Introducing Soil Test Manager

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 […]

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2015 Ontario Soil N Survey

Co-author Ken Janovicek, University of Guelph. Background The OMAFRA field crop unit in collaboration with farm cooperators, agribusiness and SGS-AgriFood Labs conducted the annual survey of soil nitrate nitrogen levels across the province from June 3rd to June 5th, sampling over 130 fields. The samples were collected after heavy rainfall events during the weekend of May 30-31, where […]

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Investigating Yield and Economic Performance of a “Build and Maintain” Fertility Approach versus a “Sufficiency” Approach in Corn: Interim Report

Current P and K recommendations in Ontario guide crop producers to apply a rate of fertilizer that will provide the greatest potential of an economic response during the year of application. Increases in crop yields over time have resulted in higher nutrient removal rates which have decreased the “equilibrium” soil test values where average crop […]

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Sulphur On Alfalfa

by Joel Bagg, Forage Specialist, & Bonnie Ball, Soil Fertility Specialist, OMAFRA Sulphur (S) received from atmospheric sulphur dioxide emissions (acid rain) in Ontario has steadily declined by over 50% during the last 25 years. We are beginning to see yield responses in more situations when applying S to alfalfa. Sometimes the response is dramatic, […]

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