A field on the Van Arkel farm being readied for next year’s Living Labs (AAFC) trials.

On-farm science

There’s undeniable value in collaborative on-farm research, with gains for both growers and researchers

Reading Time: 8 minutes Laurent “Woody” Van Arkel won’t deny it — he wants to know more about his soils, his crops and the interactions with fertilizers and manure and cover crops. And he tries hard to keep learning, working not only with the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA) but also with a master’s student […] Read more

Yvonne Lawley checking cover crops intercropped with corn at the University of Manitoba Carman Research Farm in September 2019. Lawley and colleague Emma McGeough hope to get funding for a Prairie-wide project on intercropping.

Going wide on corn row spacing

In this research, allowing more space for the intercrop has little or no effect on corn yield

Reading Time: 5 minutes Get used to a new term in corn production — “solar corridor.” The idea is to provide a wide enough row spacing to allow sunlight to reach intercrops such as clover and hairy vetch. How wide? How does 60 inches sound? Intercropping is attracting more interest from straight grain as well as livestock producers. Grain […] Read more


The easiest fit in regenerative agriculture is for livestock graziers with no annual crops.

Where marketing meets agronomy

Is regenerative agriculture a feel-good slogan, or an honest-to-goodness scientific advance?

Reading Time: 7 minutes It has taken social media by storm, as well as all manner of other discussions about food and how we produce it. But, really, what is regenerative agriculture, and why has it become such a focal point? Skeptics may dismiss it as just another fad, something manufacturers and processors are promoting while filling web pages […] Read more

Small grains like rye are the focus of a pilot project to encourage growers to lengthen their rotations with cereals.

Building interest for small grain cereals

This new initiative hopes to grow demand for small grains by recognizing their environmental benefits

Reading Time: 5 minutes It’s everything growers could ask for. Imagine market demand that’s driven by acknowledging the healthfulness of the crops you grow and their environmental and sustainability benefits, plus a premium return on investment so you can afford to plant even more. How many times have growers wanted this kind of market pull in exchange for excellence […] Read more


What’s happening below the soil has a greater impact on crop performance and yield.

Dig deeper to understand soils

Challenging what we’ve always thought can be enlightening, not disruptive

Reading Time: 7 minutes Traditions and routines can provide stability, familiarity and perhaps a sense of purpose. Yet when they keep us from exploring new possibilities — for whatever reason — there’s less room for meaningful change. Earlier in 2020, Greg Patterson was a presenter at the Certified Crop Advisor (CCA)-Ontario chapter annual meeting in London, Ont., and created […] Read more

Bayer’s cross symbol hangs in a terminal at Frankfurt International Airport. (Typhoonski/iStock Editorial/Getty Images)

Bayer launches carbon capture pilot for U.S., Brazilian farmers

Chem and seed firm expects to expand plan to other countries

Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — Bayer launched a pilot program in the United States and Brazil on Tuesday that will pay farmers for capturing carbon in cropland soils, making it the latest agriculture company to capitalize on environmental initiatives. The company seeks to enroll about 1,200 row crop growers in its Bayer Carbon Initiative in the […] Read more


Cover crops can get as complex as you want but the best advice is always to start slow and simple.

New directions in cover crops

Today, factors like microbial interactions and soil quality are influencing choices and practices

Reading Time: 6 minutes In the midst of a renaissance in soil health, researchers, agronomists and extension personnel have been pushing the message that everything a grower does in a field is connected to everything else. Fertility is linked to planting depth, just as mycorrhizal fungi are connected to weed management. Nothing happens on its own without some effect […] Read more

Researchers are assessing the benefits of crops seeded into potato hills, similar to this nurse crop in carrots.

Call in a nurse. A “nurse” crop that is

A second crop planted along with potatoes protects the soil and boosts yields

Reading Time: 3 minutes Recent years have seen increased attention on the health of the soil used in potato production, and attempts to bring potatoes into longer rotations with other crops. In the Maritimes, seed companies are promoting soybeans or corn as rotational options and McCain has developed one- and two-year multi-species cover crop blends to help boost organic […] Read more


A clover cover crop stretches upward from the stubble.

Finding the value of cover crops for Western Canada

Cover crops are now standard practice farther south in the U.S., but do they have the same results on the shorter-season Prairies?

Reading Time: 3 minutes When Yvonne Lawley wrote her research proposal for a study of cover crops, she was specific about the wording of the title: Testing the cover crop hypothesis across Prairie Canada. It’s the word “hypothesis” that grabs you. What could be theoretical about cover crops? Some farmers have been using them for decades to help build […] Read more

The traditional choice for cover crops has been red clover underseeded to winter wheat, but that’s changing.

Re-setting the mind-set on cover crops

Research is shining new light on when — and why — to make cover crops part of your routine field management

Reading Time: 8 minutes Much of what is known about specific practices in agriculture has been constructed then modified and sometimes deconstructed altogether. It’s an ongoing process that applies to virtually every cropping practice, from the use of moldboard plows to no till and from planting depth to fertility rates. Cover crops have been studied extensively across many parts […] Read more