Amy Petherick. Photo: Deborah Deville.

The young are on board, literally

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In Ontario’s Northumberland County, young farmers make up the majority on many commodity and farm boards. Here’s how we do it

By Contributor to Country Guide

There’s nothing like an unexpected dinner invitation to get the attention of a person who is normally responsible for daily meal preparation. The invitation arrived by text, and it didn’t take long to figure out whether to accept. Accept first, I said. Ask questions later.

When I did ask the question, I was right to think there might be a reason. “Be ready to explain why our executive is so young,” was basically how the next text read in response. Read more

The dirt on soil tests

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With soil nutrient levels dropping, how do you need to change your soil-testing program and fertility rates?

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Fewer farmers are sampling their soils. In Ontario, the numbers say fewer than 30 per cent of farmers test every three years, even though this trend is leading to a data gap at a time when everything else seems to be changing too, such as the rapid climb in yield potentials, and elite corn hybrids that are so much more efficient at extracting nutrients.

Also worrying is that the experts are lining up to tell us that, one way or another, more farmers are mining their soils. Read more