Presentations
If you are interested in learning more about planting green into a strip-till corn system, the video below outlines the experience that Matt Beischlag, a farmer based in Haldimand county, Ontario, had in the 2021 season. Matt and his family have a mixed farm of broiler chickens, corn, soybean and wheat cash crops, and red […]
If you are interested or considering planting green into cover crops, the video below outlines key challenges and successes that Larry Dyck, a Niagara farmer based in Campden, Ontario has experienced. Larry farms with his son Ben and shares some of his experiences planting green into a cover crop mixture on heavy clay soils. This […]
The Making Cover Crops Pay series (available on YouTube and linked below) includes three practical webinars that have discussions and presentations by technical specialists and experienced farmers. This series is presented by Soils at Guelph, the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food, and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA) Soil Team, Grain Farmers of Ontario, and the Ontario Soil […]
By Paige Kennedy (view original post on Soils at Guelph website here) “I have a view worth hearing, but I might be missing something.” This is the attitude of an innovator described by top business mind, Roger L. Martin, at the virtual Midwest Cover Crops Council Conference on February 24. Roger Martin is professor emeritus […]
Dr. Dave Hooker and his colleagues have been curious about the value of integrating cover crops into a farming operation in the long term. These questions have remained unanswered by numerous short-term trials they had been conducting, which led them to establish a new trial. As it can take time for a cropping system to […]
The OMAFRA Soil Team recently hosted a three-part webinar series on strip-tillage. Each event focused on a different aspect of strip-till and featured four different farmer speakers from across Ontario. To view the recordings, check out the videos below. Timing & Tools: Shank vs. Coulter and Spring vs. Fall (recorded December 8th, 2020): Strip-Till and […]
There are a variety of agricultural research trials in the province, but one that stands out from the rest is the long-term cover crop trial set up by Dr. Laura Van Eerd in Ridgetown, Ontario. This trial was established in 2007 and has had consistent cover crop treatments within a processing vegetable-grain crop rotation on […]
In the video series below, we provide an overview of roller crimping rye for organic no-till soybean production. We give an overview of the system and profile the experiences of two Ontario farmers. To learn about the on-farm trial results, click here. A detailed project report can be found here. While there are many benefits […]
Why be concerned about the Bt resistant rootworm populations showing up in Ontario? Dr. Jocelyn Smith, University of Guelph Ridgetown Campus stands in a field that has cross resistant rootworm. The grower experienced more than 50% yield loss in this 2nd year silage corn field planted with a pyramid hybrid in 2020. Jocelyn discusses the […]
Ben Rosser, Corn Specialist, OMAFRA While high pH knolls tend to be more common in Ontario, often caused by soil erosion leaving higher pH calcareous subsoils, this is not the case for all regions. How do low pH knolls develop? Low pH knolls (Figure 1) can develop on undulating landscapes where surface soils formed from […]
Jake Munroe, Soil Management Specialist – Field Crops, OMAFRA We’ve all seen them. Hilltops. Whitecaps. High spots where the crop struggles year after year. Eroded knolls are common to Ontario agriculture and cost farmers in lost productivity each season. However, not all eroded knolls are alike. In this two-part series, we will explore knolls: how […]
Innovations in Manure Application Equipment Wouldn’t it be nice if liquid manure application could wait until after corn planting was completed, with little risk of compaction or damage to corn plants? It may be the dog-days of summer, but kicking tires at an equipment demonstration and field day is a good way to evaluate how […]
I took the above video in 2010 when a lot of corn was planted in mid April and had emerged nicely only to be hit with a frost in May. Although the injury looked bad at the time, because the growing point was below the ground the crop made a complete recovery and 2010 saw […]
Manure Injection – New technology = More Options The goal: To increase the opportunities for injecting manure into a variety of growing crops with nutrient placement as similar to commercial fertilizer placement as possible. Traditional manure injection combined manure application with primary or secondary tillage gives the benefit of full disturbance of the soil profile […]
I’m working on an early warning system for producers, which will be able to identify diseases before they are visible in the field. Below is a video that the University of Guelph SPARK (Students Promoting Awareness of Research Knowledge) put that nicely summarizes the project. […]