Ontario Agriculture

The network for agriculture in Ontario, Canada

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: 97

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

Hot, Dry Weather Pushes Harvest Ahead — But Moisture Reserves Take a Hit

Hot, dry weather across Alberta over the past week has sped up harvest and dried down crops quickly, giving producers a solid jump in progress — but at the cost of rapidly depleting soil moisture reserves. Provincial harvest of major crops is now 22% complete, a 14-point jump from the week prior. That’s slightly ahead of both the five-year average of 21% and the 10-year average of 17% for this time of year. Regional harvest progress of major crops: South: 33% complete (+13 from last week) Central: 16% (+13) North East: 18% (+14) North West: 24% (+18) Peace: 20% (+12) Peas and cereals led the charge. Dry pea harvest is 77% complete, spring barley is 29%, spring wheat is 26%, and oats are 17%. Canola, usually the last crop off, is just 3% harvested, though 28% of fields are already swathed. Moisture Ratings Sliding While the heat is ideal for harvest, it is taking a toll on soil reserves. Surface moisture: 45% rated good to excellent (down 12 points from last week). Sub-surface moi

All Wheat Stocks Fall to Lowest on Record

Canadian all wheat stocks as of July 31 were down from a year earlier and the lowest on record as 2024-25 exports ran hot. According to a Statistics Canada grain stocks report released Tuesday, total nationwide all wheat stocks as of July 31 – ending stocks for the 2024-25 crop year – amounted to 4.112 million tonnes. That is down more than 22% from 5.278 million a year earlier and just slightly below the previous July low of 4.169 million notched in 2022, in records dating back to 1980. July 31 durum stocks were reported at 496,000 tonnes, down almost 26% on the year and a new low as well. All wheat commercial stocks as of July 31 were down about 10% to 2.397 million tonnes, while on-farm stocks fell by more than one-third to 1.715 million. Deliveries of wheat rose 9.1% year over year to 35.2 million tonnes as of July 31, Statscan said. Total wheat exports rose 15.4% to a record 29.2 million tonnes on strong global demand, “possibly due to lower exports from other major wheat

Barley Stocks Edge Higher; Oats Fall by More than One-Quarter

Canadian barley stockpiles as of July 31 were a bit heavier compared to a year earlier, while oats stocks were markedly lighter. Tuesday’s Statistics Canada stocks report pegged July 31 barley stocks at 1.249 million tonnes, up 8.4% from the previous year’s stocks of 1.152 million and the highest for the date since 2017 at 2.122. Meanwhile, July 31 total oat stocks fell 24.3% from a year earlier to 507,000 tonnes, the lowest since July 2022 at 333,000. StatsCan attributed the rise in total July 31 barley stocks to heavier on-farm inventories, which were estimated at 994,000 tonnes, up 13.2% from a year earlier. Barley stocks in commercial hands declined, falling to 255,000 tonnes from 273,000 the previous year. Deliveries of barley off farm decreased 6% to 4.1 million tonnes as of July 31, while exports fell 7.2% year over year to 2.8 million tonnes, StatsCan said. Barley used largely for feed purposes fell 2.6% to 5.1 million tonnes. For oats, commercial stocks rose 3.4% to 24

Gearing up for Parliament’s return

Agriculture Minister Heath MacDonald is going to have to produce results, an ag policy analyst says

Research Projects and Companies Supported Through OAFRI

Canada and Ontario invest $4.77 million through OAFRI, supporting 48 projects and 20 companies to boost research, innovation, and resilience in the agri-food sector.

© 2025   Created by Darren Marsland.   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service