Ontario Grain Farmer Magazine is the flagship publication of Grain Farmers of Ontario and a source of information for our province’s grain farmers.

Grain Farmers of Ontario

December 2018

In this issue:

On-farm emergencies

HAVE A PLAN FOR FIRST RESPONDERS

December 2018 - NO ONE CAN ever really prepare for an emergency. The cause, scale, and impact are unpredictable, especially on a farm where emergencies or accidents can include anything from barn fires or tractor roll overs, to…
Farmer’s voice missing

UNIVERSITY OF WATERLOO RESEARCH

December 2018 - FROM LONG-RANGE climate forecasts and GIS crop production models to satellite pest control and precision agriculture drones, Digital Farming, often in the form of Big Data and Information Communication Technology, is permeating Canadian food systems…
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The consequences of new technology

MORE TRAINING NEEDED

December 2018 - DIGITAL DATA-GATHERING technologies in agriculture, often referred to as precision agriculture, are becoming widely used across Ontario farms to monitor crop yields and they can have significant benefits when used to their full potential. But,…
Always read the data contract

NEW TECHNOLOGY’S LEGAL ISSUES

December 2018 - FARMERS ARE INCREASINGLY trying to improve productivity and profitability with farm management software systems. Those systems generate vast quantities of data about the farms on which they’re used, however, who owns and has rights to…
Artificial intelligence

USING TECHNOLOGY TO HELP WITH SCOUTING

December 2018 - EDUCATION IN AGRICULTURE from an early age and stressing the importance and need for careers in agriculture has been a theme within the industry for years. Both ring true — educating young people in agriculture…
Growing a new brand

BREVANT SEEDS

December 2018 - A NEW SEED brand is on the market with a streamlined product offering that is more closely tailored to the region in which the crops are grown. “Farmers won’t have to worry about nuances around…
Charging up

RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN ELECTRIC TRACTORS

December 2018 - “IMAGINE A FARM where electric agricultural vehicles, some autonomous, some conventional, are connected to charging points in large solar PV equipped ‘carport-style’ machinery sheds, earning additional income from so-called ‘vehicle-to-grid’ network balancing services while they…
A toxic issue

FROM THE CEO'S DESK

December 2018 - DON, ONE TYPE of Vomitoxin in corn, seems to be one of those lingering problems that, despite our best efforts, we can’t find a solution for. It’s been another challenging year for grain farmers in…
Glyphosate-resistant Canada fleabane

MANAGEMENT WITH COVER CROPS AND TILLAGE

December 2018 - DR. CLARENCE SWANTON (University of Guelph) used to say that based on research he did in the 1980s, one should not expect to control weeds with cover crops. Their utility was in preventing soil erosion…
Cropside: Field trial ‘R&R’

AGRONOMIC INFORMATION FROM ONTARIO'S CROP SPECIALISTS

December 2018 - THE 2018 CROPPING season is over and you might be thinking about trials for 2019. OMAFRA field crop staff harp on the importance of randomization and replication (R&R) to get the most out of field…
Business side: No trespassing

CONVERSATIONS WITH BUSINESS EXPERTS

December 2018 - (J.M) HOW CAN FARMERS PREVENT TRESPASSERS ON THEIR PROPERTY? (K.S.) Whether intentional or not, trespassing occurs across rural Ontario. Simply defined, trespassing is the unlawful entry onto private property of another and can include conducting…
P and K management

FINDING AN ECONOMIC AND SUSTAINABLE STRATEGY

December 2018 - SOIL TEST PHOSPHORUS (P) and Potassium (K) values in Ontario have been declining. Higher yields remove more nutrients and not enough fertilizer is being applied to replace the P and K being removed. Soybean yields…
GrainTALK for December 2018

GET THE LATEST NEWS FROM GRAIN FARMERS OF ONTARIO

December 2018 - FROM THE CHAIR A Q&A with Grain Farmers of Ontario chair, Markus Haerle. 2018 has been a very active year politically and we have faced several agronomic challenges. What have your experiences been as the new…
An entrepreneurial spirit

2018-19 ASA YOUNG LEADER PROGRAM

December 2018 - STARTING A BUSINESS as a young entrepreneur isn’t easy in any industry. In farming, the added challenges of the high cost of land, specialized equipment, and agronomic knowledge can be daunting — especially for someone…
A new Bayer

HIGHER EXPECTATIONS AFTER MONSANTO ACQUISITION

December 2018 - CLIMATE CHANGE, AND its effect on farming, troubles many producers and others in the agri-food system. Individuals can make management decisions so their own farms are more environmentally friendly, but sometimes there’s a feeling of…
Changing nitrogen use

RESEARCHING THE POSSIBILITIES IN MEXICAN CORN

December 2018 - AN OPEN-POLLINATED variety of corn bred by Mexican farmers in the state of Oaxaca may be the key to developing commercial corn varieties that can provide their own nitrogen rather than depending on commercial fertilizer.…