Seven years ago, Chris Moore and Lyndsey Smith decided they needed more acres if they were going run a viable sheep farm. But rather than buy land, the partners opted to try their hand at solar grazing their Shady Creek Lamb flock at a solar power installation near their Kinburn, Ont., home farm. What started as… Read More
Author: Bernard Tobin
Bernard Tobin is RealAgriculture's Ontario Field Editor. A Ryerson University journalism grad, @AgBern was raised on a dairy farm near St. John's, Newfoundland. For more than two decades, he has specialized in agricultural communications, working for numerous farm media outlets, communications agencies and ag consulting companies. He is based in Georgetown, Ontario.
When the year starts early and starts dry, producers and researchers alike get pretty excited about the year ahead for edible beans. That was the story for the Ontario crop until July, when torrential and frequent rainfall began over much of the growing region and continued through August. The result, explains University of Guelph associate… Read More
When it comes to fertilizer a lot of things are changing — not just prices. At Canada’s Outdoor Farm Show (COFS), held at Woodstock, Ont., last week, fertilizer broadcast spreaders took to the field to showcase how the technology is evolving, where broadcasting fits on the farm and what farmers need to consider when investing… Read More
A wet growing season plus high humidity and moisture at tasseling has many Ontario corn producers asking about the potential for ear mould and gibberella when combines start to roll at harvest. On this episode of the RealAgriculture Corn School, host Bernard Tobin is joined by PRIDE Seeds product manager Matt Chapple for a look… Read More
Clean power doesn’t mean less power, according to New Holland. With the launch of its T4 Electric Power tractor, New Holland says the industry’s first all-electric utility tractor with autonomous features can “completely match the outputs of power from its diesel equivalent tractor.” The T4 Electric Power tractor was unveiled last month at the Farm… Read More
Planting winter wheat on time is the most cost effective way to increase winter wheat yields in Ontario. That’s the key message Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs cereals specialist Joanna Follings has for growers as winter wheat planting gets underway in the province. “Timely planting is so so critical to optimizing your… Read More
How does farm drainage work and why is it important for agriculture? Those are the first two questions we’ll tackle on Talking Tile, a new RealAgriculture video series designed to share insights on Ontario farm drainage. In the months ahead, we’ll look at everything from the impact on yield to how farmers can maintain their… Read More
It hurts RealAgriculture agronomist Peter Johnson to talk about broadcasting winter wheat seed into standing soybeans, but growers have been peppering him with questions about the practice. Johnson would rather see growers plant wheat with a drill but with many Ontario soybean fields “green as grass” as the calendar turns to September, in some areas… Read More
Palmer amaranth, the aggressive and highly competitive pigweed species that U.S. farmers have been tussling with for almost 30 years, has been found in Ontario. Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs weed specialist Mike Cowbrough says DNA testing has confirmed that a plant found in a Wellington County field is palmer amaranth. He… Read More
There’s plenty of crop management data available to growers in our mobile, connected world and it moves at ever-increasing velocity. On this episode of the RealAgriculture Corn School, AGRIS agronomist Dale Cowan looks at simple ways growers can tap into this data to make in-season management decisions and also run field trials to evaluate how… Read More
Weed control in organic soybeans can be challenging but new technology is helping Brandon Jantzi and his family keep it clean at Janlan Farms near Baden, Ont. On this episode of The Sharp Edge, Jantzi and Maizex Seeds agronomist Henry Prinzen dig into the farm’s weed control strategy, which is designed to deliver high-yielding organic… Read More
When heavy summer rains arrive, Albert Tenuta’s phone starts to ring. The Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs plant pathologist started hearing from growers across the province in late June as soil-borne disease moved into many soybean fields after a series of pounding rain events. When soybeans get wet feet in early summer,… Read More
Growers looking for disease and weed control in winter wheat will often apply a herbicide-fungicide tank mix at the four-leaf stage (T1). This strategy helps defend the crop against early-season diseases such as powdery mildew and also tackles problem weeds, but there may be other benefits such as protecting the crop from a frosty springtime… Read More
Soybeans don’t like wet feet, and when rain is plentiful in June and July, saturated soils typically lead to an increase in fungal seedling diseases. Four of the most common culprits are pythium and phytophthora root rots as well as rhizoctonia and fusarium. On this episode of the RealAgriculture Soybean School, Ontario Ministry of Agriculture,… Read More
It only takes 15 seconds for a summer hailstorm to terrorize a soybean field and turn a great-looking crop into a nightmare. But soybeans are tough, as we discover on this episode of the RealAgriculture Soybean School where we catch up with AGRIS Co-operative agronomist Dale Cowan near Mount Brydges, Ont., after a mid-July hailstorm…. Read More