All Blog Posts Tagged 'farming' (8)

Each summer DVM students from the Ontario Veterinary College at the University of Guelph delve into hands-on, practical experience at veterinary clinics across Ontario and additional locales during their Externship Veterinary Course. Funded by the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA), students must complete an eight-week Externship Course between third and fourth year in a rural veterinary practice that works with food animals…

Fall agenda fills up with political priorities

By Mark Wales, President, Ontario Federation of Agriculture

Ontario politicians are heading back to the legislature for the fall sitting, and the Ontario Federation of Agriculture (OFA) has a full lineup of work to accomplish with the 107 MPPs representing our province.

We’ll be meeting, consulting, partnering and working with government policymakers on behalf of the 37,000 farm family members we represent. Our…

This past Thursday I had the pleasure to speak with the Quebec Farmers' Association about marketing and entrepreneurship. Although the presentation was to the QFA, I believe it is relevant to Ontario farmers just as much. Take a look and feel free to comment with any questions or comments! Thank you, Kelsey Banks.…

The slow pace of winter is starting to give way to a renewed urgency to get things ready for planting season.  The winter has stubbornly refused to let go, but as the sun climbs higher in the sky and the hours of daylight continue to increase, its days are numbered.  That doesn't stop the cold mornings from putting on a show.

These poor ducks couldn't get there feet…

With harvest finally over for most producers throughout Ontario, many farmers will reflect on how to improve on the results of last year.  These points are often over looked ways to improve harvest efficiency.  I have listed what my experience shows as the most overlooked, but still very important.

• Pre-Season Inspections- Ensure your equipment uptime is maximized, downtime is very costly during the short harvest season.
• Evenflows ensure a constant flow of product for…

Before Planting

• Select fields that are best suited for growing potatoes and are free from excessive rocks.  Investigate the soil conditioning technics presently adopted throughout Europe, if unavoidable.

• Avoid tillage practices that create clods that will not break down during the growing season.  Rotary tillage methods prevent clods in clod prone soils.

During the Growing Season

• Use a balanced fertility program to keep vines green…

Inputs prices are high and so are crop prices. Managing costs and yields is critical to success on your farm. With commodity prices high you cannot settle for average yields. The use of variable rate precision ag products and services helps farmers to do just that. Placing the inputs in the intended prescribed areas has become very popular and makes a tremendous amount of sense for many producers. With the use of satellite imagery, plant health data, soil testing and harvest data, some very…

Veris Technologies has become a name known as the go to tool for advanced soil information.  Offering 3 different sensing systems Veris Technologies can provide information on Soil Type, Organic Matter and PH levels individually or in any combination of the 3.  Here is the 3 types of soil sampling systems available and how you can benefit from knowedge gained.

Soil EC Sensing- Is soil electrical conductivity, a measurement of how much current your soil…