Ontario corn growers appear to be sitting on strong yield potential as the the crop shakes off the effects of cool late May weather. Early planting and some timely, albeit limited, rains across the province have propelled the crop forward. With herbicide application expected to wrap up this week, growers will then turn their attention… Read More
With the winter wheat crop advancing quickly and soybean prices hovering around $18, there’s a lot of chatter in Ontario about double cropping soybeans in 2021. The topic commanded the attention of agronomists, researchers and agribusiness reps for almost 20 minutes at this week’s virtual Ridgetown Agribusiness meeting. With the stars aligning, Ontario Ministry of… Read More
When glyphosate-resistant waterhemp was first discovered in Lambton County in 2014, University of Guelph weed scientist Peter Sikkema never imagined the course the weed would take across Ontario, or the speed it would travel. In 2020, Sikkema and his team collected seeds in Leeds & Grenville County. “So that means glyphosate-resistant waterhemp has moved 700… Read More
Conference season is upon us, and joining the virtual ranks of meetings is Farm Management Canada’s (FMC) Ag Excellence conference. The virtual space can provide a lot more opportunity both to virtual speakers, and to people who otherwise can’t physically make it. Joining RealAgriculture’s Bernard Tobin to discuss the core concepts of the event is… Read More
Sixty-inch spacing for corn is sure not for everyone, but the math and soil conservation rewards can work for farmers who have limited rotations and can benefit from extended grazing for livestock on well-established cover crops. That’s Sunderland, Ontario, farmer Ed Hanson’s takeaway from the first year of growing corn in 60-inch rows on his… Read More
Keep your soil covered, do as little tillage as possible, maintain a living root system 365 days a year, and fit it all into an economic model that makes money: this is sustainable soil health. It’s a challenge, for sure, but it’s one Dresden, Ont., farmer Woody Van Arkel is happy to tackle. On this… Read More
Can we eat our way out of climate change? If we all became vegans could we eliminate livestock and put a big dent in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions? Those are just some of the questions Dr. Sara Place tackles daily in her job as Elanco Animal Health’s chief sustainability officer. Earlier this week, Place joined… Read More
Tar spot has moved through the U.S. Midwest, into Michigan and Wisconsin, and now officially calls Ontario home. Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs’ plant pathologist Albert Tenuta has seen the evidence in a field near Ridgetown, Ont., and there are also reported sightings of the corn leaf disease in Lambton and Essex… Read More
James Hammerton, who farms with his family at Sweaburg, Ont., is giving double crop soybeans a solid go, with the aid of a stripper header to harvest the preceding wheat. On this episode of the Sharp Edge, RealAgriculture’s Bernard Tobin is joined by Greg Stewart, agronomy lead with Maizex Seeds. Stewart interviews Hammerton about his… Read More
Sometimes, when you’re doing things a little differently, you just have to build what you need instead of buying it. Greg Vermeersch and his team at VanMeer Farms at Courtland, Ont., modified a planter frame to custom build a 32-row strip-till unit. It’s a fair bit of engineering, and on this episode of The Sharp… Read More
It’s time for T3 fungicides to control fusarium head blight in Ontario’s winter wheat, but growers may also have another troublemaker in the cereal crop that they’ll need to tackle this time of year. There have been growing reports of cereal aphids in the Ontario winter wheat crop this spring, and growers need will to… Read More
Should you go ground or air? That’s the question many growers struggle with as they try to determine the best method of applying disease-fighting fungicide to their growing corn crops. On this episode of RealAgriculture Corn School we tackle that question with two of North America’s leading plant pathologists — University of Kentucky’s Kiersten Wise… Read More
Are Ontario farmers doing a better job of getting phosphorus to stay put on their farms? Over the past decade, farmers, agronomists, researchers and governments have ramped up efforts to reduce the amount of phosphorus leaving farm fields and creating environmental challenges in areas such as the Lake Erie and Sainte-Claire watersheds. University of Waterloo… Read More
When winter kill makes it tough to grow alfalfa, what can dairy producers turn to for a protein source for milking cows? Believe it or not, forage soybeans may be a fit. That choice is gaining popularity with dairy farmers in eastern Ontario. “It’s hard to beat good alfalfa from a protein-grown-on-the-farm standpoint, but the… Read More
COVID-19 has certainly made Canadians more aware and concerned about their food supply. But will public acknowledgement of the importance of the agriculture and food sector lead to more financial and policy support? “This is the first time many Canadians have gone to the grocery store and seen bare shelves… and it’s got them thinking,”… Read More