Reading Time: 5 minutes What if we could peer into the future and catch a glimpse of where our agriculture is heading? How would such a view shape the development of plant breeding and advances in technology, and maybe even the impact on farmers? A University of Guelph PhD student is working to develop a new yield model, first […] Read more
Corn yields still on the rise
Check out the numbers when you use interpolated data to even out our year-by-year weather swings
Getting started at variable rate
A new computer system may help farmers find their optimum path into precision farming
Reading Time: 7 minutes It seems nothing ever happens fast enough in our society, not with Internet connections or email replies, and not with the adoption of technology on the farm. At least, that’s the complaint from the manufacturers and service providers who say farmers just aren’t buying into precision farming fast enough. Of course, from many farmers’ points […] Read more
New in spring cereals
They may not be large-acre crops, but their growers are dedicated
Reading Time: 3 minutes Production of spring wheat, oats and barley follows some rather rigid realities from one year to the next. It’s true that spring cereals are a tougher sell across most of Eastern Canada; there are more acres of soybeans or corn than there are of spring cereals combined. Yet it’s also a fact that those who […] Read more
Ready for spring
Farm organizations are as important as ever for farmers who want to keep producing at their best, says OSCIA president Gord Green
Reading Time: 6 minutes For Gord Green, “ag in the classroom” is a 24-hour-a-day, seven-day-a-week, 365-day-a-year opportunity, whether the classroom that he happens to be in at the moment is in the field, in a lecture hall, at a community centre or on a bus tour. In any setting, Green wants to learn, and he has made it a […] Read more
Spreading the good news
The list of companies with soil amendment products continues to grow — as does recognition of their value
Reading Time: 9 minutes For 10 years, the bumper stickers said “Farmers Feed Cities.” Today, by contrast, cities may expand their role in feeding farms. For those who are backing the trend, the drive to make the use of soil amendments standard and commonplace is reaching a tipping point. The numbers more than suggest there’s tremendous opportunity to use […] Read more
Your winter agricultural conference scheduler
Get set to build your priority list of too-good-to-miss opportunities at 2017’s meetings and winter conferences
Reading Time: 5 minutes Every year, as farmers begin turning their attention to the planting season, you can feel their sense of optimism start to grow. Yet before the first fertilizer spreader spreads its first tonne, and before the first shank sinks into the soil, or before the first planter drops the first seed in a furrow, there’s the […] Read more
A place for community data
“Mining data isn’t a substitute for doing actual research,” warns seed company scientist
Reading Time: 7 minutes In the past five years, precision agriculture systems have begun providing an exciting opportunity to collect and pool data on factors ranging from yields to soil quality and beyond. Each data set offers greater insight into the characteristics of a field and its variability, or to its potential response to different treatments and management practices. […] Read more
A market for non-GMO corn
Consumer demand is having a larger impact on what and how farmers may grow
Reading Time: 5 minutes In times with volatile commodity prices, farmers are apt to put more effort into researching opportunities such as identity-preserved markets, particularly for soybeans. After all, as we often hear, a $1 premium looks better if soybeans drop towards $10 per bushel than when they’re above $13. But what if there could be IP premiums for […] Read more
New in IP and edible bean varieties
When you opt to grow food-grade or edible beans, the challenges are substantial – but so are the potential benefits
Reading Time: 3 minutes In the past few years, production of identity-preserved (IP) food-grade soybeans and edible beans has seen ebbs and flows based on their respective markets, with growers signing up and dropping out in ways that the trade says are much harder to predict. The comparative ease and reliability of growing transgenic corn and soybeans is hard […] Read more
Building on 255 years
On this Nova Scotia farm, the ninth generation takes a decidedly modern approach to soybeans
Reading Time: 5 minutes Two and half centuries is a long time for a family to be farming. But brothers Craig and Brian Newcombe are leveraging the latest cropping techniques and business smarts to build the farm for the 10th generation of Newcombes. Part of the ninth generation of Cornwallis Farms near Port Williams, N.S., the Newcombes manage a […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
