July/August 2012
The Big Picture: Building better bridges
By: Melanie Epp
“FOR TOO LONG now, those of us in agriculture have been letting someone else do the talking,” says fifth generation South Dakotan cattle rancher, Troy Hadrick. He and his wife Stacy suggest that the best way to combat negativity towards agriculture is to stand up and tell your own story. The couple has been travelling around the world, speaking to farmers about how they too can become Advocates for Agriculture. PHOTO: TROY AND STACY HADRICKYou might remember Troy from
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July/August 2012
Research roundup
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SULPHUR COULD IMPROVE wheat yields and qualitySamantha BeattieIncreasingly strict emissions standards in Ontario and globally over the past 20 years have successfully reduced acid rainfall…but it has also resulted in less sulphur available to crops. Sulphur is needed to maintain quality and yield of wheat and other crops.In response, University of Guelph Food Science Prof. Koushik Seetharaman and Dr. Jayne Bock, along with Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Cereals
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July/August 2012
Farmers hit the virtual books
By: Amy Petherick
IT’S NOT UNUSUAL for farmers to spend some time attending winter seminars and conferences. But some have started upgrading their knowledge base year round, thanks to some new ‘schools’ popping up on the web.Universities and colleges have been offering distance ed classes online for years. But a farmer looking for industry specific, and homework-free, information used to be best served by grower meetings. Now, thanks to people like Shaun Haney of Haney Farms, a seed production business
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July/August 2012
Future of Grain
By: --
TRACKING PRODUCTION IN OntarioGrain Farmers of Ontario is keeping track of crops through an interactive map. It’s designed to keep the public up-to-date on what’s happening in the fields they pass by every day, and help the media report on the progress of the growing season across the province. Planting was tracked throughout the spring, and now harvest information will be updated weekly. With the help of a network of farmers strategically placed across the province, county by
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July/August 2012
Ethanol-ready corn
By: Meghan Burke
CORN DESIGNED SPECIFICALLY to meet the needs of the ethanol industry has been released in the United States. The corn variety, created by Syngenta and sold under the name Enogen™, was approved by the USDA last year and has been planted in the Western Cornbelt, near major ethanol plants, for this growing season. A total of 20,000 acres are expected to be harvested in 2012. WHAT IS ENOGENtm?Enogen™ is a bio-engineered corn variety designed to improve efficiency and productivity of
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July/August 2012
Cropside: What's STRAW worth?
By: Peter Johnson, Cereal Specialist, Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs
THERE ARE NOT many wheat acres, and April weather hammered any hopes we had for big straw yields. The crop is SHORT! (Photo 1). All those cold nights not only frosted off leaves, but limited internode extension as well. Frozen leaves make less leaf tissue for straw, less photosynthate for big stems, and no internode extension means short stems. The weather stress resulted in far more surfactant burn (Photo 2) than normal from herbicide and fungicide
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July/August 2012
Mid-season field update
By: Tina Hanley, Ontario CCA Program Administrator
AS PLANTING NEARED completion in most areas of Ontario, we asked a few Certified Crop Advisors (CCAs) from across the province to comment on what they were seeing in the fields as the growing season began and what you should be watching for later in the summer. niagara peninsulaJohn Hussack, CCA-ON, Clark AgriServiceIn the Niagara Peninsula drought is quickly becoming a major concern. With most corn and soybeans planted, concern arises with no immediate rain; will corn and soybeans
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July/August 2012
Marketing mission
By: Rachel Telford
THE EUROPEAN UNION imports approximately 13 to 14 million metric tonnes of soybeans every year - and there is still a demand for more. Canadian farmers could help to fill that demand, but need to better understand the market and the issues surrounding import requirements. That was the focus of a recent investigative mission to Europe led by the Canadian Soybean Council and organized by the Canadian International Grains Institute (Cigi). Representatives from Grain Farmers of Ontario, the
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July/August 2012
GFO Newsletter for July/August 2012
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INSECTS AND DISEASES Research InsertIncluded in the magazine you will find the Grain Farmers of Ontario research insert on Insects and Diseases.This year, we have separated our Research Guide into sections based on the Agronomy, Insects and Diseases, Crop Utilization and Quality and Breeding and Genetics priority areas of Grain Farmers of Ontario. Each section will be published in a separate Ontario Grain Farmer Magazine issue throughout the year when it is most applicable.The
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July/August 2012
Innovative ideas
By: Melanie Epp
AFTER YEARS OF battling soil erosion, Marion Calmer, farmer, researcher and CEO of Calmer Corn Heads, decided something needed to be done. “I guess I felt a personal need at my home farm to do a better job of controlling soil erosion,” says Calmer. “I honestly felt that I had more of an erosion problem from the lack of waterways – or waterways that weren’t in good repair – than I did from any of the hillsides or cropland acres that I had.”About 5 years ago, rather than hire a contractor,
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