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
VIDEO: Measuring how crop rotations affect soil health in Ontario
Reading Time: < 1 minute A unique facility at the Elora Research Station operated by the University of Guelph digs deep to quantify soil ecosystem services.
‘Insurance’ spraying
A new study says most farmers can generate more profit by cutting back on crop protection. But wait… is it really that simple?
Reading Time: 5 minutes Today, we all recognize “recreational tillage” as a phrase we use to criticize farmers who haven’t been paying attention to how we’ve learned that we can put an end to a lot of excessive tillage, thereby reducing soil erosion, fuel and equipment costs, and manpower requirements. But now we need to ask: Is “recreational spraying” […] 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
Ready for spring
Farm organizations are as important as ever for farmers who want to keep producing at their best, says OSCIA president Gord Green
Reading Time: 6 minutes For Gord Green, “ag in the classroom” is a 24-hour-a-day, seven-day-a-week, 365-day-a-year opportunity, whether the classroom that he happens to be in at the moment is in the field, in a lecture hall, at a community centre or on a bus tour. In any setting, Green wants to learn, and he has made it a […] Read more
Pest Patrol: Farmers are reducing weed seed return after cereal harvest
#PestPatrol with Mike Cowbrough, OMAFRA
Reading Time: 3 minutes I was driving down a long country road and noticed two large fields where winter wheat had been harvested almost eight weeks earlier. Each had a beautiful thick canopy of oats. Figure 1 (at top). An oat cover crop planted almost eight weeks ago following winter wheat harvest. That same day, when I came across […] Read more
Is it enough to rotate your herbicides?
Integrated weed management can slow herbicide resistance, but rotation is just one piece
Reading Time: 6 minutes Integrated weed management (IWM) is not rotating herbicides or modes of action. IWM is combining one of more different weed management techniques, such as chemical, cultural, physical or biological weed control. Some IWM methods are easy to implement, such as making sure you select good, certified seed that will grow vigorously and out-compete weeds. Seeding […] 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
Last call for continuous soybean crops
Continuous soys are tough on the soil, tough on yields and tough on the pocketbook. So why do we still plant them?
Reading Time: 7 minutes Many years ago, Ross Daily, the television host of “This Business of Farming” spoke at a county-level federation of agriculture meeting, and in the course of his speech congratulated growers on their six-year rotations. The audience was frankly bewildered until Daily offered an explanation to clear the confusion. “You know what I’m talking about: soybeans-soybeans-soybeans-soybeans-soybeans, […] Read more
Double-cropping on a comeback
Today, the double-crop odds are even more in the growers’ favour, thanks in part to short-season varieties bred for Western Canada
Reading Time: 8 minutes When comparing current commodity prices against everything they have to pay for, including land values and rents, plus seed, fuel, chemicals and fertilizer, it’s no surprise that farmers want to maximize their soil’s performance. It’s enough to make double-cropping, especially after cereals, seem like an obvious choice — if only it wasn’t so risky. Maybe […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
