The Breton Classical Plots were established in 1930, just east of the town of Breton and 100 km southwest of Edmonton.

Some old ways aren’t better, but…

Long-term rotation study underlines that summerfallow harms soil health, but the old mixed farming model looks pretty good

Reading Time: 4 minutes You might think that a long-term crop test might mean five years. A decade would be remarkable. But what could plots tell you about soil health if they’ve been going on for 87 years? They would tell you that Prairie farmers were right to stop keeping fields in fallow as part of a rotation and […] Read more




Rene Van Acker, dean of the Ontario Agricultural College (OAC).

Jobs survey finds growing demand for agriculture graduates

Ontario Agriculture College boosts spots in its agriculture programs by 30 per cent

Reading Time: 3 minutes The University of Guelph continues to increase enrolment in its agriculture programs, but graduates will continue to find four jobs available for each of them. The Ontario Agriculture College (OAC), at the university has boosted spots in its agriculture programs by 30 per cent since 2012 and by 50 per cent in its Bachelor of […] Read more


Sonke Claussen is the acting president of the new Ontario Professional Agri-Contractors Association.

New organization represents growing agri-contracting sector

Ontario Professional Agri-Contractors Association looks forward to a "united voice"

Reading Time: 2 minutes A new organization has been formed to represent agriculture contractors in Ontario. The Ontario Professional Agri-Contractors Association (OPACA) held its first meeting Sept. 13 in Woodstock, with about 25 people attending. “We were looking forward to having a united voice,” says OPACA’s Acting President, Sonke Claussen, who runs a diverse agriculture contracting business with his […] Read more

VIDEO: A new frontier awaits medical marijuana growers

VIDEO: A new frontier awaits medical marijuana growers

Farmers at Canada’s Outdoor Farm Show told to look at growing medical marijuana

Reading Time: < 1 minute One of the new exhibits at this year’s Canada’s Outdoor Farm Show was on medical marijuana. John Greig, Glacier FarmMedia field editor, spoke with several industry representatives about the opportunities for Canada’s farmers interested in growing medical marijuana, and some of the challenges and processes they may face when getting started.


Aerial photo of the Shuler dairy farm in Michigan.

These American farms

It turns out we’ve got as many misconceptions about U.S. dairy farms as they’ve got about ours

Reading Time: 8 minutes Bill Shuler’s last year has been a revelation for the Michigan dairy farmer, turning everything he always thought he knew about the family’s dairy farm completely upside down. “In the last year, my life has been amazing, incredible,” Shuler says. “And that’s an understatement.” Shuler and his family operate a small dairy farm near the […] Read more

VIDEO: Canada’s Outdoor Farm Show: Day 1

VIDEO: Canada’s Outdoor Farm Show: Day 1

Reading Time: < 1 minute John Greig, field editor for Glacier FarmMedia, offers this quick wrap-up of day one at Canada’s Outdoor Farm Show in Woodstock, Ont. Some of the topics discussed were crop maturity, data management, herbicide resistant corn and happy dairy companies.


Matthias Stettler.

VIDEO: Taking action on soil compaction

Reading Time: < 1 minute Swiss researcher Matthias Stettler set up his soil compaction sensors for a unique live show for farmers at the recent Compaction Action field day in Ontario. In this video Stettler talks about the impact of compaction and some of the options producers have to help counteract it.

Bob Sandford of the United Nations University says agriculture productivity needs to be increased, but with limited impact on earth systems. (John Greig photo)

Canada’s soils still degrading, albeit more slowly

Reading Time: 4 minutes The rate of degradation of soils in Canada has slowed, but it still is happening at a significant rate and there is still a lot to learn. There are no soil-perfect systems yet for crop production, attendees at the Summit on Canadian Soil Health held recently in Guelph heard repeatedly. No-till farming has declined in […] Read more