Ontario Agriculture

The network for agriculture in Ontario, Canada

Spring work and..Surveys?

Been doing my best not to plant corn yet.  Nights are just too cold.  Taking the extra time to get things ready has been well worth it.  While moving equipment around I noticed a slash on the front tire of my planting tractor.  At first I thought I had driven over something, but it was far worse.  The rubber was simply peeling away from the cords.  Can't be too upset, the tires were likely over 20 years old.  My first thought was replace the damaged one, then I immediately decided, the other one can't be that good either, it wasn't.  On close inspection I could see the cords on that tire too.  

You may be wondering why I am thinking this is all a good thing.  It may have cost me over $500 to get new tires, but i changed them in the barn, not at the back of the field with only a few acres to go on a Saturday night.  Usually if something simple can go wrong it has an amazing ability to do so at the worst possible time, and those tires were not likely to survive rolling on bean straw, it can be amazingly strong when it doesn't need to.

So with properly inflated tires, full tanks of fuel, greased equipment, I am one fertilizer delivery away from starting this years planting.  I won't be the first, the neighbour seeded his first field today.  I am still cautious with the near 0 temperatures in the night, but the forecast is looking warmer, and I doubt the weekend can go by without starting the work.

Now markets have been interesting of late, with Soybeans demanding such a high price relative to corn, planting intentions have got to be changing. By the shear number of farm surveys that have come my direction, i get the feeling the players want to know how much and they are asking a lot of farmers to find out.  

Generally I respond to surveys, sometimes you can score a check for $20 to $50.  But other times I get the feeling its just a ploy.  So far on six occasions in the past 2 months I have been asked to complete an internet survey, and would be given $50 for it, if I qualified.  What goes into qualifying, essentially two questions, how much of each crop did you plant last year, and what you plan to plant this year.  If by chance you do qualify, its likely a survey about seed or pesticides.  But I get the feeling most give up that valuable planting intensions info for nothing.  It doesn't bother me that some firm wants to know, but they could be upfront about it, or maybe they just ignore that info they collected to qualify me (doubt it).  

The way I look at it, everyone likes to give their opinion when not asked, even on how to solve complex global political problems, or how people should vote, what religions should be allowed to do, or even when freedom of speech should be limited.  But phone them and they hang up.  Sounds backward doesn't it. Oh well, I will happily give my opinions, and if I score an extra few bucks the better, and I actually did qualify twice, and the checks didn't bounce.

Looking forward to a safe and efficient start to my planting and maybe a bump in corn prices to make planting it instead of beans worth the extra effort.

Views: 101

Comment

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

Join Ontario Agriculture

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

Ag in the House: Dec. 1 – 5

A Liberal minister reminded the House the carbon tax doesn’t apply to farmer

Ontario Animal Health Network (OAHN) Swine Network Quarterly Industry Report

Starting in 2015, Senecavirus A (SVA) has caused intermittent complications with respect to the export of Canadian cull animals to the United States. This disease resembles reportable swine vesicular diseases. This is a national issue and since June 2025 has impacted Ontario cull sow movements. In July 2025, the APHIS and the USDA removed the export eligibility status for a cull sow assembly in Ontario due to SVA lesions being seen in cull sows sent to a USDA processing facility. These lesions initiated foreign animal disease investigations at this US processing plant. The suspect animal(s) were initially quarantined for individual inspection and further testing. Since the initial site, another 2 Ontario cull sow assembly sites have also had their export eligibility status revoked by APHIS and the USDA for similar reasons. The affected assembly sites accept cull sows from Quebec, the Maritimes and Ontario. Each affected assembly site must action the USDA requirements including emptyin

New restrictions placed on hunting, farming 'incredibly destructive' wild boars in Alberta

Wild boars have been declared "a pest in all circumstances" by the Alberta government effective Dec. 1, meaning new restrictions have been placed on keeping them in captivity and hunting them in the wild. It is now illegal to keep, buy, sell, obtain or transport wild boars in Alberta without a permit. That also means no new wild boar farms will be permitted in the province. The hunting and trapping of wild boars in Alberta is banned as well, with the exception of land owners or occupants killing the animals on their own land. Any person who kills a wild boar is now required to report the date, location and number of boars killed to the province as soon as possible. Hannah McKenzie, the province's wild boar specialist, says the changes were made due to the dangers posed by existing wild boar populations and the risks associated with more escaping from captivity. "In addition to damaging agriculture and the environment, wild boar pose a serious risk for the introduction and spread of

CUSMA Review Raises Concerns Over Potential U.S. Tariffs on Canadian Pork

As the first formal review of the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA) approaches in July, pork producers across North America are bracing for potential impacts—especially the possibility of new U.S. tariffs on Canadian agriculture. Florian Possberg, Partner at Polar Pork Farms, says the U.S. political landscape is shaping expectations. He notes that U.S. President Donald Trump has repeatedly pushed for a baseline 15% tariff on foreign goods in recent global trade discussions. If that approach carries into the CUSMA renegotiation, it could disrupt one of the pork sector’s most critical trade corridors. Free Trade Has Been Essential for Pork Movement Possberg emphasizes that under CUSMA, both live hogs and processed pork products have flowed freely across borders without tariffs. This freedom is especially important given the highly integrated nature of North America’s pork supply chain. The best-case scenario, he adds, is that tariff-free access continues unchanged. The wor

FCC report highlights productivity as key to Canada’s agricultural future

Canadian farmers could see significant income gains and new opportunities if agricultural productivity growth returns to historic highs. The Farm Credit Canada (FCC) report titled Reigniting agricultural productivity in Canada, estimates that boosting productivity growth to two per cent annually could unlock $30 billion in additional farm income, generate $31 billion in GDP, and create nearly 23,000 jobs across the country. Canada has long been a standout among global food producers. Over the past half-century, the agriculture industry has achieved significant productivity growth through better farm management, improved input efficiency and technological innovation. The report warns, however, that productivity growth has slowed in recent years, threatening the industry’s competitiveness and Canada’s ability to meet growing national and global food demand. “Canada’s agricultural productivity growth has consistently outpaced other G7 countries for more than three decades, showing the s

© 2025   Created by Darren Marsland.   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service