Reading Time: 4 minutes In the chase to increase agricultural productivity, science has turned to hybridization, transgenics, soil fertility, pest resistance and even CRISPR. Every year there’s been something new. So what more could there be left to explore? Well, what if we could effectively stop stress? How much would our yields go up if stress was no longer […] Read more

Stress relief for crops
These bacterial endophytes may give farmers more control over their crops than anyone has ever dreamed could be possible

The ‘write’ way
With big stakes at play on today’s farms, it’s more important than ever to make sure what you write sends a clear message
Reading Time: 4 minutes We’ve all had occasions when we’ve read something and we were left muttering, “I have no idea what that person was trying to say.” Not only does poor writing not accomplish the goal of communicating the intended information, it also wastes the time of both reader and writer. The number one goal of good writing […] Read more

Researchers defining phosphorus movement in Ontario soils
4R strategy plays a key role in reducing phosphorous runoff
Reading Time: 3 minutes Three short huts with solar panels on them sprout in Bob McIntosh’s wheat field near St. Marys, Ont. Inside the huts are monitoring equipment that goes right to the tiles that systemically move water from his farm. His farm is one of six across Ontario with the monitoring equipment that allows University of Waterloo researchers to study […] Read more

Pest Patrol: Garlic mustard control
#PestPatrol with Mike Cowbrough, OMAFRA
Reading Time: 2 minutes Are there any herbicides that I could use to control garlic mustard on the farm? Garlic mustard is an early flowering weed that’s highly visible at the edge of farm woodlots and around buildings and grain bins in the spring. Although garlic mustard is rarely found competing in agricultural crops, it can invade forests and […] Read more

Nitrates to linger for decades in N-heavy waterways, study finds
Reading Time: 2 minutes Lakes, rivers, streams and well water high in nitrates will stay that way for another 35 years or more, even if farmers in those watersheds were to stop applying nitrogen (N) fertilizer on their fields today, a new study shows. The study of the Mississippi River basin, published Tuesday by Canadian and U.S. researchers, shows […] Read more