Jack Payne

Our one tree orchard is producing a good crop of September Rubies. The first picking of home grown eating apples and canned pie filling for this winter.

I was invited to speak about managing herbicide resistant wild oats and kochia at Strathcona County today. Hats off to the Ag Service Board for educating growers about the spread of kochia and how to manage this weed. It was a great meeting.

I attended the Sask. Diagnostic Field School in Swift Current. No other event compares to this one. Hands on learning, no passive presentations. Fortunate to hear Jeff Schoenau discuss soils as this was his last CDS as he is retiring.

My fears have been confirmed. I was worried that the abundant rains in June would create a dense crop canopy that might run out of moisture at pod & head fill stages. Field checks in Vulcan County show there is little to no soil moisture left. We need rain.

The fishing camp had no Wi-Fi and our cell provider doesn’t reach all areas of Logan Lake BC. But I found another way to keep my screen time up.

Kochia plant density is staggering. Yesterday we counted 0 - 7 kochia plants per square inch within the one foot quadrat. If you used an average of 3 plants per in2. 144 x 3 = 423 plants per ft2. Assuming 90% control there would be 34 plants/ft2 remaining.

Throwback Thursday. A co-worker was cleaning out their office yesterday and gave me a Bluebook that is having a 30th birthday. He said he’d never heard of some of the products listed in the 1996 version. Anyone else remember these oldies?

People sometimes give me a hard time when I still have sandbags and winter tires on the truck until the last week of April. There’s a reason. It’s called been there & done it.

It’s always a treat to come back to @OldsCollege and give a guest lecture to the students in Agricultural related programs. The topic was field scouting and the importance of proactively identifying pests and crop disorders.

South Country Co-op @SouthCountryCo filled the ballroom today at their Grower Event. Tom Wolf presented a wealth of info on sprayer applications followed by Brent Nilsson of Corteva & a fertilizer market update by Matt Krutzfeld of FCL.

For nearly two weeks this was base camp. I’m sorry but I just can’t resist the temptation to put a line in the water when you’re this close to a big pond. We found time to explore some Mexican scenery and some historic areas further inland.

The perks of having an alternate office in the truck. The view from the office window at lunch time. Even better is listening to waves lap against the rocks while you have a sandwich. And then there are old buildings you see when driving off the beaten path.

I can remember Joe Carter’s homer in the ‘93 World Series. Tonight’s homer by George Springer is right up there with it. Way to go Jays we’ve waited a long time for this.

With snow and rain coming this weekend we pulled up the 2025 garden. One of the longest runs of tomatoes we’ve had. The celery experiment was a success so that will be in the plan next summer.

The first half of our trip is behind us. There’s nothing like ball park hotdogs and popcorn. It’s an acquired taste I developed watching the Eston Ramblers play the Kindersley Klippers. Go Jays!!

It was a somber mood as we drove from Brooks to Jenner. We had the opportunity to see the devastated crops in this area. I have never seen hail damage of this scale. It’s bad when you drive by a field and can’t tell if the crop was wheat, canola, barley?

This is not good. I have relied upon Canola Council Agronomists for second opinions and recommendations because they see way more canola than I do. Just like a family doctor who relies upon medical specialists in special situations. It’s professionalism.

The British Militaria Forum, Alberta Shoot was a resounding success. This gathering is akin to summer camp for historical shooters and living historians. Shooters fire vintage cartridge & muzzleloading rifles at various ranges out to 300 yds.

Dad was insistent that after seeding & spraying, we needed a physical and mental break. Hence the tradition of a fishing trip in mid June. This year Kamloops trout were bigger than average. Hot Shots, Pumpkin Head flies and Bingo Bugs produced.