Ontario Soil Management Committee

Table of Contents Mandate and 5 Year ThemesMembershipTerms of ReferenceHow to Submit New Recommendations or UpdatesData Requirements to Change RecommendationsFor More Information Mandate 5 Year Themes In particular, the OSMC will concentrate on the following broad themes over the next five years: Membership Membership of the OSMC is comprised of members drawn from government, the […]

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Crop Conditions – Week of May 2nd, 2024

Frequent rains and wet soils across the province have slowed or prevented field work. Soil compaction is likely to be an issue this year, especially for farmers trying to get manure spread ahead of spring planting. Fertilizer has been moving out to farms with storage. Retailers are full and ready to apply product once soil […]

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SHAP: Soil Health Assessment & Plan In-Field In-Office Match SHAP to your needs Assess Benchmark 5 Key Soil Health Indicators Improve Find Potential for Improvement Adapt Take a Flexible approach Interpret Use the SHAP Score Calculator to compare your test results to a database of results from similar Ontario soils. Use this benchmark to identify […]

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The Crop Protection Hub -How does it work?

All of OMAFRA’s pest management publications have been digitized into the Crop Protection Hub. While we have received positive feedback on this tool, we do understand that some prefer the print publications. We are working on a print solution from the Crop Protection Hub that we hope meets those needs. If you would like to […]

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Organic No-Till Soybean Production: Making it Work in Ontario

soybean plants with rye mulch below

Growing cover crop-based organic no-till soybeans requires a different system approach than for standard organic production. Three years of extensive research trials in Ontario have guided the development of four key best practices for growing no-till organic soybeans following a cereal rye cover crop. This tip sheet is designed to provide practical advice for Ontario […]

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Visual Evaluation of Soil Structure

Soil structure is a key indicator of soil health. The Visual Evaluation of Soil Structure (VESS) provides a simple framework for quantitatively scoring soil structure quality. It requires only a shovel for extracting a block of soil and a scoring sheet for evaluating it and can be performed in about 10 minutes with a little […]

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On-off grazing

cow grazing

On-off grazing is a management technique to minimize damage while grazing wet pastures. It is an alternative to using a sacrifice paddock. Livestock do the least amount of pugging damage to a field when they are actively grazing. It is other activities, such as visiting the water trough or mineral source, lying down, or socializing […]

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Avoiding, Preparing For and Reacting to Harvest Fires

Wheat harvest 2020 is right around the corner! The conditions are dry in those fields! Once the rush starts it will be “all hands on deck” But remember the slew of harvest/field fires that occurred in July 2016/17/18 under similar dry conditions.  Harvest fires result in a financial, emotional and environmental burden to the farm and risks the lives of farm personal, local fire departments and the public and uses firefighting resources. Make sure you are prepared before harvest begins! […]

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