Reading Time: 6 minutes Do you remember more than 10 years ago, when researchers and extension staffers were doing all they could to make strip till a reality? Back then the practice — also widely referred to as zone till — showed a lot of promise, but there were also a lot of headaches. The key was the challenge […] Read more
The return of strip till
Progress is slow, but RTK is helping... a lot
Rutting season
There aren't any great options to fix your rutted fields. But here are the best - and the worst
Reading Time: 3 minutes Too hot, too cold, too dry, too wet. There’s pretty much never a Goldilocks moment for farming anywhere on the planet, and when those rare moments do emerge, they never last. It makes for challenging times for growers who have to balance the immediate needs of the operation, such as spraying crop protection products, or […] Read more
Pearce: Agco focuses on S. Ontario, East with new distribution centre
Reading Time: 2 minutes Recognizing agriculture in Ontario is “on the move,” one machinery company is showing its commitment, planting an investment in the heart of southern Ontario. Agco, the U.S.-based manufacturer of 11 brands including Massey Ferguson, Fendt, Gleaner and White, last week opened its new full-stocking parts and distribution centre in Woodstock. At more than 67,000 square […] Read more
Machinery Guide
Which are better - planters or drills?
Reading Time: 3 minutes January is a month for new starts, so it fits neatly with this issue’s focus on planters. Improved seed singulation and precision planting capabilities have driven planter sales in the past two years, not to mention the migration of corn into Western Canada. Even so, the debate is still raging. Which are better — planters […] Read more
Pearce: Ont. farmers remain frustrated by wet fall
Reading Time: 2 minutes Wet weather, now accompanied by the first significant snowfall for much of southern and western Ontario, is creating a new level of angst for a large number of farmers. Some soybean fields remain standing and the prospects of those fields seeing a winter wheat crop have likely disappeared with the turning of the calendar to […] Read more
Attack on seedling diseases
Researchers are gaining the upper hand in a battle that is much more complex than anyone expected
Reading Time: 6 minutes When it comes to production problems in soybeans, growers have grown used to hearing that with soybean cyst nematode, once you’ve got it, it’s in your fields to stay. Only diverse rotations and SCN-resistant varieties can reduce the damage to future crops. But nematodes are far from the only threat. Surveys in the U.S. have […] Read more
Pearce: Rains drench S. Ont. ahead of soy harvest
Reading Time: 2 minutes The totals are in, the maps have been drawn, and they confirm what many farmers and residents across north Middlesex and much of Perth counties already suspected: it rained, a lot, on Friday (Sept. 20). How the deluge will ultimately affect growers about to harvest soybeans remains to be seen, but the intensity with which […] Read more
Pearce: Rootworm injury in first-year corn a concern in U.S. Midwest
Reading Time: 2 minutes Reports in the past month citing corn rootworm injury to certain hybrids in first-year corn in the U.S. Midwest are providing a red flag to growers — including reports of some emerging issues here in Ontario. Last month, University of Illinois entomology professor Dr. Mike Gray, sounded something of an alarm regarding the discovery of […] Read more
Pearce: Concerns over neonics, bee health spur Ont. notice
Reading Time: 2 minutes Every day, there’s another story, another study or another opinion expressed on what to do or who’s to blame in the issue surrounding the use of seed treatments in corn and soybeans, and the impact on bee health. It’s a contentious issue, one that has many on either side — and in between — frustrated […] Read more
Pearce: Ont. corn estimated a week behind schedule
Reading Time: 2 minutes Corn production, generally, has seen a slight drop-off in terms of expected yields and performance in the field. Monthly estimates from USDA have been downgraded by an almost two-bushel per acre drop in the past week. But in Ontario, growers are concerned with the effects of higher-than-normal rainfall and a relatively sharp drop in temperatures […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
