The Rural Voice, 2019-08, Page 67An “alligator” larvae of the
ladybird beetle found on a
head of rye is passed around
for all the crop farmers taking part in
this Soil Showdown in Bruce County
to view.
“It’s normal for me to walk out of
a wheat field and be covered in
brown spots from the cereal leaf
beetle but this year I would walk out
with little alligators on my pants,”
says Peter Johnson, better known as
Wheat Pete, the moderator and
general source of information and
amusement on this crop tour.
Blessed with a quick wit and an
extraordinary knowledge of
agronomy, Peter and a few other
experts led a bus full of crop farmers
on a day-long excursion visiting
different crop fields to learn the
science of soil management and crop
production. Organized by the Bruce
County Soil and Crop Improvement
Association, the annual event
addressed everything from the wet
spring to cover crops to club roots
and fungal flies.
The event is an excellent way to
learn practical techniques and see
how other farmers do things.
The first field was owned by the
Calhoun family and sprayed by
Harry Biemans who was on the tour.
Originally planted as a cover crop of
rye, the wet spring delayed planting
of corn into the rye so the owner
decided to let the crop mature.
However, the field was also full of
wheat, leading Peter to predict the
seed was contaminated.
“This field was drilled 80 pounds
to the acre. That’s a pretty high rate
for a cover crop. We usually keep the
seed rate down to 30 pounds,” said
Peter. “The fact that the wheat is in
the rows instead of scattered tells me
the rye seed was likely
contaminated.”
Will harvest be a problem? It
could be a challenge because rye
ripens before wheat. However, rye is
cross-pollinated versus self-
pollinated like wheat. Once the rye
heads come out, it takes a week
before they release a plume of pollen.
This times the pollination process
closer to wheat.
However, rye is also tougher to
combine so it needs to sit longer.
“I suspect the wheat will be ready
before the rye,” predicted Peter.
It will be up to the farmer what he
wants to do. Wheat and rye seeds are
similar in size which makes sorting
them very difficult. With high straw
64 The Rural Voice
Soil Showdown: Discovering “alligators and swede midges
Peter Johnson (top) led a group of Bruce County farmers from field to field,
investigating crop pests and diseases during the Bruce County Soil and
Crop Improvement Association’s Mystery Car Tour, otherwise known as
the Soil Showdown. Meghan Moran, OMAFRA’s Canola and Edible Bean
Specialist (above) discussed the possibility of swede midge and clubroot
(not found) in a canola field owned by Mike Christie (pictured on next
page).
Crops
•By Lisa B. Pot •