Ontario Agriculture

The network for agriculture in Ontario, Canada

Corn is in the ground!

My corn is planted and on its way up!  It was none too warm on the weekend while I sat on my open air tractor planting two fields of corn.  The cold rain on Monday gave me a bit to worry about, daytime highs of 13C are not particularly desirable, but the heat has shown up and the corn seed has noticed.  Only5 days in the ground and I have an up shoot. The forecast has some reasonable temperatures called for, so I hope to see it out of the ground by the end of next week.

I have been told, if it doesn't rain after you plant, that seed will look shallower every time you check, get a rain and you won't believe how deep it is.  After planting, I got a good 6 tenths.  I looks a good inch deeper than the day I put it in the ground.  I just about quit digging down when I found that little seed with a good inch of root and a small nub of an up shoot.  The ground is cracking nicely so I don't expect any issue with a crust stopping emersion, but there is a lot more rain in the forecast before that happens.

Planting didn't go particularly smooth.  I am pretty sure I didn't miss planting any rows, although I had to replant one when one of four row ran out of seed early.   Had a chain jump off the drive for the fertilizer, resulting in a second repeat run, but other than that I did my part well.  The fertilizer however, was in a hurry to get in the ground.  It was running a good 60% faster than the chart.  I believe I have one round with close to 400 lbs on it.  But I was thinking clear enough to mark my adjustments with a flag, so i should be able to get some good trial data from the extra 2 tonnes I had to buy.  

I am going to try a bit of non-roundup ready corn, to see how it yields and how weed control compares to the roundup ready variety.  The seed supplier was very concerned about selling me non-RR corn, concerned I would spray it the same way.  Never been a problem using different herbicides between corn and Soybeans, don't see why this was such a concern, other than someone has clearly forgot about the different varieties in the past.  My two fields are separated by a road, so I am not too concerned...until I completely loose my mind.

Next step is the herbicide, I haven't finalized what to use, but likely will take advantage of the next calm dry day to make something happen.  I have a week after all why rush the decision.  Not in any rush to plant the soybeans yet, but I am sure I will get the itch soon enough.

Views: 208

Comment

You need to be a member of Ontario Agriculture to add comments!

Join Ontario Agriculture

Comment by Roadrunner on May 17, 2012 at 1:22am

Good work Gus.

I hope your crops do well.

RR

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

Water Stewardship: A Ranching Family’s Approach to Conservation and Changing Landscapes

Nestled in the arid South Okanagan, Thomas Ranches is a multigenerational operation that balances ranching with conservation. In 2000, the Thomas family sold their land to The Nature Trust of British Columbia, preserving natural habitat while continuing cattle operations under a lease agreement. Today, Brian Thomas manages 200 head of cattle on 350 acres, with the remaining 1,650 acres dedicated to wildlife habitat. Effective water management is crucial to sustaining both livestock and the surrounding ecosystem in this dry region. Balancing Water Needs in a Shifting Landscape Thomas Ranches relies on a creek-fed storage dam and an extensive irrigation system. This helps them manage water shortages in a dry climate that gets less than a foot of annual rainfall. Frequent droughts have intensified competition for water resources, and the impacts of increasing population growth, tourism and conservation efforts place additional demands on an already limited supply. Wildfires also pose o

International Association for Food Protection Elects Maria Hoffmann to Executive Board

Members of the International Association for Food Protection elected Dr. Maria Hoffmann to the Executive Board as Secretary. Dr. Hoffmann will take office at the conclusion of IAFP 2026 in New Orleans, Louisiana, and will fulfill a five-year commitment to the Association, serving as President beginning in July 2029. Dr. Hoffmann is a Genomics Research Scientist in the Human Foods Program at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in Washington, D.C., where she leads national- and internationally-recognized initiatives to advance the genomic epidemiology of foodborne pathogens. Over the past two decades, she has worked at the intersection of science, public health, and food safety policy, developing advanced genomic methods, building global networks, and strengthening outbreak detection through whole genome sequencing (WGS). She began her public health career at the Institute for Hygiene and Environment in Hamburg before joining the FDA in 2007. An active IAFP Member since 2014, D

Canadian government commits to national soil health strategy

The federal government will work with a national organization to support soil health across the country

Nebraska fires burn grazing lands, threaten plans to grow US cattle herd

Wildfires burn nearly 775,000 acres in Nebraska Land is a grazing resource for about 40,000 cows Producers look for alternative pasture lands, feed Massive wildfires have burned vast swaths of grazing lands in Nebraska, endangering cattle producers' plans for production increases that could help ease record-high U.S. ?beef prices. The loss of grasslands in the second-biggest cattle-producing state removes a feed source for herds and could delay ranchers ?from expanding as they struggle with widespread drought, state and industry officials said. Fueled by fierce winds, fires have burned nearly 775,000 acres since last week, covering an area about the size of Rhode Island, according to data from the Nebraska Emergency Management Agency. It added the causes of the fires are undetermined. The largest Morrill Fire was ?about 67% contained as of Thursday after being first reported on March 12, the agency said. That amount of land is a grazing ?resource for about 40,000 cows, said Sherry

Canada offers financial aid to farmers and companies affected by Iran war price spikes

Canada's federally backed farm lender is offering financial aid ?to farmers, agricultural businesses and food ?companies hit by the spike in fertilizer and energy prices, it said on Friday. Borrowers from the ?Farm Credit Canada program will be ?able to receive a new or additional ?credit line of up to C$500,000 ($364,670.70), ?to modify terms and to defer principal ?payments on existing loans. The money will come from an expansion of the Trade Disruption Customer Support Program, ?which was introduced in March 2025 to ?help agriculture and food borrowers hit by U.S. tariffs. It will ?now ?also provide support to help producers and agribusinesses "manage financial pressures caused by unexpected market shocks," Friday's statement said. Fertilizer prices have soared ?since the Iran ?war began ?at the end of February and led to the closure ?of the Strait of Hormuz to ?most ?shipping, disrupting urea and sulphur supplies from the Gulf. As a result, farmers around the world are ?strugg

© 2026   Created by Darren Marsland.   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service