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: Lois Harris

The survivors

STRONG SUPPORT HELPS BEAT BACK CANCER

June 2024 - A CANCER DIAGNOSIS CAN BE A DEVASTATING SETBACK FOR YOUNG, BUSY FARMERS, but with personal grit and support from family, friends, and empathetic members of the agricultural community, they can not only survive but thrive.…
Peter Sikkema retires

INTO THE WEEDS FOR MORE THAN 30 YEARS

April 2024 - EVEN AFTER THREE DECADES OF RESEARCHING WEEDS AND HOW TO CONTROL THEM, Dr. Peter Sikkema is still amazed by the science. “I’m turning 66, and never have I been more fascinated by the intersection between…
New phosphorus products

GREY-BRUCE FARMERS’ WEEK PANEL DISCUSS OPTIONS

March 2024 - PHOSPHORUS (P) BOOSTING PRODUCTS can benefit crop health and the environment, provided growers understand their soil fertility well and ensure they are incorporated in the right place at the right time. “My playbook when you…
Weed management

INCREASING YIELDS AND PROFITS

February 2024 - ACCORDING TO DR. PETER SIKKEMA, careful weed management in soybeans can increase yields and profits while bringing an astonishing 344 per cent return on investment (ROI). “My goal is to incrementally advance the science of…
Passionate advocate recognized

RAY ROBERTSON INDUCTED INTO HALL OF FAME

October 2023 - ASK THOSE WHO know him about Ray Robertson; the words dedicated and communicator come up frequently. Robertson is well known in the farm community and is being inducted into both the Ontario and Canadian Agricultural…
Bin-busting wheat yields

TWO-TIME GUINNESS WORLD RECORD GROWER ERIC WATSON

September 2023 - ERIC WATSON’S TWO-TIME Guinness World record for wheat yields came with a lot of planning, testing, hard work, and luck with the weather, but the most important thing was timing. “It’s crucial to get the…
Ontario mill fills a niche market

FERGUS-AREA ENTREPRENEUR BUILDS SUCCESSFUL BUSINESS

August 2023 - WHEN MELISSA MCKEOWN and her brother Trevor were casting around for ideas that combined their farm background with their entrepreneurial spirit, they landed on local organic flour milling. It was an excellent choice that became…
Wacky weather

LA NINA, LA NINO, AND THE JET STREAM

April 2023 - DISTRUPTIVE WEATHER PATTERNS like too much rain causing flooding, too little rain causing drought, windstorms, snow storms, hail, tornadoes and more can be explained by the jet stream, according to Andrew Pritchard. “When we talk…
Biologicals

THE PROMISES AND PERILS

March 2023 - AS THE NEED to reduce carbon footprints grows, interest and investments in developing biological pesticides and fertilizers have exploded in recent years, but their effectiveness remains questionable. “Large sums of money are being invested in…
Taking the fight to Fusarium

ONGOING RESEARCH TO MITIGATE ITS IMPACT

February 2023 - UNIVERSITY OF GUELPH researchers are finding and validating new chemical and biological weapons in the battle against Fusarium, a fungal disease that has devastating effects on wheat and corn crops. CHEMICALS “Adepidyn is a relatively…