What do Canadian speed skater Kim Boutin and your soil have in common? They both prosper and succeed when you treat them like an Olympic athlete. Boutin’s Olympic training earned her three medals at the recently-concluded Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea. What would happen if farmers treated their soil like an Olympic athlete? Soil… Read more »
Category: Climate Change
GreenON Agriculture program helps farmers reduce carbon footprint
Ontario farmers have a new cost-share program to help them reduce their carbon footprint and become more energy efficient. The GreenON Agriculture program, recently announced by the Ontario Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change, is specifically aimed at producers of agricultural commodities in permanent, climate-controlled buildings. The Ontario Soil and Crop Improvement Association will administer the… Read more »
Mapping profitability — a better prescription for your bottom line and the environment
Precision agriculture provides clear evidence of the impact of yield variability. But often farmers find themselves mired in a swamp of data as they work to create management zones and prescriptions to maximize yield across a field. University of Guelph’s Clarence Swanton certainly sees the opportunity for farmers to intensify management and increase yield but… Read more »
Corn School: Understanding 30 years of rising yields
Ontario will set a new corn yield record in 2017 with the crop expected to hit an average of 180 bu/ac or better. Where is all that yield coming from? Corn physiologist Dr. Thijs Tollenaar has poured over the data and identified three key factors driving corn yield improvement. A long-time University of Guelph professor… Read more »
How will climate change impact grain yields?
Climate change will have little impact on the overall production of corn, soy and wheat as we push toward 2050, says Grainbot market analyst Kurt Ahrens. Ahrens shared his crop production vision, including potential yield growth for corn, soybean and wheat crops, with about 500 delegates attending last week’s Grain World conference in Winnipeg, Manitoba…. Read more »
Volatile times — how innovation and climate change impact risk management programs
Crop yields continue to increase across North America, but so do yield and market volatility. According to Dr. Alan Ker, director of the University of Guelph’s Institute for the Advanced Study of Food and Agricultural Policy, increased volatility is something farmers will have to get used to as the impact of innovation and climate change… Read more »
Creating a ‘Silicon Valley’ for Food in Ontario
Around the globe, agriculture and food systems produce about 2,850 calories per person per day. That’s enough to feed the world explains University of Guelph professor Evan Fraser, but unfortunately we still have 800 million people who are undernourished. Even more perplexing is the fact that we have 2 billion people who struggle with being… Read more »
Ontario Premier Announces Measures to Reduce Hydro Bills
In what may be called trying to clean up the mess she made, Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne announced yesterday the “Fair Hydro Plan” which is designed to decrease the average residential hydro bill by 25% and cap bill increases for the next four years. As part of the announcement, Wynne says “Starting this summer, Ontario’s Fair… Read more »
Credits and Costs: Understanding the Carbon Balance of Annual Cropping
If farmers are going to pay a tax on carbon emissions, they should also receive credit for the carbon their farms remove from the atmosphere. Many in the farm community are trying to make that case, as the federal and provincial governments roll out pricing systems that appear to lean on the cost side of the… Read more »
More Questions Than Answers — John Phipps on the Future of the Ethanol Mandate and NAFTA
With a Trump presidency come many questions and really few answers on what is next. During the campaign many promises were made with little clear understanding of which ones will be followed through on. I chatted with Farm Journal’s John Phipps the morning after the surprise election result. First off, Trump promised a collapse of… Read more »
The Rise of the Rural Vote and the Potential Trade Aftermath that Follows — Chris Clayton
The pollsters got it wrong, actually they got it very wrong. With amazing support from rural America, Donald Trump will be the next president of the United States. In the wee hours of the morning, Chris Clayton, Ag Policy Editor, DTN joined me to discuss why rural America shocked the world and whether Trump will… Read more »
Dear Environment Canada: Please Use Canadian Stats
You’ve likely seen Environment Canada’s Tweet celebrating #WorldFoodDay and thanking farmers…well, some farmers. If not, here it is: Today is #WorldFoodDay. Thanks Farmers! Let’s help keep the planet healthy and productive. Tips here: https://t.co/D4WBHIjjU8 — Environment Canada (@environmentca) October 16, 2016 Seems nice enough, yeah? Well, then you follow the link. It doesn’t lead to… Read more »
Ontario Ag Minister’s Marching Orders are Heavy on the Environment
Ontario’s focus on the environmental side of farming has just been underlined and intensified, even more. With the midpoint mandate of her provincial government having been reached, Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne put pen to paper last week to help guide both new and established ministers on the next part of their journey. Her mission was… Read more »
The Next Revolution In The Farm And Food Sector Has Arrived
Pundits have said the leaders of the next agricultural revolution – the digital revolution — will be big data-powered researchers, with a universe of information in hand to help make farming more efficient than ever. But no one said those researchers would be found in the labs, fields, and classrooms of some of Canada’s main… Read more »
How Will the Cap and Trade Program Impact Rural Ontario?
Ontario’s cap and trade program is expected to raise about $1.9 billion annually. The Liberal government says it will spend the proceeds on initiatives to cut greenhouse gas emissions – everything from investments in public transit and clean technology to making homes and businesses more energy efficient. Program details are still scant, but many rural… Read more »