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Paul Smith
  • Wasaga Beach, Ontario
  • Canada
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Learn From The Cash Crop Farmers – Yield Monitors are a High Return on Investment for Veggies

Carrot/Onion/Potato and Sugar Beet growers can learn from their cash crop growing neighbours and gain the knowledge they have been seeing for years.

Yield monitors have long been only available for conventional cash crop growers, until now.  Innovative technology from Northern Equipment Solutions supplier Greentronics, now allows veggie growers to monitor/map and obtain vital yield data.

Growers can now visualize and gain the knowledge about problem areas, and about high…

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Posted on July 2, 2013 at 4:11pm

Weed Control Solutions Explained - Advantages & Dis-Advantages

The recent trend toward restricting herbicide use has produced interest in alternative and integrated weed control strategies that include cultivation. As a result, newly developed implements are now available to vegetable growers from Northern Equipment Solutions, but the potential uses of these tools for numerous vegetable crops can be confusing. This describes some of these tools and their advantages and disadvantages.

 

Flex-tine harrows

Flex-tine harrows are…

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Posted on April 3, 2013 at 2:30pm

Leading Technology Will Increase Your Yield and Decrease Your Labor Costs

Transplanting has long been re­served for leafy crops, tomatoes, and bare root onions. Automated planting technology now provides a cost ef­fective way to transplant produce from plugs grown in greenhouses for up to 30 percent increased yields and up to 50 percent lower labor costs.

 

Benefits of automated…

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Posted on April 3, 2013 at 7:31am

What are the benefits of a automatic sprayer boom height control system

With 4 major manufacturers the automatic sprayer boom height control system, can provide you with a more uniform/effective application of your inputs, increase your productivity and remove the stresses of spraying.  High quality systems are available from Greentronics, Norac, Trimble and Raven.  Information is available at www.northernequipment.ca regarding Greentronics Riteheight, Norac and Trimble boom height…

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Posted on February 6, 2013 at 1:48pm — 1 Comment

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At 4:46am on December 8, 2012, OntAG Admin said…

Thanks for posting the blogs Paul.

I have approved the first one and we will include it in the Farms.com Ontario email newsletter next week.

Joe Dales

Farms.com

 
 
 

Agriculture Headlines from Farms.com Canada East News - click on title for full story

Low commodity prices and high input costs a double whammy for Manitoba farmers

Manitoba farmers are facing a perfect storm of low grain prices and soaring fertilizer costs that are threatening profitability for both the current harvest and next year’s crop. Current harvest delivery prices have fallen to $7 per bushel for hard red spring wheat, $13.25 for canola, $11 for soybeans and $4 for oats, representing harvest pricing typically seed at the lows of a pricing cycle. On the cost side, fertilizer costs have climbed significantly from the numbers used in Manitoba Ag’s 2025 crop cost of production guide, which was compiled last November.  Urea has jumped to $850-900 per metric tonne, about 30 per cent higher than the $690 per tonne used in those calculations. Data from Manitoba Ag show a surge in crop production costs in 2022.  Those have stayed elevated and, when combined with current grain prices, the cost pressure is particularly acute.

US wheat finds new markets in Asia

Flour millers in Asia have ramped up imports of U.S. wheat in recent weeks, driven by competitive prices from American suppliers and delays in shipments from the Black Sea. Indonesian importers have finalized deals for around 500,000 tons, while buyers in Bangladesh secured about 250,000 tons and millers in Sri Lanka acquired around 100,000 tons. Millers are taking both U.S. soft white wheat and hard red winter wheat varieties. Apparently, there were some weather issues which delayed cargoes from the Black Sea region, and U.S. prices have been pretty competitive. This is additional demand for U.S. wheat in Asia, complementing purchases by traditional buyers such as Thailand, the Philippines and Taiwan.

Federal, Provincial and Territorial Ministers of Agriculture (FPT) Meetings Highlight Farmer Concerns

Industry leaders and government officials kicked off the FPT meetings at a Manitoba farm. Farmers and representatives from the Canola Council of Canada (CCC), CCGA, and provincial commissions shared their concerns directly with Minister MacDonald and Parliamentary Secretary Kody Blois. A key message was clear: farmers cannot borrow their way through these trade disputes, they were not of their making. Farmers are feeling the damage directly in their pockets. With canola selling at a discount between $60-$100/tonne...on an average 20MMT crop, that translates to estimated losses of $1.2–2.0 billion from lost exports to China. Federal Announcements: Some Support, but Gaps Remain The federal government announced $370 million in biofuel funding and additional trade diversification support. While these measures are a step in the right direction, they fall short of addressing the direct impact on canola farmers and exporters in lost bookings. Concerns remain over the lack of timelines for re

The Last Word (For Now) on Rest Stops During Long-Distance Transport

When the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) began to muse about requiring that cattle be unloaded and provided with a rest stop after 36 hours of transportation, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) and Canada’s beef industry funded a series of research projects led by Karen Schwartzkopf-Genswein’s team at AAFC’s Lethbridge Research Station to determine whether a rest stop would benefit weaned calves. The research began before the regulations were revised, but the regulations were revised before the research could be completed. Three consecutive research trials conducted in 2018, 2019 and 2020 found that providing a rest stop during long haul transportation offered no consistent, measurable benefits for animal welfare. A companion project led by Trevor Alexander at AAFC Lethbridge looked at bacterial populations in the respiratory tract of those same calves. In September 2023, this column described how microbiological testing from the 2018 transportation trial found that rested

Federal Plastics Registry has new compliance requirement

The federal government has created new reporting requirements under its new Federal Plastics Registry. The registry is being phased in over a few years, however phase 1 requires Canadian brand owners to report on plastic packaging placed on the market by September 29, 2025, for the 2024 calendar year.

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