Written by Ian McDonald, Crop Innovations Specialist, OMAFRA and Alex Barrie, Soil Management Engineer, OMAFRA The impact of farm equipment causing soil compaction is primarily a function of soil moisture at the time of traffic coupled with the total weight, axle load and tire pressure of the implement. By lowering the tire pressure, we reduce the impact of soil compaction…
Written by Jacqui Empson Laporte, Environmental Specialist, OMAFRA From Houston to Toronto, a common theme has been flooding caused by the increase in impermeable surfaces. In June, 2017, part of Southwestern Ontario was hit with a 1 in 100 year storm event, and some areas received 6.7 inches (170 mm) of rain in 7 hours. In August, 2018, Toronto received…
Over the winter months there has been a quite a bit of discussion around spring cereal yields in Ontario and oat yields in particular. Trendlines for oat yields in Ontario compared to western Canada (Figure 1 and 2) show that while Ontario yields continue to increase, the increase is smaller than for our friends in western Canada. While there…
There were a record number of unseeded acres last year. This means not all soybean seed intended for the 2019 growing season was used. Can carry-over seed (grown in 2018) be used successfully in 2020? Before answering that question, it must be stated that soybeans are one of the least storable seeds when compared to many other crops. This is largely because…
There are two distinct growth stages in many crops; the vegetative and reproductive stages. In soybeans the vegetative stage usually lasts between 30 to 50 days after emergence. Once a flower appears on the plant the reproductive phase has begun. What makes soybean unique is that vegetative growth (leaf number, node number, and dry weight) continues as flowers are formed….
Scentless chamomile has a reputation for being difficult to control and a 2019 on-farm research trial evaluated several herbicide treatments. Although 10 treatments provided over 80% visual control of emerged plants, new seedlings continued to emerge several weeks after application resulting in a significant amount of plants at the end of August. In order to significantly reduce the population of…
27 March 2020, 9:00 am EDT (8:00 am CDT) A virtual agricultural advisers’ breakfast meeting was held to test the “Zoom” platform as a means of continuing these valuable spring meetings under the current restrictions for face–to–face meetings. Based on results of the survey sent to attendees, breakfast meetings for 2020 will continue as consolidated regional meetings. Start dates and groupings as follows: Tuesday, April 7th: Ridgetown + Simcoe Tuesday, April 14th: Exeter +…
Jake Munroe, Mike Cowbrough and Sebastian Belliard (OMAFRA) Cereal rye (Secale cereale) has several strengths as a cover crop option. It’s relatively inexpensive and easy to kill. Rye improves soil structure, builds organic matter and helps protect against water and wind erosion. It can suppress weeds as discussed here (see Figure 1). It’s also very winter hardy and often the…
With some out of the box thinking, Ken Hartemink, hog and cash crop producer from St. Thomas, Ontario has mounted a strip tiller to the back of his manure tanker for one-pass manure incorporation and seedbed prep for next year’s corn crop. Ken Hartemink is a hog and cash crop producer just outside St. Thomas, Ontario. Ken wanted to…
Have you ever looked up the official Ontario fertilizer or liming recommendations? They’re featured in “look-up” tables in OMAFRA production guides, such as our Agronomy Guide for Field Crops (Publication 811), and provide rates for phosphorus, potassium, magnesium, zinc and manganese, as well as lime, based on soil test values. A new way to access Ontario fertilizer and liming recommendations…
Meghan Moran March 5, 2020 489 Comments Off on Winter Canola Survival in 2018/2019 in Southwestern OntarioIn the 2018/2019 winter canola season, 17 fields were monitored to evaluate winter survival of winter canola, and to support expansion of regions that can access crop insurance for winter kill. Information was collected from producers on soil type, planting date, planting equipment, fall fertility, canola hybrid, and growth stage prior to a hard fall frost to contribute to assessments…
OMAFRA Field Crop Team February 26, 2020 323 Comments Off on OMAFRA Job Posting – CROPPING SYSTEM SPECIALIST – Job ID: 147722Apply By: Thursday, March 12, 2020 11:59 pm EDT CROPPING SYSTEM SPECIALIST Organization: Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Division: Economic Development Division, Agriculture Development Branch, Field Crops Unit City: Kemptville Job Term: 1 Permanent Job Code: 12124 – Industrial Development Officer 3 Salary: $1,438.41 – $1,835.96 Per Week* *Indicates the salary listed as per the OPSEU Collective Agreement….
Organization: Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA) Division/Branch: Economic Development Division / Agriculture Development Branch Position Title: Research Assistant in Soil Management Job Term: Temporary for 14 weeks, beginning spring 2020 Salary: …
OMAFRA Field Crop Team January 17, 2020 418 Comments Off on Summer Employment Opportunities – RidgetownStudent – Field Research Assistant Organization: Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA) Division/Branch: Economic Development Division / Agriculture Development Branch Position Title: Field Research Assistant (Field Crop) & Field Research Assistant (Horticultural Crop) Job Term: Temporary, for up to 16 weeks, beginning…
Planting In March 2019 Statistics Canada estimated Ontario farmers intended to plant 2.2 million acres of grain corn, higher than the 5-year (2014-2018) average seeded acres of 2.0 million acres (OMAFRA Crop Statistics). Unlike some springs where a large majority of the provincial crop is often planted in a 1 to 2-week window, frequent rainfall and poor drying conditions (overcast,…
