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
Category: Water
Excess water after heavy rains in parts of Western Canada is not only impairing plant growth through oxygen deficiency, but it’s also causing significant nitrogen losses. As John Heard, soil fertility specialist with Manitoba Agriculture, explains in this video, N losses depend on soil type, with rain causing leaching in sandier soils and more denitrification… Read More
The federal government is investing $1.1 million in developing a hydrological model for the Assiniboine River Basin, which spans more than 160,000 square kilometres of western Manitoba, eastern Saskatchewan and northwestern North Dakota. The project, led by the Manitoba Forage and Grassland Association (MFGA), involves IBM, Aquanty Inc. (a University of Waterloo spinoff company that specializes… Read More
In this episode of In The Dirt, Salford’s Jim Boak introduces us to AGRIS Co-operative agronomist Dale Cowan and the role agronomists play in helping farmers implement and achieve 4R nutrient stewardship. Boak recommends farmers pay particular attention to how Cowan uses an approach called MOM to meet 4R objectives. This includes using the right… Read More
For farmers in the Lake Erie and Lake St. Clair watersheds, and Lake Huron’s southeast shores watershed, help to implement Better Management Practices (BMP) is here. It’s called GLASI, or the Great Lakes Agricultural Stewardship Initiative. Related: Agricultural Run-Off A Main Focus of Great Lakes’ Eutrophication Concerns “The official launch was last February at our annual meeting,” says… Read More
(We’re a day early with this week’s Word, because, hey, it’s Canada Day and our audio editor’s birthday. Happy Birthday, Rhett!) If you’re sick and tired of rain and wet conditions, you’re not alone — Ontario has recorded its wettest June in over one hundred years. Which means, with apologies to Western Canada facing a… Read More
There’s no two ways about it — huge swaths of Ontario’s growing region is now excessively wet. And not, “Hey, that was a heavy rainstorm!” wet, but soaked-right-through-for-the-third-time wet. With all this water, farmers are understandably nervous about what impact wet soil and standing water may have on the yield of the corn and soybean… Read More
While flooding in recent years has underlined the need for a collaborative approach to water management in Western Canada, some farmers and others involved in managing water on farmland are organizing themselves with the aim of creating a common voice focused on sustainable water management that supports agriculture. In Saskatchewan, the Saskatchewan Farm Stewardship Association was… Read More
While tile drainage has been a part of farming in the U.S. Midwest and Ontario for decades, a growing number of producers in Western Canada are finding they can justify the cost of installing tile in their land. Take Craig Shaw for example. Speaking at FarmTech in Edmonton, the Lacombe, Alberta grain farmer gave three reasons… Read More
The governments of Canada and Ontario are investing $4 million annually over the next four years ($16 million total) to establish the Great Lakes Agricultural Stewardship Initiative. Targeted to the Lake Erie basin and the southeast shores of Lake Huron, the initiative is designed to “help farmers improve soil health and promote environmental stewardship.” The… Read More
Ontario has announced the Greenhouse Nutrient Feedwater Regulation. This new regulation, the government says, will streamline environmental compliance and will make it easier for greenhouse growers to comply with regulation regarding the disposal of greenhouse nutrient feedwater. Many greenhouse operators use nutrient solutions to grow their produce. After reusing multiple times, operators sometimes must dispose… Read More
Farmers whose land was flooded after the Manitoba government decided to use the “fail-safe” — an intentional cut — in the Portage Diversion this summer will be eligible for compensation, the province announced on Wednesday. Agriculture Minister Ron Kostyshyn and Infrastructure and Transportation Minister Steve Ashton said $1.15 million has been committed to paying crop and… Read More
The idea that municipal, provincial and national boundaries should be ignored when managing water is gaining momentum in Saskatchewan, Manitoba and northern North Dakota. Around 150 delegates representing farm groups, landowners, conservation organizations, scientists and governments met in Regina last week to discuss plans for the Assiniboine River Basin Initiative. “This type of approach, a basin-wide approach… Read More
As farmers shut the door on the 2014 production season (save for those in Ontario still slogging through corn harvest), so too do we wind down the last of the Spray Tips series. In this post-harvest down-time, it’s important to take a much needed breather, then, before you know it’ll be time to start the… Read More
The federal and Manitoba governments are offering AgriRecovery funding to help flooded livestock producers cover feed and transportation costs. The Manitoba government estimates 75,000 acres of hayland belonging to approximately 330 farms around Lake Manitoba and Lake Winnipegosis were flooded in May and June. Earlier today, Federal Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz and Manitoba Agriculture, Food and… Read More