SGS Crop Science Canada News: October 2023
• New Seed Testing Packages and Portal Enhancement for your Seed Business
• Mycotoxin Testing for Livestock Health
• Corn Silage Scoring for Dairy Lactation Performance
• AgLime Indexing for Soil Amending
MYCOTOXIN TESTING FOR LIVESTOCK HEALTH
Weather conditions were favorable for the development of mold in corn this year, especially in Ontario. Excessive moisture during silking and cool wet conditions while maturing can lead to diplodia and gibberella, as examples. These molds can then lead to mycotoxins, such as DON and zearalenone, which can be harmful to livestock. When submitting a sample, be sure to sub-sample from many spots and mix thoroughly together to create a representative sample. SGS mycotoxin testing is thorough: Vomitoxin (DON), Zearalenone, T-2, and Aflatoxin.
NEW SEED TESTING PACKAGES AND PORTAL ENHANCEMENTS FOR YOUR SEED BUSINESS
Our team of accredited seed analysts and pathology experts have new services and packages to accurately ensure the quality and health of your seed. Our new SEEDING CLASSIC Package for cereal seed has the data points to calculate precision planting and guide decisions to manage seed health. This package includes germination, 1,000 kernel weight, cool stress (vigor) and Fusarium graminearum. Add our new service, Bacterial Leaf Streak, to the test to learn in-depth presence of this virus. Within 2 weeks, you will have the results ready to manage your seeding, the most critical component of crop profitability.
Enhancements to our SGS CONNECT web portal were focused on ease and speed! Choosing packages is simplified, results are refreshed more frequently, historic sample submissions interaction is possible, and lastly we are bringing news to you within your portal!
CORN SILAGE SCORING FOR DAIRY LACTATION PERFORMANCE
Processing of corn silage has become a more common practice as it can improve fermentation by increasing the starches and sugars available to the silage microorganisms. This in turn reduces dry matter losses in the silo and helps to break up the cobs and improve fibre consumption. Processing corn silage too fine will affect rumen health and lactating performance. Kernel processing has improved but is important to monitor as is directly related to how well starch will digest in lactating dairy cows.
SGS offers the CORN SILAGE PROCESSING SCORE test, which can be added to any of our packages to evaluate kernel processing and determine the state of processing in stored corn silage. This test involves shaking silage over a series of sieves and measuring the percent of starch passing through.
AGLIME INDEX FOR SOIL AMENDING
Autumn is ideal to broadcast lime to adjust soil pH. However, not all agricultural lime is the same, with effectiveness impacted by particle size and carbonate content. SGS tests agricultural lime to determine the AGLIME INDEX, a data point used to adjust soil pH based on soil test pH and buffer pH. If soil magnesium is <100 ppm, use dolomitic lime, but if magnesium is >100ppm, either dolomitic or calcitic lime can be applied.
