Mark Richards has been innovative in using strip tillage in vegetable crops.

Dresden farmer limits tillage in sugar beets and tomatoes to build soil structure

Mark Richards used his experience in strip tilling in other crops to make it work in vegetable crops

  This story was part of Farmtario’s Chatham-Kent Farm Show guide   Mark Richards has worked hard to assess and improve his farming practices over the last 20 years. He began with cover crops, then progressed into no till and strip till, notably in sugar beets and tomatoes, a practice not typically used in those […] Read more

Maurice Chauvin and the a Salford RTS machine that he uses on his farm.

Curiosity and care guide farm’s principles

The Chauvin farm takes a long-term view on measures like soil organic matter

The Essex Soil and Crop Improvement Association recently bestowed its 2018 Conservation Farm of the Year award to Maurice (Moe) Chauvin, a sixth-generation grain farmer from Pointe-aux-Roches (known as Stoney Point to Anglophones). The award is granted annually to a farm within Essex County that displays conservation-minded management practices. For Chauvin, adopting such practices starts […] Read more

Dave Hooker (r) and Matt Stewart discuss one of their cover crop research trials during an update event at Ridgetown College, October 23.

Evaluating cover crops for the long term

Too early to assess corn and wheat yields, but the benefits to tomatoes already seem clear

It’s widely recognized that cover crops boost soil organic matter, but their long-term agronomic and economic benefits are less well understood. Researchers at the University of Guelph’s Ridgetown and Elora campuses have undertaken some long-term studies to identify the impacts of cover crops in some growing conditions and management styles common to southwestern Ontario. Why […] Read more

Meghan Moran (l) and Dr. Eric Page (r) both work researching canola in Ontario.

Crop Rotation Options: Winter canola 101

There are good profitability, rotation and weed management reasons to grow winter canola

Winter canola has never particularly caught on in southwestern Ontario. But now researchers at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s Research and Development Centre in Harrow are giving farmers the knowledge and tools to elevate the oilseed in this province. A June 21 event at the research station highlighted how producers can incorporate winter canola into their […] Read more

(Alberta Farmer Express photo by Jennifer Blair)

Clubroots beating all resistant canolas across Alta.

A study of 27 canola fields across Alberta has found 16 infected with clubroot pathotypes able to cause “high levels” of the disease — in canola plants with clubroot-resistant genetics. What’s more, the clubroot pathogen isolated from “many” of the infected fields in the study was virulent on all clubroot-resistant canola cultivars, the Canola Council of Canada […] Read more


How early of a spring will it be? A tractor and air seeder were spotted Tuesday travelling north on Highway 23 near Roland in south-central Manitoba. (Allan Dawson photo)

Decisions on new-crop canola acres still pending

CNS Canada — With the 2015-16 growing season fast approaching in Western Canada, decisions on how many acres will be seeded to canola remain up in the air. “I think a lot of people aren’t getting a lot of feedback from growers, as they haven’t really indicated a lot of big changes in acres,” said […] Read more

Fababeans. (TamayoProduce.com)

Fababeans making more inroads on Prairies

CNS Canada — Fababean acres are on the rise in Western Canada, as the crop is seen as a good pulse alternative for producers seeking other options in their rotations. Better disease resistance and ease of harvest have been two selling points for the crop. “We’ve had significant uptake on fababeans,” said Leanne Fischbuch, executive […] Read more