Dr. Clarence Swanton was here at the National Farm Machinery Show today. He’s a researcher from the University of Guelph, Ontario who’s done research on the mechanism of yield loss. He was in the Syngenta booth to talk to growers about yield protection.

I think his research is fascinating because he’s looking into the environment in which a seedling grows, especially right after emerging, and how that affects the plant at harvest time. Apparently this is much more important than previously thought. According to his research it’s so important that if a seedling gets off to a poor start it’s very difficult to make up for the damage to harvest yield potential even if steps are taken later in the season.

I interviewed Dr. Swanton before he had to return home to find out just what the impact of early season weed control has on a farmer’s bottom line.

Listen to my interview with Dr. Swanton here (4 min): nfms-07-swanton.mp3

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