Soybean harvest is well underway, and farmers are pushing to get soybeans out of fields in order to get their next crops in the ground. That push could depend a lot on variety maturity dates and planting dates and in this Soybean School episode, Bernard Tobin joins Horst Bohner, OMAFRA soybean specialist, to discuss how… Read More
Tar spot is taking a bite out of yields in some Ontario corn fields but there is hope that growers will have effective tools to manage the leaf disease. Characterized by tar-like speckling on the upper surface of corn leaves, the fungal pathogen has been delivering yield hits ranging from 20 to 60 bushels per… Read More
Farmers and ranchers in the drought-affected areas of Ontario will have an opportunity to access up to $15,000 per farm for well drilling and pond construction projects. Applications for the Northwestern Ontario Drought Assistance Initiative will open later in September through Agricorp. The program will be retroactive to June 14, 2021. Ontario will provide up… Read More
Ontario will offer a maximum benefit of $220 per head of cattle for drought-stricken regions of the province through the newly-named Canada-Ontario Transported Feed AgriRecovery Initiative. The initiative is now accepting applications until November 1, 2021 and will provide emergency support to “producers who are incurring extraordinary costs to feed livestock due to drought conditions in… Read More
As soybean harvest gears up across eastern Canada, many growers are reporting uneven maturity in fields. On this episode of RealAgriculture’s Soybean School, Bernard Tobin catches up with Horst Bohner, OMAFRA soybean specialist, to find out why fields are not ripening or senescing evenly. The first potential explanation is uneven spring emergence, says Bohner. This… Read More
How does strip tillage impact a corn plant’s ability to access and take up nutrients? On this episode of RealAgriculture’s Corn School, Ben Rosser, corn lead at Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, looks at fertility research plots that compare how corn performs in both conventional tillage and spring strip tillage systems. In… Read More
The title of livestock sustainability specialist could infer that there’s a finite amount of time that the role is relevant. After all, shouldn’t we, at some point, reach being sustainable, and move on? The trouble is, there isn’t a universally agreed upon measurement of sustainability. As Christoph Wand, livestock sustainability specialist for Ontario Ministry of… Read More
Bale moisture probes are great once a bale is made, but trying to determine moisture of a hay swath is another challenge entirely. Most methods — including drying down a sample and doing some quick math — still take more time than is ideal, especially if hay is drying quickly and is intended as ensiled… Read More
Lisa Thompson, MPP representing the Ontario riding of Huron-Bruce, recently stepped up to lead the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. In Premier Doug Ford’s cabinet, Thompson has held two other cabinet posts, including Minister of Education. She says that even though she is only now moving into the agriculture post, agriculture and… Read More
Wet, humid weather across Ontario this summer has required many soybean growers to apply two fungicide applications to help control white mould. On this episode of RealAgriculture’s Soybean School, Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs plant pathologist Albert Tenuta discusses best practices to help manage the yield-robbing disease, including canopy construction. Tenuta points… Read More
The rain has come, and the corn crop is advancing fast. The crop is between tassel and silking stages, and the concern now is how to manage the crop for silage production. Will disease have an impact on the feed quality? Here to answer that is Albert Tenuta, OMAFRA plant pathologist, who joins Bernard Tobin… Read More
While it’s important to stay current on new and emerging diseases of the corn crop, it’s still important to keep tabs on the old standbys, such as northern corn leaf blight. “We know the weather’s been favourable for diseases, and we get lots of calls on that,” says Alberta Tenuta, plant pathologist at OMAFRA. There’s… Read More
The annual Ontario field crop diagnostic days held at Ridgetown, Elora, and Winchester will again go virtual in 2021. The organizing committees of these three highly successful in-field education and learning events are again partnering with crop researchers and extension, along with support from RealAgriculture and a host of sponsors to bring you a series… Read More
Originally announced in the provincial budget earlier this year, the Ontario government has officially launched the new Winery Agri-Tourism COVID-19 Relief Initiative. The fund of $10 million will be distributed to Ontario wineries and cideries with on-site stores whose business were impacted by COVID-19 safety measures to stop the spread of the virus. Businesses that saw a… Read More
Harvest weather and the forecast have not been kind to Ontario’s wheat growers, and calls are coming in from several counties looking for advice on what to do with a stranded wheat crop. Joanna Follings, cereal specialist with the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, says that a few oddities are showing up… Read More