It’s time for Day 3 of Ontario Diagnostic Days! The annual Ontario crop diagnostic days were back in the field on July 20 and 21, 2022, but only at Ridgetown campus University of Guelph. Not everyone could attend these two field days, so the organizing committees of these highly successful in-field education and learning events are… Read More
Category: Drainage
Up to one million in funding is now available for maintenance on natural and constructed agricultural drainage projects. Previously, the Water Security Agency (WSA) only provided funding for natural watercourses. “Obstructions in natural and constructed watercourses can cause flooding and erosion problems and be a significant cost burden to producers and local governments,” says Jeremy… Read More
How can you build soil organic matter? How long does it take and what’s the impact on yield? University of Guelph researcher Laura Van Eerd and Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA) soil management specialist Anne Verhallen tackle these questions in this 2021 Ontario Diagnostic Days video report. The researchers visit Van Eerd’s… Read More
The practice of variable rate seeding for corn continues to increase as growers attempt to match seeding rates and hybrid characteristics to the varying yield potential across their fields. With the growth of precision agriculture, every year more growers adopt variable rate seeding strategies but are they effectively evaluating and fine-tuning this strategy on their… Read More
How do you measure soil heath? On this episode of RealAgriculture’s Soil School, OMAFRA soil scientist and land use specialist Dan Saurette joins Bernard Tobin to look at some of the assessment tools available to farmers and the type of insights they provide. One of the most well known soil health tests is Cornell’s Comprehensive… Read More
It was a dry start to the year for soybeans in Ontario as a lot of seed went into dry conditions, but the crop seems to have come along. A dry spring in Ontario can make for easier planting though, and coupled with timely rains the season’s start hasn’t been too bad. In this Soybean… Read More
Every conversation on soil health these days eventually comes around to the topic of organic matter. Does it really matter? What percentage should farmers have in their soil? How do you conserve organic matter? How do you build it? On this episode of Soil School, Bernard Tobin and University of Minnesota soil extension specialist Jodi… Read More
This week’s Wheat Pete’s Word features a lot of corn talk. But wait a minute Pete, isn’t your favourite crop wheat? Don’t worry, host Peter Johnson has quite a few corn questions, some chat about fall vs spring fertilizer applications, and eventually talks wheat. Have a question you’d like Johnson to address or some yield… 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
Soil moisture extremes over the last few years have caused soil salinity patches to expand in many fields. “Salinity is a water problem, not a salt problem,” stresses Marla Riekman, soil management specialist with Manitoba Agriculture and Rural Development, in the video below. While kochia, foxtail barley, and other saline-tolerant weeds are often the symptoms,… Read More
A Manitoba tile drainage pipe-manufacturing facility is back in the hands of its original owners. Winkler, Man.-based Precision Land Solutions (PLS) announced today that it has re-acquired the high density polyethylene pipe-making plant at Winkler from Prinsco, which has operated pipe-manufacturing facilities across the U.S. since the 1970s. PLS originally established the plant in 2012,… Read More
For years, Tim Williams has dutifully planted crops to the edge of the trees and bush that line the fields he farms near Petrolia, Ont. Every year, he looks at his yield maps to see the same red line indicating no crop yield in these areas that hug the bush and woodlots. But today there… Read More
It’s been a week of wild weather: extreme cold in the west, and warm and very wet weather in the east. Understandably, overland flooding in Ontario has many farmers asking about the impact on the wheat crop. Peter Johnson has the answer you need in this week’s Wheat Pete’s Word. Johnson shares some of the… Read More
Contour drainage can sure draw a crowd. More than 400 people travelled to a drainage innovation field day last weekend at the Huronview Demonstration Farm at Clinton, Ont. The stars of the show were new contour and controlled tile drainage systems with surface drainage terraces. These systems will provide research insights on how these systems… Read More