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

Author: Christine Brown

CropSide – Improving the circular economy of manure

AGRONOMIC INFORMATION FROM ONTARIO'S CROP SPECIALISTS

February 2025 - WHAT IS A CIRCULAR ECONOMY? “Circular economy” has become a popular phrase when referring to sustainable practices. In a circular economy, nothing is waste. “The circular economy retains and recovers as much value as possible…
Nitrogen availability

AGRONOMIC INFORMATION FROM ONTARIO'S CROP SPECIALISTS

February 2024 - ADDING PH AND CARBON TO NITROGEN (C:N) ratio to the manure analysis could help fine-tune nitrogen (N) predictions for corn and wheat crops. Wouldn’t it be nice if we could predict how much N from…
Benefits of manure

AGRONOMIC INFORMATION FROM ONTARIO'S CROP SPECIALISTS

February 2023 - THE VALUE OF an organic amendment comes in the nutrients provided along with other components that benefit soil health. The benefit that adding manure brings to soil often is difficult to measure in the short…
Black gold

AGRONOMIC INFORMATION FROM ONTARIO'S CROP SPECIALISTS

February 2022 - MANURE HAS OFTEN been described as agriculture’s “black gold” and with rapidly increasing fertilizer prices the term has never been more accurate. And yet, surprisingly, there are many livestock producers that don’t take regular manure…
Cropside: N credits from manure

AGRONOMIC INFORMATION FROM ONTARIO'S CROP SPECIALISTS

January 2021 - HOW MUCH NITROGEN (N) will be available next spring, from manure applied after harvest will depend on a number of factors. Factors range from manure and soil characteristics in the field to weather conditions –…
Cropside: Consider soil health

AGRONOMIC INFORMATION FROM ONTARIO'S CROP SPECIALISTS

February 2020 - THE NEW CANADA’S FOOD GUIDE suggests replacing animal proteins with plant proteins more often. The perception among many in society is that livestock protein is a major source of greenhouse gases and should be completely…
Cropside: Soil health economics

AGRONOMIC INFORMATION FROM ONTARIO'S CROP SPECIALISTS

January 2019 - THE ECOLOGY OF the soil is complex and interconnected. Comparing the soil to a country’s economy reminds us that everything is part of a system and that for every action there is a reaction. There…
Cropside: A neighbourhood plan

AGRONOMIC INFORMATION FROM ONTARIO'S CROP SPECIALISTS

January 2018 - WHEN IT COSTS more to apply manure to high fertility fields than the manure is worth, a neighbourhood nutrient management plan may be an economical alternative. The cost of handling manure is associated with the…
Cropside: Sustaining SOM

AGRONOMIC INFORMATION FROM ONTARIO'S CROP SPECIALISTS

February 2017 - SOIL ORGANIC MATTER (SOM) levels are decreasing in Ontario; something we all intuitively know, but since the decline occurs so slowly, it is easy to ignore. The decline is in part due to less complex…
Cropside: Sustaining soil

AGRONOMIC INFORMATION FROM ONTARIO'S CROP SPECIALISTS

February 2016 - IF THE ORGANIC matter levels of Ontario soils could be somehow magically increased by one percent, the impact would be significant. Beyond healthier soils and increased yields, Ontario farmers would observe better water infiltration and…