Post-doctoral Fellow.
Today, Adrian is an assistant professor & Pick Family Chair in sustainable cropping systems at the University of Guelph, Canada
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Congratulations
@SCSAgronomy
!!! Well deserved.
Congrats to brother Dale on his induction into Ont Agriculture Hall of Fame. Wonderful afternoon in Elora, On
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My newly shaped grassed waterways look amazing 5 weeks after seeding! Woo-hoo!
Reshaped 6000' of grassed waterways on 2 farms this weekend. The previous ones were rough and with limited capacity as water tended to flow along the edges. Now smooth with parabolic bottoms again. Since we stopped mb plowing wheat stubble about a decade ago, peak water flow
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Long-term cover crop trial
@RidgetownCampus
looks awesome (photo 2 weeks old). Note various cover crop strips in wheat blocks; corn blocks showing visual patchwork of various cover crop tmt and N mgmt from the previous year. Cc:
@GrainFarmers
@OMAFRA
@LauraVanEerd
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I had to RT this. Many growers concerned about droughty conditions in SW Ontario and wilting soybean. There is good reason for optimism though; crop growth rates during the R-stages are the key.
Concerned about delayed soy across
#ontag
? Not me. Still lots of hope for excellent yields (2011, photos H.Bohner)
http://t.co/hXxd3ijpEs
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Underseeded red clover looking great in this field, 3 weeks after wheat harvest.
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With the heavy rain plus melting snow yesterday on frozen/saturated ground, my newly reshaped grassed waterways were close to capacity, but they did their job! The rest of the field in covers helped as well.
My newly shaped grassed waterways look amazing 5 weeks after seeding! Woo-hoo!
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Nitrogen increases drought tolerance of wheat. Foreground received 75 lbs N/ac, background 150.
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Love planting wheat optimally in optimal soil conditions (no-till), at an optimal September timing, using optimal P-fertilizer placement. :) 60/40 seed/MAP (w/w) blend.
#sweetwheat
Cc:
@WheatPete
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The end of the applic window for an effective fung application for suppressing GIBB/DON is when the silks just begin to turn brown. However, keep in mind that late plants in the row tend to have a higher DON risk.
Remember for effective fungicide timing for GIBB/DON suppression, the late plants tend to be at a higher risk than early plants in the row, so plan fungicide timings accordingly. No silks or brown silks no/little fungicide efficacy. Cc:
@AlbertTenuta
@WheatPete
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This makes my heart happy. Wow, it astounds me how the landscape has changed in appearance from 30 years ago when most fields were plowed with little cover over winter, mine included. A few fields around are plowed still before winter sets in, but VERY few.
See below a few
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@jasonmauck1
Jason, I've been "introducing" you to my ag students for a few years now, and in all classes I get many blank stares, head shakes and eye rolls. I then encourage them to think "outside the box" and out of their comfort zone of "we've always done it this way". Throughout history,
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1st time teaching Cropping Systems @ Guelph campus on Tues/Thurs this semester to undergrad and grad students.
@plantagguelph
@UofGuelphOAC
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Much corn looking tough but there is some good news! Corn leaf rolling conserves moisture, but reduces photosynthesis (Ps) and crop growth rates. One reason is a damaged factory and low chlorophyll. Now the good: most research shows Ps rates to rebound a few days after a rain.
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P+K in 2x2 (left) @ late R4 vs K-only (right) @ early R4. Soil test P and K ~10 and 100 ppm, respectively. Key message: few visual cues that P may be limiting if not for the side x side. Long-term P K trials
@RidgetownCampus
in conjunction with
@omafra
. Cc:
@WheatPete
@Maizex
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Beauty. Ontario Corn Committee (OCC) Performance Trial
@RidgetownCampus
thanks to my techs Ken, Jonathan, and Carlene. Summer students help, of course. They install 8 of these from Wingham to Tilbury, ON.
Here, 41 hybrids were entered by seed companies into the trial, then we
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Mother Nature has blessed this winter wheat crop with 4-5 tillers per plant when the goal was 2-3. Now to up lodging mgmt with 50-60 lbs of N in a few weeks plus some AS, 80 lbs at GS32, and Moddus or Manipulator PGR at GS30.
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Hot topic: Full- vs. short-season hybrid and drying $$. Conclusion from my prez last winter: Yield trumps drying $$. This, using 42 site-yrs of Ontario Corn Performance data and assumptions. Your mileage will vary as hyb decisions are multi-factored. USA friends: 100CHU= +3 day
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Wow, thread went viral. Many skeptics: maybe "overyielding" is misunderstood? It does not mean crop yields r more in poly vs mono. It is a yield ratio. For ex, if ea crop in poly yielded 1/2 the mono yld (t/ha), the poly yld=same. If yld of ea is 55% of mono, overyield=10%.
A polyculture of wheat grown with walnut trees produces ~ 40% higher yields.
1 hectare of wheat/walnut mix yields the same as 1.4 hectares of each crop grown separately.
This is an example of overyielding.
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These are some signs of burning out. I would add the feeling of a weight getting heavier.
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Presented at
#CropSphere
in Saskatoon today: Summary slide IPM components for reducing FHB/DON in wheat.
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P deficiency delays devlpmnt. Pic: same hybrid & planting date. R3 ear had P in starter.
#OntAg
#FertTrial
http://t.co/WOjVm97Nue
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