The uses of these different structures will be demonstrated to local
farmers and community members on the four open farm days. Cold frames
will be used primarily to start warm weather crops early thus speeding
growth and reducing dependence on external greenhouses. Mobile hoop
greenhouses will be used to extend the growing season of taller warm
weather plants and to advance the planting dates of large quantities
of cool weather crops. The trellises will provide tall climbing plants
with the potential for early frost protection.
Project II - Comparison of Strip Cropping with Field Cropping
Management
Club Name: Ontario Ridge Till and Strip Cropping Club
Contact: Joe Omielan, Coordinator, c/o University of Guelph,
(519) 824-4120 ext. 3770
Funding/Duration: $73,357 to conduct a four year project
Objectives:
Project #1 - The whole community will have the opportunity
to examine research trials, the ridge till strip cropping system,
and machinery demonstrations.
Project # 2 involves the following three questions about
strip cropping: (i) how economic is it, (ii) how much greater are
the corn yields, (iii) how much lower are the soybean yields in
the strips next to the corn.
Project Description:
Project #1 will hold 2 Field Days per year to be held in both Southern
and Eastern Ontario at the end of August. Land will be left unplanted
and crops will be sown late in the season with main crops or with cover
crops to allow for proper demonstration of the planting, cultivating,
and ridging operations. Participants will be encouraged to observe all
the operations for themselves in the same day and see how the host farmer
adjusts his equipment to get the job done.
The Field Days will be held at different locations each year. In
1993, the program for the Thamesville Field Day included demonstrations
of planting, cultivating and ridging operations as well as tours of
the farm explaining the management involved in strip cropping and tours
of research plots such as those comparing yields in strips compared
to yields in blocks. Other activities such as viewing the displays,
slide presentations and video tapes were also available.
The St. Isidore de Prescott Field Day will tentatively include demonstrations
of the cultivating and ridging operations as well as tours of the farm
and tours of manure management research plots.
Project # 2 - Field experiments addressing strip-cropping
questions will be conducted by the Club. The experiments will be conducted
on two sites in each region (Southern and Eastern Ontario) for a total
of four sites. The strips and fields will be set up as randomized side
by side trials with at least six replications. The width of the plots
will be sufficient to avoid the shading by the corn but are not likely
to be wide enough to avoid the windbreak effect of corn. The hand harvested
and combine harvested yields will be measured on areas with the same
cropping history (i.e. the harvested soybeans will all be growing on
areas growing corn the previous year). Individual row yields will be
determined by hand harvests in areas which had been previously staked
out in the spring after crop emergence. These same areas will be measured
throughout the season to obtain information on crop growth in the two
systems. The results will be analyzed statistically and economically.
Achievements:
Project 1 - A field tour for 15 participants was conducted on August
23, 1994 to visit four farms in Eastern Ontario and Eastern Quebec.
Farm activities included ridge tillage and strip cropping, and the use
of a homemade seed drill and a John Deere drill. A southern branch field
day was held on August 25, with a farm tour that included soybean and
corn variety plots as well as "lure" plots planted by Ducks Unlimited.
Dr. Richard Cruse of Iowa State University provided an overview of narrow
strip intercropping; more than 80 people attended. The following day,
12 people toured members' farms in Kent County.
These trips provided vital opportunities for members to exchange
information about ridge tillage and narrow strip intercropping, and
created important links with progressive growers and researchers in
Quebec and Iowa.
The 1995 field trips will include a farm tour on August 29 in Lambton
County.
Project 2 - In 1994, experiments were conducted at two locations
(one in the east and one in the south). The experiments compared the
yields of soybeans in narrow strips with the yields of soybeans in wider
strips. The corn under strip management had higher plant population
on the outer rows. The east experiments also compared side-dressing
and split applying nitrogen fertilizer to corn, different corn populations
under narrow strip intercropping management, and the effect of potassium
starter fertilizer on corn yield and quality. A preliminary trial of
planting earlier season varieties next to the corn strips was conducted
and evaluated, however heavy white mould pressure made interpretation
difficult.
Goals for next year include the continued study of narrow and wide
strips of soybeans to compare their yields, with areas plotted without
any "corn windbreaks" on the farm.
Status: Completed
View / Download Final
Report [296 KB pdf]
Club Name: Middlesex Pre-Till Club
Contact: Amy Szentimrey, Agronomist, (519) 345-2881
Funding/Duration: $72,260 to conduct a four year project
Objectives:
To evaluate various types of pre-tillage equipment in wheat under
a range of soil textures in Middlesex County.
Project Description:
In 1993, 17 field pre-tillage sites (2 acres), using the Aerway,
Dynadrive and the Rowbuster, were established throughout the county,
with most treatments being done between Sept. 22 - 24. With the exception
of one site, a No-till plot was used as the standard of comparison.
Plot maps for each site were constructed, including information on soil
type, drainage, straw height and weed pressure. In late November, residue
coverage was evaluated by the rope method.
Major 1994 activities throughout the growing season included data
collection by Agronomists in field checks for residue and tillage, soil
temperature checks at planting time, population and height measurements,
crop scout, silking checks, and at harvesting, a yield check with weigh
wagon. Data was also collected by farmers throughout the season, including
evaluation of the planting operation, records of crop inputs, recorded
dates of emergence, and harvested yield checks.
Achievements:
The 1994 data showed a greatest yield benefit from plowing, so a concerted
effort will be made to increase the number of plowed plots in the third
and fourth years of the tillage study, in order to verify this trend.
Future efforts will also be made to study the effect of nitrogen on
no-till, which has not been possible in previous trials.
Demonstrations were also conducted throughout the summer at several
plots along main roads, with two main tours and several `casual' tours
by curious neighbours. Additional networking opportunities included
regular contact with the University of Guelph regarding its tillage
trials and shared field sites, and contact with U.S. equipment manufacturers
to share stateside data.
Status: Completed
Club Name: Essex Conservation Club
Contact: Paul Hermans, Essex Region Conservation Authority, (519)
776-5209
Funding/Duration: $9,600 to conduct a three year project
Objectives:
- To study the population of earthworms present in different tillage
systems (comparison of conventional tillage, mulch tillage and no-tillage).
- To study the population of earthworms present in a field that
is converted from conventional tillage to no-till and study this
field over an extended period of time.
- To determine if other considerations such as soil type, crop
rotation or manure application have an effect on this population.
Project Description:
Earthworm population studies have not previously been performed or documented
in Essex County to demonstrate the effect of a residue management system
on earthworm populations.
Earthworm populations will be determined using two different methods:
- The number of earthworm holes present will be counted. This
is performed by removing the top 2.5 cm of the soil from a 0.25
sq. m. area. The surface will then be smoothed out with a flat scraper
and loose soil will be removed with a portable vacuum. A 0.25 sq.
m. frame will then be placed on the surface and holes greater than
1 mm diam. Within this frame will be counted.
- Within this same frame a weak solution of formaldehyde solution
(2%) will be applied generously. This will irritate the earthworm's
epidermis causing them to travel to the surface. A more reliable
count will then be taken of live earthworms existing in the soil.
Achievements:
In 1994, 12 Essex County participants signed up for the study, with
farm sites varying from conventional tillage to organic farming, to
no-till. Farmers used a weak formaldehyde solution to determine the
number of worms present on their respective farm operations. To compare
disturbed and non-disturbed sites, worm counts were also taken from
an air strip and a forest site.
Data collected includes soil type, cropping practices, crop rotation,
herbicide application and other management practices.
Goals for next year include continued monitoring of earthworm populations
on these sites. Soil testing will be completed in 1995 to determine
texture analysis and nutrient composition. Further species identification
will be completed to determine a linkage between species and agricultural
setting.
Status: Completed
Title: Management of Corn
Rootworms on Farms by Monitoring Eggs
Club Name: Department of Environmental Biology, University
of Guelph.
Contact: Cliff Ellis, Department of Environmental Biology, University
of Guelph, (519) 824-4120, ext. 3076
Funding/Duration: $124,600 to conduct a four year project
Objectives:
The goal of this project is to further develop and test an ovipositional
trap for monitoring the number of rootworm eggs laid in corn fields.
The University of Guelph, where the trap was developed, will work
with the Ministry of Agriculture and Food and with corn growers
to develop the cheapest way to use the traps for monitoring. They
hope to demonstrate to growers that the traps are reliable in predicting
damaging populations that require crop rotation or insecticide treatment,
and demonstrate that the sampling can be done cheaply enough to
be practical. Grower confidence, low cost and a reduction in pesticide
use are essential.
The monitoring of eggs will be done on selected farms in the
Guelph and Centralia area and in Central Ontario. Participants will
be selected from producers who are not managing the rootworm well
with crop rotation. Further selection will be made based on the
severity of their rootworm problem.
The objectives of the project are as follows:
- to further refine and test ovipositional traps for monitoring
the need for treating rootworms,
- to test the traps over three years of different climatic/weather
conditions for reliability of predictions,
- to determine the critical average number of eggs per traps
that indicates a potential rootworm problem. This value must
be established with confidence.
- to obtain producer feed-back on the traps, and to modify
the procedure so it is as simple as possible and still reliable,
- to develop a monitoring program from the above that is reliable
and cheap, and which can be used by OMAF and corn producers
to reduce pesticide use.
Project Description:
In 1993 test traps were set up to monitor the eggs. Twenty-five sites
in various counties were set up, with forty traps per site placed and
serviced regularly from Guelph and Stirling, Ont. The Department worked
with O.M.A.F.R.A. to test traps for monitoring eggs, and conducted additional
sampling on farms in the Quinte area. The efficiency of the 1994 traps
was low, and graduate student David Inglis worked on the project throughout
the year to develop a more efficient trap. Rootworm beetles were imported,
and a series of laboratory experiments on oviposition in large cages
is Completed, as part of the objective to develop a better trap model
for the 1995 field season.
Achievements:
Sampling showed that rootworm populations are much lower than corn growers
imagine, and this is greatly reducing pesticide use.
Goals for 1995 include the testing of a modified trap in 25 fields,
with follow-up on fields sampled in 1994. A major emphasis will be to
finish the graduate project in the next fiscal year.
Status: Completed
Title: Non-Chemical Methods of Control of the
Colorado Potato Beetle in Potatoes
Club Name: Ontario Potato Pest Management Club
Contact: Mark Sears, Department of Environmental Biology, University
of Guelph, (519) 824-4120, ext. 3567
Funding/Duration: $79,947 to conduct a four year project
Objectives:
To establish and evaluate non-chemical methods for Colorado Potato
Beetle control in grower fields.
Project Description:
The Colorado Potato Beetle is the major pest of potatoes in Ontario.
Because of the high volume of insecticides applied, resistance to these
insecticides has developed in some areas of the province. Club members
will provide sites, primarily in the Alliston and Shelburne areas, in
cooperation with the evaluation team and will also help with applying
the control techniques. Demonstrations and experiments will be carried
out in Simcoe and Dufferin Counties, in collaboration with growers under
the direction of Dr. Mark Sears and Dr. E. Banks.
Evaluation of plastic lined trenches for control of Colorado potato
beetle: Seventeen sites were established along the edge of a potato
field prior to the emergence of the crop. A plastic lined trench was
constructed, and trapped beetles were monitored for the remainder of
the season to determine the effect of the trench in reducing infestation.
Achievements:
The method proved effective at eight sites, and eliminated the need
for one or two insecticide applications. At six sites the potato beetle
population was significant enough to warrant control, while at three
sites the trenches were not effective in reducing the infestation and
some defoliation occurred before the beetles could be adequately controlled.
Efficacy of seed mixtures of transgenic potatoes for control of Colorado
potato beetle: A field trial of transgenic potatoes containing the genome
for production of the toxic protein produced by Bacillus thuringiensis
tenebrionis (Btt) - specific for Colorado potato beetles - was established
in an Alliston grower's field. The trial, in conjunction with a new
product developer NatureMark, Inc., monitored the plots and yields of
different mixtures of transgenic and non-transgenic seed. At one location,
where transgenic Btt potatoes were planted in mixtures of transgenic
and non-transgenic seed, control was nearly complete in all mixtures,
even a 50/50 mix.
For next year, the trench digger has been modified for improved plastic
laying and provide steeper, smoother surface. The use of teflon on the
plastic will also be monitored for its ability to trap beetles in the
trenches. Two new insecticides, Admire and Novodor, will be incorporated
into the trial.
Status: Completed
Club Name: Ducks Unlimited Canada
Contact: Cal Holden, Ducks Unlimited Canada, (705) 721-4444.
Funding/Duration: $187,700 to conduct a four year project.
Objectives:
To establish five project sites in different counties across
Ontario to demonstrate management practices that benefit agriculture
and also improve waterfowl/wildlife habitat.
Project Description:
Most demonstrations will be at field-scale; however, one "special demonstration
field" is proposed for each site in which specific management practices
will be implemented to show variety and species comparison, establishment,
fertilizer, weed control, grazing practices and other specifically-related
management practices.
Grazing will remain the primary use of the land and the pastures
will be managed by local Pasture Committees. Sites are located at Leeds,
Victoria, Bruce Community, Long Point and Plum Hollow.
Achievements:
In 1994, all five demonstrations were fully established and major work
was completed at three sites. Two twilight meetings were well attended.
Specific achievements for 1994 included wetland fencing and construction,
grass yields monitored, prickly ash demo started, training electric
fencing installed, rotational grazing systems fenced, alternative watering
systems installed, no-till seeded soybeans, buffers seeded, and erecting
signs at all sites.
In 1995, the goals are to complete site set-up, finalize a sixth
project, maintain the seeding/monitoring programs at each site and hold
public relations events at each site to publicize the activities.
Status: Completed
Club Name: Innovative Farmers of Ontario
Contact: Helen Lammers-Helps, The Stewardship Information Bureau,
(519) 767-5020
Funding/Duration: $100,000 to conduct a four year project
Objectives:
The E Plus Program has three primary goals directed at participating
farmers:
- economic efficiency - maximize net economic returns per
acre;
- erosion control - maintain soil erosion losses within the
tolerable or "T" limit to protect long-term productivity; and
- environmental protection - minimize the impacts of agricultural
production practices on the environment.
Project Description:
"E Plus" is a record-keeping and analysis program that enables farmers
to compare yields, and cost/profit per acre to those of other farmers
growing the same crops under similar farming systems. An environmental
cost in terms of erosion control is built in, linking environmental
and economic aspects of production.
Achievements:
In 1994-95, 60 farmers participated in this program, submitting records
for 122 fields. Data was presented in a report at a workshop organized
in conjunction with the Innovative Farmers' Association Annual Meeting.
New plans for operation of the program in 1995-96 were also implemented
this year, when farmer records received - some containing inaccurate
data - suggested that grower participation will not be as high as projected.
A new partnership agreement has been developed, and an improved procedure
developed in order to increase participation rates during the coming
year. New corporate sponsors have also been sought, with Pioneer Seeds
the first to join. As a result of these changes, the project is evolving
to become more than a demonstration tool, but a unique and comprehensive
management tool of great potential use to farmers and agri-business.
The goal for next year is to have 225 participants, entering 500
data sets. Criteria for data sets has been expanded to allow for side-by-side
comparison plots.
Status: Completed
Last Revised:
Sunday, May 15, 2011 08:37:36 PM
