Category Archives: Published Works

Flying Machines on the Farm

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Farmers rely on the sky for a lot more than weather. Satellite imaging and crop dusters have been used for years but Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) are new.

UAVs are a little bigger than the remote controlled helicopters most kids want for Christmas and people who use them for work, need to be certified first. So far, UAVs have mostly been used for research. Scientists are testing camera technology, to make sure plants that look pale to a UAV really are sick or under insect attack. They’ve learned to use thermal cameras to take the temperatures of all plants in the field. They can also use infrared or ultraviolet light (UV) sensors, to make sure plants are getting enough water and sunlight.

Some very tech savvy farmers are already using UAVs to scout over their fields and find plants that need a closer checkup. UAVs that can carry small tanks of water are in development. Farmers hope that one day, they can use these to spray only the plants which need fertilizer and pesticide help, at the exact time individual plants need it, without crushing other plants in the process.

Pilot program launched for recycling treated seed bags

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Ontario farmers returned over 114 000 kilograms of pesticides for safe disposal last year. Now CleanFARMS is taking on a new challenge.

For those who don’t recognize the CleanFARMS name, this stewardship association organized the free drop-off program last October which collected farmers’ unwanted agricultural pesticides at 31 ag-retails in Ontario. While this program only comes to this province every three years, they do recycle empty containers every year. In 2014, at 12 exact locations, they will also be accepting empty seed and pesticide bags as part of a new pilot program in southwestern Ontario and Quebec.

The bag collection program will run from May to September, accepting any empty multi-walled paper, plastic and aluminum pesticide bags or multi-walled paper and polywoven plastic seed bags. Farmers are asked to follow specific preparation steps before returning bags to participating locations.

Upright ears: cause for concern, debatable

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An ear of corn that fails to droop holds a lot of water in a wet fall and can breed some notable late season problems.

Corn ears normally remain erect until black layer but shorter ear shank lengths, desirable as a corn borer defence prior to Bt traits, have increased duration for some hybrids. Although agronomists contend that the effects of upright ears on fungal infections may not be as pronounced as farmers think, the November 2 cropline report advised that mould issues may be more prevalent than earlier vomitoxin survey reports suggested. Experts are also watching for sprouting grain quality issues, recommending that farmers segregate the worst fields and market them accordingly.

But just because a hybrid had upright ears this year, doesn’t necessarily mean it will again next year, so farmer’s shouldn’t cancel seed orders unless yield results start to weigh in.