Reading Time: 7 minutes Compaction has somehow become one of those topics that gets scooped up off the back-burner from time to time. It gets discussed and sometimes it even gets preached about, and then it fades away again until next time. It isn’t a new topic. Nor is it particularly controversial. Everyone agrees that compaction causes damage to […] Read more
What’s the deal with soil compaction?
Other countries are tackling compaction head on. Here, there’s hardly a whisper
A healthier soil test
Is it time to start investing in the Solvita soil test for your farm?
Reading Time: 6 minutes It’s a curious trend. “Soil health” is one of the great buzz phrases of modern agriculture. Admittedly, it’s just words to some, yet for a dedicated and growing number of producers, it’s a primary goal. Yet if you ask the average farmer if they test their soil once every three years, as recommended, the answer […] Read more
Foraging for better soils
If you aren’t growing forages, can you really say you’re farming sustainably?
Reading Time: 4 minutes The soil has its own perspective, says soil scientist Mario Tenuta, which explains why in Western Canada, where intensive farming has “only” been going on for 100 years, our soils are actually still young. “Our soils are not mature, compared to places like Europe or Africa,” Tenuta says. Over the last 50 years of farming, […] Read more
Four growers who believe in inter-seeding into standing corn
"It’s something that we have to start doing and advertising to the consumer," Gerard Grubb, Mildmay farmer
Reading Time: 11 minutes As trends go, this one is picking up steam. Two years ago, it seemed a novelty. You were lucky to see it outside of a few test locations such as at Canada’s Outdoor Farm Show, although there were also isolated growers who had become believers, especially in Quebec. Today, the movement has clearly spread, not […] Read more
Pest Patrol: Sensitivity of inter-seeded annual ryegrass and red clover to corn herbicides
#PestPatrol with Mike Cowbrough, OMAFRA
Reading Time: < 1 minute Research has been done in the United States and Canada to determine the tolerance of cover crops to various soil-applied corn herbicides. This article provides an overview of the results of that work, and provides some consensus across the different locations. Two important factors influence the potential for carryover injury to rotational crops: The sensitivity […] Read more
Learning from organic agriculture
These conventional farms are adapting techniques from organic agriculture — with a little time and care
Reading Time: 10 minutes Agriculture is always in search of the next innovation, but as most growers learn — some, the hard way — there is no silver-bullet solution. If you’re going to change things for the better, it’s going to take time, effort and likely a departure from the norm. Yet with lower crop prices, growers are also […] Read more
No till goes dairy farming
In many ways, it’s been an easy transition for this dairy family
Reading Time: 6 minutes The Loewiths don’t describe themselves as a crop innovators, but they’re certainly not hesitant to glean advice from others and, with some careful consideration, adapt a practice or an approach to the conditions on their farm. So, while the move to no till in a dairy operation might seem a little different to some, with […] Read more
Galega — a new forage import from Eastern Europe
Tests at the Thunder Bay Agricultural Research Station suggest it could be a high-yielding option for Eastern Canada
Reading Time: 4 minutes If lower commodity prices have proved anything, it’s that the search in Eastern Canada for cropping options and alternative management practices is not limited to just corn, wheat and soybeans. Canola growers in Ontario’s Near North and northwestern Quebec are testing fababeans and growers throughout the east are experimenting with cover crops and cover crop […] Read more
Blending scores big with cover crops — and diversity
More growers are exploring more blends with specific goals in sight
Reading Time: 8 minutes At Canada’s Outdoor Farm Show this past fall, the cover-crop focus was on diversity. There was a high-diversity blend, a six-way blend, a Merlin (Ontario) Multi-Mix and a soil-building mix. There was even a cool-season N-fixing blend, just to gauge its potential. If it seems like a lot to take in, get used to it. […] Read more
To sample, or not to sample (soil). Who’s right?
Some of your neighbours have stopped soil sampling. Others are sampling more than ever.
Reading Time: 5 minutes In any year, at most 10 per cent of the fields are soil sampled,” says Tom Jensen, a director in the North American program of the International Plant Nutrition Institute. “Some people say 20 per cent of farmers do some soil testing, but they may only do it every couple to three years.” Farm consolidation […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
