Jeffrey Carter

CHATHAM-KENT, Ont. — Odette Ménard’s interest in no-till began with equipment, but the soil specialist with Quebec’s agriculture ministry now relegates hardware to a supporting role. “No-till is not the solution in itself,” she said at Tomato Day March 3. “We have to get into the whole system.” Ménard said transitioning to no-till or zero-till […] Read more

Ontario field study showed copper can make disease pressure worse

CHATHAM-KENT, Ont. — North American tomato growers have been questioning the efficiency of copper-based bacterial disease control for years. It turns out their skepticism is warranted. “Not only did the copper do nothing in our trials, sometimes the disease pressure was worse,” Mary Hausbeck, a vegetable disease specialist at Michigan State University, told the recent […] Read more

Introducing new predators and increasing the population of existing ones provide alternative methods of pest control

LONDON, Ont. — Ontario farm groups might be lobbying for continued neonicotinoid insecticide use, but the Innovative Farmers Association of Ontario isn’t shying away from listening to the other side. Dwayne Beck, director of the Dakota Lakes Research Farm, cited work conducted by John Tooker of Pennsylvania State University, who found that while the insecticides […] Read more

Study showed 75 percent of cropland has high or excessively high levels and adding more has little impact on yields

HARROW, Ont. — Far less phosphorus is tied up in Ontario soil than previously thought, says an Agriculture Canada researcher. “It was not a correct theory. Most of it is available,” TieQuan Zhang told the recent Innovative Farmers Association of Ontario conference. The implications are enormous because phosphorus loading of the Great Lakes system is […] Read more

New low-skilled foreign workers program fails to provide migrant protections, say critics

DRESDEN, Ont. — Canada’s Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program is touted as a model for migrant worker programming around the world, but it is often panned by the worker advocates and academics who have studied it. The federal government had intended to drop SAWP when it launched the low-skilled component of the Temporary Foreign Workers Program […] Read more

Producers want violators of biosecurity and transportation rules punished

RIDGETOWN, Ont. — Governments must enforce protocols and pig movement as a way to tackle North America’s No. 1 swine disease, says an American veterinarian. “I think we can eradicate PRRS (porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome), but we need more oomph to get everyone to participate,” Dr. Tim Loula of the Swine Vet Centre in […] Read more

Ontario producer uses the measurement to adjust a sow’s diet after breeding to increase piglet weight gain

RIDGETOWN, Ont. — A young Ontario pork producer credits a back-fat measurement program for impressive numbers at his family’s operation. Graham Learn told the Southwestern Ontario Pork Conference Feb. 18 that sows at Richmar Farms are weighed before breeding and then measured for back fat a week after being bred. The measurement guides the feeding […] Read more

GUELPH, Ont. — A New York fruit grower says he’s able to produce exceptionally flavourful fruit with little insect or disease damage, despite being located in a region with significant amounts of rainfall and humidity. “Timing is the key. The whole thing about this orchard business is timing,” said Hugh Williams, who practices biodynamic agriculture. […] Read more

GUELPH, Ont. — A community on Lake Huron’s eastern shoreline at the base of the Bruce Peninsula is looking to the past to move forward. Gardening, including forest gardening, is part of an effort for renewal at the Saugeen First Nation, says project co-ordinator Gregg Root. “What we’re trying to do is honour those traditions […] Read more