GoCrops.ca

FOR OVER 80 YEARS, ONTARIO FARMERS HAVE RELIED ON third-party variety performance and hybrid trial information to help guide their seed selection choices for corn, soybeans, cereals, canola, and edible beans.

What originated as large booklets of printed sheets for farmers to review hybrid and variety information and evaluate agronomic performance, including yield, pest and disease resistance, quality of crop varieties, and other agronomic parameters, evolved into individual crop-specific websites that were available for farmers, agronomists, seed companies, end users, and others to access data and make informed decisions. New in March of 2024, those web-based sites will be consolidated into a single website with a fresh new look consistent across all crop types.

Grain Farmers of Ontario, with full support from four Ontario crop committees (the Ontario Cereal Crops Committee, historically found at www.gocereals.ca covering trials for winter wheat, spring wheat, barley, and oat), the Ontario Corn Committee (historically found at www.gocorn.net), the Ontario Soybean and Canola Committee (historically found at www.gosoy.ca), and the Ontario Pulse Crop Committee (historically found at www.gobeans.ca covering trials for dry edible beans), have consolidated four individual websites into one single site www.GoCrops.ca.

The new streamlined website has a modern, cohesive feel, with a consistent look and easier navigation within each crop committee page and each crop committee page to access trial information. The site is also compliant with the Ontario Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA), which eliminates any barriers to accessing information. Also, a new functionality for the site is that it will be mobile-friendly, as numerous users have commented on the need to access the trial data from any device.

“The Ontario Corn Committee website was in need of an overhaul,” states Ben Rosser, corn specialist with the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA). “By consolidating the crop committee websites, it has allowed for the perfect opportunity to update the look, feel, and functionality of the corn committee site while ensuring the long-term viability of trial data being easily accessible to Ontario farmers.”

EASY-TO-USE FUNCTIONALITY

When logging onto the new GoCrops.ca hub, users will see a main landing page allowing them to select which crop trials they want to view. By simply clicking on each navigation button, they will be transferred to the individual committee page to access the data for each crop represented. They can easily maneuver back to the main hub to access another committee page.

When looking behind the scenes, the coding language used for the website has also been updated, further enhancing the user experience and ensuring the website’s longevity. In some cases, if sites have become too outdated, the site may be susceptible to security issues. It could also be prone to becoming non-functioning and unsupported by internet servers. With the recent update, the new site should be supported for the foreseeable future. A search bar has also been added so that users can easily find what they are looking for on each committee page.

For those working ‘behind the scenes’ with the various crop committees, there is also a “committee only” side of the websites used for committee members and seed companies inputting varieties and hybrids into the provincial trials. This area of the website has also undergone redevelopment, updating coding as well as the visual and functionality aspects, similar to the farmer- facing pages.

“This new GoCrops.ca website provides Ontario farmers with an invaluable tool when considering their seed selection decisions,” says Matthew Czerwinski, Grain Farmers of Ontario’s research lead and Ontario Cereal Crops Committee chair. “Modernizing the website allows for mobile-friendly delivery of variety performance trial data for farmers to access from any device, eliminates accessibility barriers in accessing information, and ensures the long-term viability of the performance trial data stream to allow continued management of performance trial data well into the future.”

CROSS-CROP COLLABORATION

The collaborative approach of developing the new website brought together stakeholders from across the sector involved in the crop committees to create the best site possible for knowledge transfer of variety, hybrid and quality information to farmers and the agriculture industry.

A special thanks is extended to the four crop committees and the GoCrops.ca website subcommittee members for their efforts towards this consolidated website.

Be sure to visit the new GoCrops.ca website and bookmark it for future use!

GoCrops.ca was developed by the Ontario Cereal Crops Committee, Ontario Corn Committee, Ontario Pulse Crop Committee, and Ontario Soybean and Canola Committee, with funding support in part from the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs and Grain Farmers of Ontario.

Laura Austin Ferrier, CCA, is Grain Farmers of Ontario’s agronomist. •