There’s no one system for improving soil health and that was on display during a recent Ontario Soil Health Network tour across the province. The tour visited more than 20 […] Read more
Tag Archives cover crops
Provincial soil tour looks at minimal tillage, biostrips
The tour visited regional farms as part of the Ontario Soil Network
Cover crops: Short-term pain but long-term gain
A U.S. study underlines the benefits, but costs of adoption can be higher north of the border
A new, coast-to-coast study in the U.S. tracks five years of the financial benefits of including cover crops in corn and soybean rotations, but the numbers may not apply in […] Read more
Riding the learning curve on organic no-till
Farmers are pushing the boundaries of roller-crimping winter rye and direct seeding soybeans behind
Planting soybeans into a just-terminated cover crop of winter rye is gaining popularity among Ontario’s organic community, as farmers strive to introduce minimum-till strategies into their rotations. No-till planting has […] 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, […] Read more
Cover crops can be tricky to kill
Cover crops can be important tools to improve soils, but there’s no single control solution
Cover crops can do a lot for the soil, but keeping them from becoming covering weeds requires the right herbicides applied at the right rate — to kill them at […] Read more
Editorial: Long term investment vs. short term expense
The province recently released its first soil strategy. The long document talks about much of what we know now about soil health. It also talks about best management of soil […] Read more
Province lays out soil health strategy
Measures aim to improve soil health over the next decade
The Ontario government’s soil health strategy is a sprawling plan that aims to provide industry guidance on improving soil health out to 2030. It plans to do that by bringing […] Read more
Follow nature or not?
Farmers and researchers differ on whether nature is the best guide for cropping practices
On Rick Bieber’s farm in South Dakota, he works hard to follow the rhythms and cycles of nature in his cropping and livestock system. He uses diverse cover crops and […] Read more
Tilling with plants
Biostrips provide a way for no-till farmers to create more mellow planting strips without tillage
It’s strip-till for no-tillers – with no tillage. Sound confusing? Really, it’s not. Just ask Dave McEachren, or Dustin Mulock. The farmers both use biostrips to get some of their […] Read more
Canada’s soils still degrading, albeit more slowly
The rate of degradation of soils in Canada has slowed, but it still is happening at a significant rate and there is still a lot to learn. There are no […] Read more
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