Year-round cover crops growing in a three-crop rotation — sounds like a great idea that could create healthier, more productive soils, but can Ontario growers make it work? That’s a question the Thames Valley Soil and Crop Improvement Association and the Heartland Region are trying to determine with its Roots Not Iron project. In this... Read More

How healthy is your soil? If you want to know all you have to do is bury your underwear, says Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA) soil management specialist Adam Hayes. Last summer, Hayes helped members of the Renfrew County Soil and Crop Improvement Association bury underwear in their fields to determine... Read More

Count pastured chicken production as another frontier for automation and robotics in agriculture. With demand for pastured chicken rising rapidly, Manitoba farmer Daniel Badiou, through his startup Ukko Robotics, has started manufacturing automated mobile chicken coops. That's right. They're basically robots for raising chickens outside. "Every day it will move by itself, and it can... Read More

Are you tired of planting wheat every year? What if you only had to plant the crop every four years? If those questions spark your interest, you won’t want to miss this episode of Real Agriculture's Wheat School featuring Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada research scientist Jamie Larsen. He’s working to develop perennial wheat that would... Read More

Corn plants do indeed yield less when they emerge one day after their neighbour. What's more, the yield gap widens even further for later emergers. That’s the bottom line on the 2016 Real Agriculture flag test research,conducted by resident agronomist Peter Johnson. In this episode of Corn School, Johnson tells co-host Bernard Tobin that, based... Read More