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
Category: Water
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... 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... 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... Read More
Agricultural programming at Lethbridge College will benefit from a record-setting $3.1 million gift from a family whose Alberta roots go back to its earliest days as a province, the college announced today. The planned-giving philanthropic gift from Lloyd and Dorothy Mueller will transform the college’s agricultural programming and shape the future of the agricultural industry... Read More
Nature is cruel. Or, put another way, nature is perhaps the most fair — she, if we can call it a she, cares very little as to the outcome of any change in the environment. There is a consequence to every action, but nature doesn't judge what is good and what is bad. It just... Read More
Do you know the most likely way your farmland loses nitrogen? (Now would be a great time to review all the ways N evades being used by the plant. Check out the image in this post). Why does this matter? For one, putting down fertilizer that's simply lost to the water or air is just... Read More
Water walks, not runs, off Seth Watkins' farm. That's the first of three principles Watkins uses to guide the agronomic decisions he makes on Pinhook Farms, based in Iowa. Watkins, who raises corn, soybeans and cattle across several counties in Iowa, spoke recently at the World Congress on Conservation Agriculture to share his experience with... Read More