Sorry Folks. It Was Brought To Our Attention That The Links On The Newsletter We Sent Yesterday Were Not Active. Here Is A Corrected Version. We Apologize For Any Inconvenience.

From our new IFAO President, Ken Nixon

A new growing season is always an exciting time to be a farmer – anxious to finish our planting, hopeful for good growing conditions and a successful year. However, mixed in with our hopefulness this year is a whole lot of uncertainty as the markets don’t always seem to fundamentally respond to what is happening in our neighbourhood. As I type, corn planting “here” is approaching a month in length, and soybean planting is slowly starting. Please remember, the primary mission in the morning when we leave the house is to return safely. Everything else is just details. Good Luck.

I am very pleased to have been elected President of IFAO and look forward to working with you over the course of my term. Please feel free to call me at 519-666-1616, if you have any thoughts on issues you would like to see IFAO become involved in, potential speakers for a future conferences or anything that you feel would be valuable to share with other farmers. 

Your input, opinions and involvement in IFAO are key to our success.

Agricultural Bus Tour 2009
by Jim & Lorraine House

The 2009 Agricultural Bus Tour of Indiana and Illinois is shaping up to be the best ever. Five days of friendly, interesting travel and innovative farming ideas. Grow your mind and your contacts with us this summer. Here are just some of the items on the tour.

• • The Monsanto Learning Center — an 850 acre research facility where you'll see what's coming to your farm today, tomorrow, and in 10 years.
• • A hydroponic vegetable farm using fish sludge as fertilizer.
• • Biotown in Indiana employing 600 wind turbines for energy efficiency.
• • Family-run dairy farm and cheese operation marketing internationally.
• • New grass varieties and experimental soybean production in Shirley, IL.
• • Two-stage ditch project.

Cost: IFAO Members – $500.00 Non-members – $575.00 – no GST
Price includes coach & accommodations.
All accommodation includes breakfast. All other meals not included.
Deadline to register is July 31, 2009, if not filled before that date.
For more information, contact Jim & Lorraine House
Phone 519-769-2443, Fax 519-769-2777, 6650 Boxall Rd, RR 2, Port Stanley, ON N5L 1J2

Read more...

Thanks to DEKALB for their financial support of the IFAO bus tours.

What’s New at IFAO

New Directors

IFAO is pleased to introduce three new Directors who have recently joined the board: Lennie Aarts, Don Ready and Steve Johns.

Lennie Aarts – "The main reason that I joined the board is that we want to be on the leading edge of our industry and hope to contribute some time and knowledge to keep our industry strong for ourselves and the generations to come.

My brother Peter and I farm about 3000 acres, which includes around 800 acres custom work. In those acres we grow corn, soybeans, winter wheat and spring wheat including about 800 acres of certified soybean seed and 200 acres of IP soybeans. We do a fair amount of testing for companies in seed, chemical and tec. equipment."

Don Ready – Don describes himself as a “300 acre no-tiller and carpenter. My oldest field is 20 years – untouched by a plow. When Barry Newcombe asked me to join, I was thrilled to be able to work with the best. The IFAO has shown me things I did not think were possible and it is now payback time. I offer my expertise in tissue testing and micronutrients and a willingness to challenge the assumptions of our industry."

Steve Johns – cash crops a small acreage in Huron County, growing conventional tillage corn, notill soybeans and wheat. "I am a certified crop advisor employed by Syngenta Crop Protection working with many growers in the Huron/Perth/Middlesex Co area. I look forward to contributing to the future of the IFAO."

IFAO in Transition

As many of you know IFAO is in the midst of a changeover of office staff and location. Lorraine House has been IFAO’s point of contact for many years and she and her husband, Jim, have also been the organizers of the annual summer ag bus tour. This will be last year that Jim and Lorraine host the bus tour and Lorraine is handing over management of the IFAO office to Carrie James.

Conference organizers Megan and Barry Newcombe are also leaving IFAO after many years of coordinating a top notch annual conference. The location of the IFAO office will change from Port Stanley to:

Box 821, Markdale, ON, N0C 1H0

This will be the first of a few notices to our members on the office location change, as our bylaws state that notice must be given to our members and the new office location voted on at our upcoming annual meeting.

Ploughing Through High Farm Costs
by Stefanie Nagelschmitz

European growers are changing their ploughing practices and cutting costs in the process. A German expert claims that European farmers are managing their land and using their machinery in ways that counteract the rising costs. Adopting his tips and tricks could save Canadian farmers money too.

At this year’s Innovative Farmers Association of Ontario (IFAO) conference held in London, Dr. Seven Dutzi from Amazone machinery in Germany, presented innovative tillage and planting technology. As land, labour and fuel costs rise in both Europe and Canada, Dutzi revealed foreign field practices that are saving farmers money.

Read more...

The Key to High Yields Lies In The Basics
American wheat expert gives IFAO conference attendees ways to hit high British yields.
by Stefanie Nagelschmitz

To conquer the high wheat yields of Europe, North American growers don’t need to look further than the basics according to a world expert. England is known for high wheat yields and Phil Needham works to give North Americans the tools to mimic them.

An Englishman himself, Needham now works as a Kentucky crop expert. He spoke at the Innovative Farmers Association of Ontario (IFAO) conference on February 18th about achieving high wheat yields. He says the key to high yields lies in the number of heads per square yard, spikelets per head, grains per spikelet, grain weight and good planting.

“There’s not one thing to improve. There are 10 to 12 things that amount to change,” says Needham. “These are huge components in yield that are commonly forgotten.”

Read more...

Soil Conservation in Canada Today

There's good news and bad news on the soil conservation front," says Glen Shaw, executive director of the Soil Conservation Council of Canada (SCCC).

Shaw says there is much to celebrate about soil management today. "There's been a revolution in soil management and growing public interest in how food is grown with several forces today taking action to improve soil management practices and focus public attention on the importance of soil. Canadian producers have been actively fighting soil erosion with new soil management practices such as low disturbance minimum or zero-till cropping, systems that have revolutionized the way producers approach the soil and the industry continues to expand and improve upon these systems.”

However, there is still farmland that is not being managed effectively, says Shaw. “Some soil is being over-tilled, some is left exposed to wind and water erosion, some has too many crop nutrients applied and there is much to be learned about managing soil quality in cropping systems. Also, in a world focused on an economy in recession, there is always the risk of soil management becoming lost in the shuffle of what may seem like more immediate concerns.”

• • The adoption of conservation tillage since the 1980s has been one of the most remarkable changes in the production of crops in Canada. Saskatchewan leads the way with 60% of the land direct seeded and 21% in minimum tillage. Ontario producers direct seed 75% of their soybeans.
• • Soil contains 82% of the terrestrial carbon and represents the largest carbon sink over which we have control.
• • Agriculture is responsible for approximately 10 % of the greenhouse gas emissions in Canada, but agriculture can provide 20% of the solution to GHG reduction through the adoption of beneficial management practices. Practices that increase soil organic matter, increase carbon storage in the soil, thereby reducing CO2 emissions.
• • SCCC is currently testing a greenhouse gas calculator across Canada that will give producers a better way to estimate emissions and develop farming systems that play a larger role in mitigating climate change.
• • Soil provides all but three of the 16 nutrients essential to plant growth. Healthy soils produce high quality food for Canadians and the world.
• • One of the most important indicators of the wealth of a country is whether soil is being formed or degraded. Research shows that conservation tillage rebuilds soil organic matter and soil quality.

The above information includes excerpts from National Soil Conservation Week press release.

 

 

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