Corn growers concerned about nitrogen loss Tuesday, June 7, 2011 by BETTER FARMING STAFFIt has been a challenging start to the growing season but most growers across Ontario have likely finished planting corn, says the province’s corn expert.Greg Stewart, the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs corn industry lead, estimated Monday that about 85 per cent of the province’s corn crop had been planted.Farmers east of Toronto intent to get that final 30 per cent into the ground “certainly could have,” says Stewart. In areas where heavy clay soil predominates, such as in the Niagara region and Southwestern Ontario, “I’m thinking they’re still going today (Monday).”He says farmers have been calling the province’s CropLine with some concerns about corn planted mid-May or earlier that didn’t come up very well after sitting in saturated conditions.The level of the residual nitrogen supply for crops planted around May 9 is another frequent question: How much of the nitrogen applied around that date might have disappeared? Stewart says he’s not concerned about the disappearance of the nitrogen supply so much in lighter soils, ranging from loam to sand, as he is in really heavy soils that sat in saturated conditions.That’s because in Ontario, “a lot of our nitrogen gets lost from saturated conditions where it goes through denitrification and goes off as N2 gas.”To estimate the loss, he recommends taking soil nitrate samples once the field has dried out “and try to get a feel for, Are we low, medium or high in terms of the amount of nitrate that we’re seeing in the profile?”At least the sampling will “gives you some sort of a place to start,” he says. BF Soybeans are 75 per cent planted Study finds Canada's food sector 'remarkably adaptive'
Calf Auction Raises Funds for Youth Monday, June 30, 2025 Wyatt Westman-Frijters from Milverton won a heifer calf named Ingrid through a World Milk Day promotion by Maplevue Farms and a local Perth, Ontario radio station. Instead of keeping the calf, 22-year-old Westman-Frijters chose to give back to the community. The calf was sent to the... Read this article online
Cattle Stress Tool May Boost Fertility Friday, June 27, 2025 Kansas State University researchers have developed a cool tool that may help reduce cattle stress and improve artificial insemination (AI) results. The idea came from animal science experts Nicholas Wege Dias and Sandy Johnson, who observed that cattle accustomed to their environment... Read this article online
Ontario pasture lands get $5M boost Friday, June 27, 2025 The governments of Canada and Ontario are investing up to $5 million to strengthen shared community grazing pastures. This funding supports the province’s plan to protect Ontario’s agriculture sector and help cattle farmers improve pasture quality, ensuring long-term sustainability and... Read this article online
Health Canada sets rules for drone spraying Wednesday, June 25, 2025 Health Canada has approved the use of drones, also called Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS), for pesticide application under the Pest Control Products Act (PCPA). Drones are considered aircraft by Transport Canada, but Health Canada treats them differently due to their unique... Read this article online
Twelve Ontario Agri-Businesses Receive Funding Support Wednesday, June 25, 2025 Bioenterprise Canada has announced the successful recipients of the second call for proposals under the Ontario Agri-Food Research Initiative (OAFRI) Commercialization Stream. Twelve organizations across Ontario will receive support to bring innovative agri-food solutions to the... Read this article online