A study of glyphosate use in Ontario shows the herbicide has created significant change in crop management. It shows that while corn and soybean acreage and yield have increased in the province since 1983, the impact of herbicide use per acre has declined, in large part because glyphosate has displaced other herbicide chemistries. Why it […] Read more
Glyphosate drives long-term herbicide changes
Ontario keeps track of detailed herbicide use every five years, which shows how the use of active ingredient has declined
Global fertilizer market prices vary
CNS Canada — A mixed bag for fertilizer prices is expected over the next few months, as some continue to increase while others should drop, according to an analyst. “The fertilizer market has remained pretty firm over the past six months… we had kind of anticipated some declines across all the different nutrients, (but) they’ve […] Read more
U.S. grains: Wheat firm on technical bounce, tightening global supplies
Chicago | Reuters — U.S. wheat futures rose more than three per cent on Monday on a mix of technical buying after last week’s seven-week low and fundamental support from tightening supplies in Australia and Russia, analysts said. Soybean futures also advanced while corn futures were little changed ahead of key monthly crop reports due […] Read more
OMAFRA crop report: hail-damaged corn, later cover crops and winter canola
The opportunity to get some cover crops planted is coming to an end soon
Thunderstorms brought some localized hail events through parts of southwestern Ontario, particularly during the last week of July. Like most plant stresses, yield loss from defoliation increases through vegetative stages, peaks around tassel or pollination, and declines through grain-fill. For example, using the defoliation table from OMAFRA Agronomy Guide — Pub 811, estimated yield loss […] Read more
Farming blockchain
The ability to secure data and transactions through a chain of users could improve agriculture supply chain efficiency
Imagine a consumer who really likes a steak reaching back through the supply chain to give the farmer who raised that beef a tip. Or, being paid immediately for grain delivery. Those are a couple of the ideas behind Grain Discovery, a Prince Edward County agriculture start-up company planning to use blockchain technology to make […] Read more
Grain firms warn of competitive fairness on Churchill assistance
CNS Canada — The Western Grain Elevator Association (WGEA) wants assurances that any government incentives used to upgrade the rail line to Churchill, Man., and the port there are not used to support competing businesses. Wade Sobkowich, executive director of the WGEA, said the organization’s membership of major grain-handling companies are concerned their competitors could […] Read more
Large Canadian canola ending stocks expected
CNS Canada — Canada’s canola ending stocks as of July 31 came in at about a million tonnes above the previous year’s carryout — but were still well within trade expectations. Canola supplies as of July 31 were estimated at 2.391 million tonnes by Statistics Canada on Thursday, with 954,000 tonnes of that in commercial […] Read more
U.S. grains: Wheat extends losing streak
Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Board of Trade wheat futures fell for the third day in a row to their lowest in more than seven weeks on Thursday on expectations that U.S. supplies will continue to struggle to gain traction on the global export market, traders said. Corn futures ended firm, supported by bargain buying […] Read more
Ford recalls two million trucks over seat-belt fire concerns
Washington | Reuters — Ford Motor Co. said on Thursday it would recall two million F-150 pickup trucks in North America to address fire concerns relating to seat belts that have been linked to three serious incidents but no injuries. The second-largest U.S. automaker said it was aware of 17 reports of smoke or fire […] Read more
Drone data firm invests in precision ag analytics
Southwestern Ontario crop input retailer and grain handler South West Ag Partners has made a deal to sell its precision agriculture analytics business to an expansion-minded drone data provider. Toronto-based Deveron UAS announced Aug. 28 it will trade a 9.9 per cent share of its business plus $320,000 cash for South West Ag’s Veritas Farm […] Read more
Cyber-Savvy Farmer
