A new project aims to create a system of technologies and understandings that could cut nitrous oxide emissions from fertilizer.

Researchers build green fertilizer system to reuse wastes, cut emissions

Science Notes: Researchers also want to boost the project’s sustainability by using wind and solar energy to produce green fertilizer

Researchers from the U.S. Midwest want to remove some greenhouse gas emissions from fertilizer. Research teams from Iowa State University and Wichita State University in Kansas are developing a system that captures waste nitrogen and carbon dioxide to produce a green fertilizer that reduces emissions of nitrous oxide, a greenhouse gas more potent than carbon […] Read more

Tarlok Singh Sahota, centre right in the blue checked shirt, shares his canola-growing wisdom at the Lakehead University Agricultural Research Station (LUARS) near Thunder Bay.

Nitrogen diversity drives canola yields at Thunder Bay

A local researcher has devised a winning formula for canola yields that is based on a diverse stack of nitrogen sources

Ryan Jaspers uses a combination of nitrogen sources, including dairy manure and ESN, to consistently achieve 75 bu./ac. canola yields. Jaspers farms at Slate River, a few miles southwest of Thunder Bay, and he has a productive canola formula and climate. His farming region isn’t big. Grain crop area is maybe 10,000 acres, while tame […] Read more

Feed the crop that feeds the livestock!

Feed the crop that feeds the livestock!

OMAFRA Field Crop Report for the week ending September 4

For forage producers, the production year starts in the fall. What farmers do from mid-August to the end of the growing season impacts this winter’s feed inventory and next year’s forage yield potential. Forage crops have the highest crop nutrient removal values of any field crop grown in Ontario. Harvesting the whole crop while it […] Read more

Liberia-flagged bulker K Sukret, carrying grain under the Black Sea Grain Initiative, waits for inspection in the southern anchorage of Istanbul on May 17, 2023. (Photo: Reuters/Mehmet Emin Caliskan)

Putin to meet Erdogan amid push to revive grain deal

Turkey, UN seek to revive grain deal; Russia discussing separate plan

Moscow | Reuters — Russian President Vladimir Putin will hold talks with Turkey’s Tayyip Erdogan on Monday in the Black Sea resort of Sochi as Ankara and the United Nations seek to revive a Ukraine grain export deal that helped ease a global food crisis. Russia quit the deal in July — a year after […] Read more

Vessels are seen as they await inspection under the Black Sea Grain Initiative, brokered by the UN and Turkey, in the southern anchorage of the Bosphorus at Istanbul on Dec. 11, 2022. (File photo: Reuters/Yoruk Isik)

Russia says will have talks with Turkey about alternative to Black Sea deal

Plan calls for Qatar's support to move Russian grain

Reuters — Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Turkish counterpart Hakan Fidan will discuss a proposal by Moscow for an alternative to the Black Sea grain deal when they meet this week, Lavrov’s ministry said Wednesday. Under the plan, Russia would send a million tons of grain to Turkey at a discounted price, with financial […] Read more


No plans for Nutrien to sell assets

Reuters – Canadian potash producer Nutrien is not looking to sell assets to raise capital, CEO Ken Seitz told Reuters, even as falling fertilizer prices have caused it to scrap projects and trim costs. Nutrien said Aug. 2 it would halt plans to expand potash production in Saskatchewan and end work on a clean ammonia […] Read more

Right to left, foreground: Katie Stammler, ERCA’s water quality scientist and source water protection project manager, Michael Dick, agricultural technician for ERCA and secretary-treasurer for Essex Soil and Crop, and Chris Snip, certified crop advisor with Agris Cooperative’s Cottam location, discussing observations gathered from an 
early-seeded oat-radish cover crop mix.

Extension program shuttered amid Conservation Act changes

Essex Region Conservation Authority forced to close Amherstburg demonstration farm

A last hurrah for the Essex Region Conservation Authority’s demonstration farm took place Aug. 1, where visitors could explore the use of cover crops and the intricacies of managing them on heavy clay soils. The shuttering of the farm, located in Amherstburg and in operation since 1996, is in part due to changes implemented by […] Read more

Soybeans show stress after continuous rains in parts of Ontario impede plant nutrient uptake.

Weather conditions leave soybeans with wet feet

Damp areas may look worse than they are and there’s little response from adding more nutrients

The effects of a wet July are appearing in soybean fields across parts of southern Ontario, and although plants appear to be yellowing, it’s too early to assess the impact. Anecdotal reports of one, one-and-a-half, two and four inches of rain in separate events have had a visible effect on many growers’ fields, particularly in […] Read more


(Video screengrab from SQM.com via YouTube)

Nutrien to pause potash ramp up, ammonia project on falling prices

Potash prices have eased after the resumption of shipments from major supplier Belarus

Reuters – Nutrien NTR.TO on Wednesday decided to indefinitely pause its ramp-up plans for potash production and halt work on its clean ammonia project at Geismar, Louisiana, as the world’s biggest fertilizer producer grapples with falling prices. Its U.S.-listed shares fell 2.6% in extended trading as the company cited market conditions for stopping efforts to […] Read more

File photo of Black Sea port facilities at Odesa, Ukraine. (Leskas/iStock/Getty Images)

Russian diplomat accuses Ukraine of using Black Sea grain corridor for attacks

Russia says it's negotiating exports of food to countries most in need

Moscow | Reuters – Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Vershinin on Friday accused Ukraine of using a grain export corridor in the Black Sea to launch “terrorist attacks” against Russian interests, including one this week on the Crimean Bridge. Vershinin was addressing a briefing about Russia’s decision on Monday to quit the year-old Black Sea […] Read more