Reading Time: < 1 minute Soil health has been a buzz phrase that’s gone from a whisper three to five years ago to a chorus that’s spreading across the agrifood industry. That goes to show the swinging of the pendulum away from plowing and aggressive tillage — and it seems to be gaining more advocates with each passing day. This […] Read more
PHOTOS: Farm Show demo digs deep on value of soil health
Roots, worm casts and different cover blends show amazing effects
The news on soil health
This time, will farmers finally break the “build-up then burn-out” cycle of soil management? The Ontario Soil Network thinks the answer may be yes
Reading Time: 6 minutes Don Lobb takes a very dim view of how mankind has treated soil over the millennia, but he is slightly more hopeful for this generation, due both to our constantly growing body of knowledge about soils, and to farmers who are not only willing to experiment with better ways to take care of the soil, […] Read more
New cereal varieties for Eastern Canada
There’s only a handful of new varieties for planting this fall, but they’re worth a hard look
Reading Time: 2 minutes Increased winter wheat acres are good for Eastern Canada, not only because of crop diversity and longer rotations, but as a contributor to overall soil health. Despite the challenges of fall planting, farmers are clearly deciding there’s real value in maintaining wheat acres: the message is definitely getting through. Yet other, more immediate concerns are […] Read more
Africa feeding Africa
While North America’s farmers pin their career hopes on the need to feed a hungry Africa, that continent’s farmers are making plans of their own
Reading Time: 5 minutes A core belief in North American agriculture is that our farmers must produce ever more food if we are to have any hope of feeding the world, particularly areas like Africa where the population is growing so rapidly. The numbers are indeed staggering. According to the Population Reference Bureau, Africa’s population will hit 2.5 billion […] Read more
Managing herbicide resistance costs
Farmers considering herbicide resistance strategies are looking at the economics first
Reading Time: 5 minutes There are several reasons many farmers haven’t yet adopted herbicide resistance management (HRM) plans. These include a lack of information, the complexity of different management strategies and limited time. But a major reason is still economics. Many farmers worry about the costs of implementing a resistance management plan, especially if they’re uncertain about the potential […] Read more
It’s not soil ‘quality’…
Terminology can make a difference, and using ‘health’ rather than ‘quality’ is helping bring together different interests to a common cause
Reading Time: 6 minutes For three weeks every month, Ray Archuleta captivates audiences with a few handfuls of soil. He begins with two clumps, dropping them into water. The soil from a farm where the soil isn’t tilled holds together, while the tilled soil immediately disperses, indicating poor soil structure. Next, volunteers from the audience — mostly farmers and […] Read more
Big rains put Ontario crops under water
Time is now the factor for submerged crops if they are to remain healthy
Reading Time: 3 minutes A huge rainfall across midwestern Ontario has put fields of crops underwater. The rain, overnight June 22, totalled four to eight inches in an area from Goderich to east of the Grand River, flooding towns built generations ago along the rivers, forcing cattle to higher ground and leaving growing crops covered in water. Low points […] Read more
Large, commercial… and organic
Agri-Fusion says its choice to go organic is a business no-brainer, with a collaborative new management design to make sure it pays
Reading Time: 6 minutes Agri-Fusion’s four owners of Quebec largest organic farm never looked back at their choice to go organic. Whether it’s wheat, corn, soybeans, beans or peas, organic crops earn them twice as much per acre as conventional crops, and they cost much less to produce. It’s a point I heard again from 67-year-old Gilles Audette, one […] Read more
Agronomics and economics: A few graphs of interest
Reading Time: 2 minutes At the Manitoba Agronomists Conference in December, Roy Arnott and Anastasia Kubinec of Manitoba Agriculture gave a joint presentation titled Agronomics & economics — crop management decisions need both! The full presentation is available on the Manitoba Agriculture website, but here are a few snapshots. Crop rotation can pay The above charts by Anastasia Kubinec […] Read more
Tough news on fleabane
It takes a well thought out plan to keep glyphosate-resistant Canada fleabane in check
Reading Time: 6 minutes The world of science can often provide insight into some rather grim realities. But sometimes, fortunately, it can provide more than just insight. It can provide strategic help too. That’s the case with Dr. Peter Sikkema, who opened 2017 by making a presentation on herbicide-resistant weeds at the two-day Southwest Agricultural Conference (SWAC) at the […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
