Reading Time: 4 minutes Fewer farmers are sampling their soils. In Ontario, the numbers say fewer than 30 per cent of farmers test every three years, even though this trend is leading to a data gap at a time when everything else seems to be changing too, such as the rapid climb in yield potentials, and elite corn hybrids […] Read more
The dirt on soil tests
With soil nutrient levels dropping, how do you need to change your soil-testing program and fertility rates?
Pearce: Ontario’s EFP program takes next step
Reading Time: 2 minutes Next year it will have been 25 years since Ontario introduced the Environmental Farm Plan (EFP) for farms, and leading up to that anniversary, it’s worth noting more than 38,000 farm families have participated. In spite of some growing pains in the late 1990s, the EFP has grown to provide the Ontario agri-food industry with […] Read more
Pearce: Outdoor Farm Show hosts Kubota’s ‘triple play’
Reading Time: 2 minutes Canada’s Outdoor Farm Show is no stranger to ribbon cuttings and product launches, but not many companies open a new show-site facility and pull the wrapping off two new products all at once. Kubota Canada this year didn’t even wait for the official start of the Outdoor Farm Show, but did it all a day […] Read more
Where water leaves the farm
Improve your productivity by starting where water leaves your farm, and then work backwards
Reading Time: 4 minutes In the chase for higher yields and improved production, farmers have tapped into everything from precision ag systems to a return to cover crops. Now comes a concept that might not only boost yields and enhance soil health, it might also alleviate some of the pressure on farmers that starts with surface run-off heading into […] Read more
The crop production wheel
Reading Time: 2 minutes Two years ago in the September edition of Country Guide, we ran a sidebar about a “complete systems” approach to production agriculture, including the depiction of a “production wheel.” The image comes from Don Lobb, an advocate for improving soil health and tile drainage. He created the guideline in a circular or wheel configuration, and […] Read more
Your next corn hybrids
Corn is still king in Eastern Canada, and these new hybrids should help guarantee a long reign
Reading Time: 9 minutes Despite the fact that soybeans actually get planted on more acres, corn is still the driver of row-crop production in the East. At 3.3 million acres in 2015, it’s true that Canada’s farmers planted less corn than the 3.6 million acres they put in the ground in 2013, but it would be a mistake to […] Read more
New hybrid rye for Ontario
Brasetto marks a big new opportunity for a sector that’s hungry for good news
Reading Time: 4 minutes Cereal production in Ontario has taken a definite hit in the past couple of years. Winter wheat acres have dropped off, mostly because of poor planting conditions in the fall of 2013 and 2014, and other cereals, including oats and barley, have lost momentum and are now grown mainly by farmers who like them either […] Read more
PHOTOS: New grain carts, wagons designed to suit your needs
Machinery Guide: Bach-Run, Brandt and MK Martin roll out new models
Reading Time: < 1 minute Harvest is where it all finally comes together. With this instalment of Machinery Guide, we bring you some of the latest upgrades and innovations in grain carts and wagons. Large or small, how you get your harvest from the combine to the semi is emerging as one of the key drivers of harvest efficiency, which […] Read more
Is the sky the limit for aerial spray applicators?
Caught between rigid government regulations and undependable farm demand, these aerial applicators wonder about their future
Reading Time: 6 minutes We all look when we hear them. The sound of an airplane or helicopter sprayer is as distinctive as it is enticing. With an airplane, there’s that telltale roar of its high-powered engine and the pitch-shifting Doppler-effect. With a helicopter, there’s the unmistakable vibration stirring the air as it races from one end of a […] Read more
Needed: Soft white winter wheat
Reading Time: 2 minutes It’s been a long time since soft white winter wheat was a volume leader in eastern Canada, but the speed with which red wheat grabbed market share has made soft white winter varieties very scarce, with the market for it uncertain and hard to balance. Like food-grade soybeans, soft white winter has fallen to growers familiar […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
