Ontario Agriculture

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Paul Smith's Blog (16)

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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Added by Paul Smith on July 2, 2013 at 4:11pm — No Comments

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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Added by Paul Smith on April 3, 2013 at 2:30pm — No Comments

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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Added by Paul Smith on April 3, 2013 at 7:31am — No Comments

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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Added by Paul Smith on February 6, 2013 at 1:48pm — 1 Comment

Benefits of Tile Drainage

With an accurately designed and installed tile drainage system, you can bring your crop management to a whole new level. Improve yields, improve your soil, and improve the environment around you. It's a good deal for everyone.  You can hire in a professional, or you can do it yourself with great benefits.

Benefits of Tile Drainage

Installing tile drains on your farm will bring you numerous benefits.

Better Yields.

Tile drainage has been proven over…

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Added by Paul Smith on January 9, 2013 at 2:30am — No Comments

Implement steering keeps pulled implements on the right track

                       

It's all very well setting up virtual guidelines for a tractor's visual guidance or automatic steering system to follow, but what if the implement being used doesn't run true?

After all, a large part of the justification for GPS autosteer is its ability to maximise implement output by minimising overlaps and allowing…

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Added by Paul Smith on January 4, 2013 at 6:46pm — No Comments

How to Maximize Potato Planting Stands and Yields

Numerous studies have shown that an average potato field, contains 7% missing or misplaced seed placement causing a total loose of production.  These errors are more commonly referred to as misses and doubles.  This is just the in-row misplacements of skips and doubles, not the row to row errors that are present within the fields from guess row areas.  Guess rows can be corrected easily with the addition of assisted GPS steering systems.

What does this mean to you, would you be…

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Added by Paul Smith on January 3, 2013 at 5:24pm — No Comments

Camera’s and their uses around the farm

With the ever rising costs of equipment, inputs and pretty much everything on the farm, protecting your investment is becoming very critical.  Stolen tractors, implements, tools and anything else a thief can sell quickly, or overseas, is becoming common place in our rural communities.  Cameras are an excellent deterrent to stop would be thieves from violating your business and life.  With many farmers living at their place of business, thefts can feel violating to your entire…

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Added by Paul Smith on December 28, 2012 at 3:30am — No Comments

Forgotten Points Of Vegetable Harvest Efficiency

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…
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Added by Paul Smith on December 21, 2012 at 1:30am — No Comments

GPS Corrections and Their General Uses

After many years of precision agricultural use, many questions still exist of what is the correct correction for each operation.  I have listed the corrections available and a brief description of their uses.

Wide Area Augmentation Signal (WAAS) –

Accuracy: < 6-8”

Initialization/Convergence: Standard*

This free service provides performance suitable for agriculture applications in which accuracy and repeatability are not of the highest…

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Added by Paul Smith on December 19, 2012 at 5:30am — 3 Comments

Camera’s and their uses around the farm

With the ever rising costs of equipment, inputs and pretty much everything on the farm, protecting your investment is becoming very critical.  Stolen tractors, implements, tools and anything else a thief can sell quickly, or overseas, is becoming common place in our rural communities.  Cameras are an excellent deterrent to stop would be thieves from violating your business and life.  With many farmers living at their place of business, thefts can feel violating to your entire…

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Added by Paul Smith on December 19, 2012 at 2:30am — 4 Comments

High Quality Soil Is The Beginning To High Quality Crops

Imagine harvesting a bumper crop, in perfect loose soil with no trash, clods or rocks.  Many would say that this will never be possible here in North America.  Northern Equipment Solutions is now offering the equipment and knowledge needed to take advantage of this tried and proven technology from Europe.  Improved shape, quality, size uniformity and yield are all now possible.

Many Farms within Europe have seen the benefits of soil conditioning and quad planting, with its…

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Added by Paul Smith on December 17, 2012 at 2:46pm — No Comments

Tips To Lowering Bruise Rates – It’s A Full Season Process

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…

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Added by Paul Smith on December 17, 2012 at 3:00am — 15 Comments

Variable Rate Technology – What Is It, Can I Do It?

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…

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Added by Paul Smith on December 14, 2012 at 2:00am — No Comments

The Future of Agricultural Technology, Today

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…

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Added by Paul Smith on December 12, 2012 at 3:00am — No Comments

How To Choose A Precision Ag Dealer or Brand- And The Misconceptions Involved in Your Purchasing Decision

As a precision GPS specialist, I am amazed when my initial conversation with a new customer starts with a few common comments about precision GPS systems and the brands that represent them. My return to all of these comments is the exact same statement, but I have decided to list what someone with years of precision knowledge has to say about these mis-conceptions and not the canned my product is better that many…

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Added by Paul Smith on December 7, 2012 at 9:15pm — No Comments

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

Optimism high as Premier Moe and Prime Minister Carney talk trade with Chinese officials

With Premier Scott Moe in China with Prime Minister Mark Carney over the next few days, Provincial Agriculture Minister David Marit told reporters Tuesday morning his optimism for the tariffs on canola and other agri-food products is high. "I would have to think, for the Prime Minister to be going, that they probably think that there's some end to this, and I would hope that there would be," Marit said at the Western Development Museum following an announcement of ADF funding allocated to 39 crop research projects.  "I'm sure our Premier's going to be having the full discussion about the canola tariffs and the tariffs and the pea tariffs that we're having as important for the food supply chain and everything, and the impact it's having, not only here to the producers, but for the food that they do also need in China." When asked by Kevin Hursh, Chief Agricultural Editor of SaskAgToday.com, if it is reasonable to be optimistic unless Canada can make movement on tariffs on Chinese ele

Cargill on track to start-up canola crush facility this spring

Cargill's canola crush facility in Regina is expected to be operational this spring. The project started in 2022 and was originally set to open last fall but was delayed due to construction challenges and economic factors. Christopher Kuntz, a grain marketing advisor for Cargill's Davidson and Clavet locations, says it's a good feeling to finally have the facility come online. "I know we've been talking about this piece of infrastructure being built for well since like 2018, 2019. So having an end in sight and getting that up and running for our customers this spring is a happy event for everybody involved." he said. The plant is located on the west end of Regina, in the Global Transportation Hub for better access, Kuntz said. "It gives us an opportunity to really pull in canola from a number of different areas without having to actually go through the city of Regina, which could be a bind. Access to a couple of different rail lines as well is very important when you're setting up

National consortium formed to accelerate Canadian pea breeding through genomic selection

Today at the Saskatchewan Crops Forum, Protein Industries Canada announced a new two-year project in its Capacity Building Program with GIFS Ag Tech Enterprise Inc. and DL Seeds to develop a pea variety development database that will consolidate genetic information and data for breeders across Canada. With the University of Saskatchewan’s Crop Development Centre (CDC) and Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) serving as fundamental partners in this effort, the consortium will integrate genetic, phenotypic, environmental and pedigree data from across the country. This new data analysis platform will empower pulse breeders to leverage thousands of data points simultaneously, improving the quality and speed of breeding decisions and accelerating the development of new crop varieties. “Our government is proud to invest in this collaboration powered by Protein Industries Canada,” said the Honourable Mélanie Joly, Minister of Industry and Minister responsible for Canada Economic Developm

CPMA set to host the biggest produce show in Toronto: Early bird registration is now live

Online registration for the 2026 Canadian Produce Marketing Association’s Convention and Trade Show (CPMA 2026), taking place April 28-30, in Toronto, Ontario, is now open.

We’re Hiring! Southwestern Ontario Farmland Protection Coordinator

The Ontario Farmland Trust (OFT) is a niche land conservation organization that works to permanently protect Ontario’s farmland and associated natural features from being lost to urban sprawl and other non-agricultural uses. We are seeking a dedicated and motivated Farmland Protection Coordinator to join our team who will be responsible for supporting OFT’s farmland protection and conservation efforts in Southwestern Ontario.

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