Post on 29-Apr-2018
Hello all! As I write this I am here by the
freshly stoked fire with my feet up.
I am flipping through the latest corn mag-
azine and dreaming about the upcoming
planting season. Future days of glori-
ous sunshine where nothing could go
wrong.
The crowd was excellent at the Oxford
annual meeting and the speakers
were well received. Although I think all
the earthworms are deep in the
ground. Also sad to see the Great Wheat
Pete head out to spread his seeds of
knowledge without government re-
straints.
On this freezing cold day with high of 1
degree Fahrenheit I’m sure I’m not the
only one dreaming of spring - have to go
as the fire needs another stick of wood!
As most of you know by now, the Wild Man - Peter Johnson, is moving on to bigger and better things.
While Peter has officially retired
from the Ministry of Agriculture, Food, And Rural Affairs, he insists he will still be out and about, speak-ing at meetings, doing research tri-
als, and of course, trying to farm.
Peter has been a strong, supportive presence in all three of our region’s counties for many years, and each county took time to honour Peter for
his hard work and dedication at their annual meetings.
Caption describing picture or graphic.
I N S I D E T H I S
I S S U E :
Highway
Traffic Act for
farm
Equipment
4
Oxford Spring
Meeting
6
SMART Corn
Report
23
OSCIA News 8
OMAFRA
Crop Talk
13
T H A M E S V A L L E Y
R E G I O N A L
S O I L & C R O P
I M P R O V E M E N T
Saying Thanks
From Our Regional President, Adam Garfat (Oxford)
Regional News M A R C H 2 0 1 5
B R O U GH T
T O Y O U
I N P AR T
B Y :
Jamie Littlejohn, Elgin SCIA, presenting Peter with a
lifetime membership and stained glass artwork
(wheat - what else?)
V O L 1 5 I S S U E 1
GLASI Programs
announced in
February 2015,
Contact your local
program staff for
details
From our Provincial Director, Gord Green
Hi Everyone- Here we are starting a new year once again. It is hard to think of spring when we are locked in winter’s grip. It is sup-posed to be -26C over night and I am getting tired of it. I will be getting my grass seed order deliv-ered in the morning so spring must be coming. We had a very successful Annual Meeting in Lon-don with a top notch line up of speakers. The theme was soil health which is very timely as this is the International Year of the Soil. It is great for soil to finally getting its just due. There were some excellent trials done last year and they are summarized in Crop Advances on the OSCIA web-site.
Cover crops are certainly a hot topic with some great trials al-ready done and with more being planned.
All three counties have been busy planning events for the coming year. Stay tuned for car tours, field days, bus trips and various meetings. There is a lot to learn
and it also provides great network opportunities. Don’t be shy and volunteer to do a plot for your county. We will be doing the side by side neonic plots again this year on both corn and soys.
A new program was announced at the Annual Meeting in February which is designed to address the algae blooms in Lake Erie and to a lesser extent pollinator health. The Great Lakes Agriculture Steward-ship Initiative (GLASI) will provide opportunities to assess on farm practices through a health check up. This will be funded through coupons with potential for cost share dollars as the program de-velops. The program is in its early stages and is still under develop-ment but there is money for cus-tom manure applicators and for producers with pneumatic seeders. This is a program to watch for fu-ture opportunities which may de-velop over time.
I wish everyone an early spring and a successful start to the new cropping season. Hope to see many of you at this year’s events.
Just a brief sample of results from the
Thames Valley/Eastern Valley 3-year
“Cover Crop for Emergency Forage” Project.
As producers need and consider the forage
opportunities after a wheat crop, it became
obvious that virtually no data existed on
the best crop to fill the void, and manage-
ment for optimum forage yields unknown.
Seeding and nitrogen rate data was mini-
mal or non-existent.
A full report on the project can be found in
Crop Advances at www.ontariosoilcrop.org/
cropadvvol11 or by contacting Cathy
Thanks to Peter Johnson, Scott Banks &
Shane McClure for working on this project
with us.
Regional News P A G E 2
R E G I O N A L N E W S
Elgin News P A G E 3
Jamie
Littlejohn
at the Elgin
SCIA
Annual
Meeting
ESCIA DIRECTORS 2015
West Elgin Andy Kieraszewicz Box 511 R2 Rodney, 519-785-2092 kieraszewicz@sympatico.ca
Ben Zegers 21799 Johnston Line, Wardsville 519-693-4653 benzegers@gmail.com
John R. Johnston 20901 Kintyre Line Rodney N0L 2C0 519-785-2176 jrjohnstonclan@xplornet.com
Mike Miller 22727 Silver Clay Line, Rodney N0L 2C0 519-868-2033 millerfamilyfarms5@gmail.com
Shawn Gillis 20808 Fleming Line, Wardsville, N0L 2N0 519-695-3454 shawn.gillis@plantpioneer.com
Vic Lapadat 25138 Talbot Line, West Lorne, N0L 2P0 519-494-2920 vsl@amtelecom.net
Dutton Dunwich Richard Paton 32463 Pioneer Line, Iona Station, N0L 1P0 519-762-5004 patonrc@start.ca
Stan Campbell 31220 Chalmers Line, Iona Station, N0L 1P0 519-762-5113 bluemoontexels@hotmail.ca
Krin Dieleman 27757 Talbot Line, Wallacetown ON 519-762-2563 kcdieleman@gmail.com
Southwold Brian Lyle 38795 Fingal Line, St. Thomas N5P 3S5 519-631-0539 blyle@start.ca
Stuart Kruppe 36454 Fingal Line, St. Thomas, ON N5P 3S5 519-769-0049 kruppefarms@sympatico.ca
Nick Hoffsuemmer 8420 Lyle Rd. R1 St. Thomas, ON N5P 3S5 519-870-0772 nickhoffsuemmer@gmail.com
Emily Jones 5694 Jones Road Port Stanley, ON N5L 1J1 519-671-0679 emily_jones@cargill.com
Philip Oegema 40033 Longhurst Line St. Thomas, ON N5P 3T2 519-661-7644 phil@oegemagrains.com
John Andrews 10518 Ford Road, St. Thomas N5P 3T1 519-633-1489 andrewssports@hotmail.com
Central Elgin Jeff Davis 45558 Ron McNeil Line, R8 St. Thomas 519-633-7506 jeff.2davis@hotmail.com
Jim Ferguson 12822 Carr Road , R6 St. Thomas 519-644-1392 jsfergusonfarms@hotmail.com
Ron Buis 47047 Buis Line, R7 Aylmer, N5H 2R6 519-773-3756 rcbuis@amtelecom.net
Clint Armstrong 11576 Wellington Road, St. Thomas, ON N5P 3T1 519-631-8335 clintona@execulink.com
Malahide Henry Hartemink 10488 Springfield Road R4 Aylmer 519-773-5615 charmadel.ha@gmail.com
Jason Chyc 117 7th Ave, Belmont, N0L 1B0 519-608-3395 jchyc@sylvite.ca
Provincial Director Gord Green 356508 Line 35, Embro 519-475-4690 greenholm@execulink.com
Secretary/Treasurer Margaret May 226-973-3548 mmay@ontariosoilcrop.org
Peter Johnson 519-318-2040 peter.johnson@bell.net
From Elgin President,
Nick Hoffsuemmer
Hello, my name is Nick Hoffsuemmer and I am this year's Elgin County Soil and Crop President. I currently reside in Southwold township with my
wife and son on our family's home farm. I have been farming full time with my father for 8 years now, but I have been involved with the family farm since I was young. I look forward to my term
as county president.
Sincerely,
Nick
Middlesex News
P A G E 4
Key Points of H.T.A. to Remember And
Impress Upon Your Equipment Operators
You Must Give Up One Half of the
Roadway (aka Centre Line) When Being
Overtaken or Passed in the Opposite
Direction.
Drive Narrow Equipment Either
Completely On the Travelled Portion of the
Road, or Completely on the Shoulder. If
Equipment is Too Wide for Either, Use All of
the Travelled Portion with Remaining Width
on the Shoulder.
You Must Be Capable of Seeing a
Vehicle Approaching from the Rear in Order
to Make a Safe Turn. (Mirrors or Cameras)
You Must Be Able to Signal Your Intent
to Turn. If Signal Lights Are to Be Used for
This, They Need to Be Clearly Visible to
Motorists Approaching From the Rear. If
Lamps on Tractor or SPIH Are Obscured,
They MUST Be Duplicated on the
Implement.
Flashing Amber Lamps Must be
Placed Not Less Than 6” from the Edge
of the Permanent Structure of the
Vehicle, and Be Visible for 500’.
Lighting Requirements:
Width Daytime Dusk to Dawn
Under 12’6” Nothing 2 White Lights on Front 1 Red Tail Light on Rear
12’6 to 15’9” 2 Amber Flashers Front 2 Amber Flashers Front 2 Amber Flashers Rear 2 Amber Flashers Rear OR AND 1 Strobe Beacon Visible 1 Strobe Beacon Visible Front & Rear Front & Rear
OR Escorts Front & Rear
Over 15’9” 2 Amber Flashers Front 2 Amber Flashers Front 2 Amber Flashers Rear 2 Amber Flashers Rear OR AND 1 Strobe Beacon Visible 1 Strobe Beacon Visible Front & Rear Front & Rear
AND Escorts Front & Rear
Ken Nixon & Nick Stokman gave a
presentation on Highway Traffic Act
Rules for Farm Equipment at the
Crops Update in February. Thanks to
both for these key points
www.mto.gov.on.ca/english/pubs/farm-guide.pdf
Directors, 2015 Middlesex Soil and Crop Improvement Association
President Dave Major 22821 Fairview Rd., R. 3, Thorndale N0M 2P0 461-9043
Past President Adam Robson 12688 Eight Mile Rd., R. 1, Arva N0M 1C0 280-2351
1st Vice President Paul Dietrich 34858 Saintsbury Line, R. 1, Lucan N0M 2J0 227-4150
2nd Vice President Patrick Conlin 1061 Foxcreek Rd., London N6G 0C9 870-9941
Secretary-Treasurer Marian Desjardine 33248 Grand Bend Rd., R. 8, Parkhill N0M 2K0 294-6445
AREA I ADELAIDE-
METCALFE
Steve Fonger, 1970 Napperton Dr., R. 3, Kerwood
N0M 2B0
247-3762
SOUTHWEST
MIDDLESEX
(Ekfrid, Mosa)
John Crawford, 4867 Olde Dr., R. 4, Glencoe
Bob Thirlwall, 4936 Century Dr., R. 4, Glencoe
Alec Boekhoven, 4966 Parkhouse Dr., Appin
N0L 1M0
N0L 1M0
N0L 1A0
287-1794
289-9010
289-2750
AREA II MIDDLESEX
CENTRE
(Lobo, Delaware,
London)
Tom Mahon, 23628 Nairn Rd., R. 4, Komoka
Todd Charlton, 11808 Charlton Dr., R. #1, Denfield
Alan Wood, 23752 Komoka Rd., R. 1, Ilderton
Rob Foster, 15088 Twelve Mile Rd., R. 3, Ilderton
Werner Seegelken Jr., R. 2, Denfield
Ken Nixon, 22060 Wonderland Rd., R. 3, Ilderton
Greg Walls, 13326 Fourteen Mile Rd, R. #4, Denfield
Kerrie McInroy-Jenken, 24126 Adelaide St. N., R.2, Denfield
Jason VandenHeuvel, 13010 Fourteen Mile Rd., Denfield
Mathew Aerts, 11287 Greystead Dr., R. 1, Denfield
Peter Hodgins, 23890 Denfield Rd., Denfield
Adam Robson, 12688 Eight Mile Rd., R. 1, Arva
Luke McClary, 14037 Medway Rd., R. 1, Arva
Mark Loft, 21580 Hyde Park Rd., Arva
Patrick Conlin, 1061 Foxcreek Rd., London
N0L 1R0
N0M 1P0
N0M 2A0
N0M 2A0
N0M 1P0
N0M 2A0
N0M 1P0
N0M 1P0
N0M 1P0
N0M 1P0
N0M 1P0
N0M 1C0
N0M 1C0
N0M 1C0
N6G 0C9
666-0946
666-0288
666-2515
666-3780
666-1307
666-1616
666-1277
902-1462
666-1920
666-0811
666-3033
280-2351
660-0261
666-3912
870-9941
AREA III STRATHROY-
CARADOC
Ed Bolton, 9221 Olde Dr., R. 2, Mt. Brydges
Eddie Gould, 22671 Old Airport Rd., Glencoe
N0L 1W0
N0L 1M0
878-9588
671-5520
THAMES CENTRE
(E. & W. Nissouri,
North Dorchester)
Len Duynisveld, 22732 Prospect Hill Rd. R. 3, Ilderton
Dave Major, 22821 Fairview Rd., R. 3, Thorndale
Pat Crinklaw, 2703 Bradley Ave., London
* Tom Heeman, 20453 Nissouri Rd., Thorndale
N0M 2A0
N0M 2P0
N6M 1H6
N0M 2P0
461-1707
461-9043
457-0952
871-3150
AREA IV CITY OF LONDON
(Westminster)
Malcolm Murray, 8021 Sharon Rd., London
Gord MacPherson, 1291 Westminster Dr., London
* Jeff Cook, 6537 Cook Rd., London
N6P 1L0
N6N 1L9
N6P 1P3
652-9993
644-0681
808-9505
AREA V NORTH MIDDLESEX
(W. Williams,
E. Williams,
McGillivray)
Rick Willemse, 1932 Elliott Dr., R. 4, Parkhill
Steve Twynstra, 26596 New Ontario Rd., R. 1, Ailsa Craig
Paul Vanneste, 34110 Maguire Rd., R. 2, Ailsa Craig
Robert Spruytte, 33489 Neil Rd., R. 2, Lucan
* Ryan Kennes, 32300 Centre Rd., Parkhill
N0M 2K0
N0M 1A0
N0M 1A0
N0M 2J0
N0M 2K0
294-6684
232-4447
293-9359
293-3747
709-6171
LUCAN-BIDDULPH Frank Dietrich, 34858 Saintsbury Line, R. 1, Lucan
Dean Van Arenthals, 34644 Saintsbury Line, R. 1, Lucan
Paul Dietrich, 34858 Saintsbury Line, R. 1, Lucan
Steve Redmond, 7 Fairview Place, Box 436, Lucan
Eric Dietrich, 33973 Roman Line, Lucan
N0M 2J0
N0M 2J0
N0M 2J0
N0M 2J0
N0M 2J0
227-4150
227-0479
227-4150
227-4528
871-4830
Director-at-Large - Larry McGill, R. 4, Glencoe, N0L 1M0 (519) 287-5292
Manager/Operator, Strathmere Lodge - Nick Stokman, 3320 Mullifarry Dr., R. 7, Strathroy N7G 3H8 245-0250
Provincial Director – Gord Green, 356508 - 35th Line Zorra, R. #1, Embro, N0J 1J0 519-475-4690
* New Director
Oxford News
P A G E 6
OXFORD SPRING MEETING
WED MARCH 25 - 7:45 PM
KNOOP’S FARM SERVICE 884024 Road 88
(at the corner of County Rd 6)
Featuring:
Sandy Hart/Kelsey Banks, Sevita
10 Tips to Planting Success in 2015
Marco Roduner, Pottinger Agriculture
Precision Planting - Speed vs Size
Refreshments provided by SilAll Forage Inoculant - Jim & Dave Grieve
Bring a friend - New members welcome!
planning. Stops of
interest include the New Liskeard
Agricultural Research Station and some local farms. More
details will follow as they become available.
Dan Van Weerdhuizen,
Tour Committee Chair
This year, the tour
committee has tentative plans for a three day tour
to the New Liskeard/Temiskaming Shores area of Northern Ontario, likely the third week of
August. I have been in contact with some soil & crop people in the area who are willing to help
with some of the
Summer Tour 2015
Oxford Student Bursary
This $500.00 award is available to any
high school graduate living in Oxford
County and entering their first year of
post-secondary education in he
agricultural field. Contact your school’s
student services department, or Ian
Matheson at 519-349-2507
ian@rmmathesonfarms.com
P A G E 7
Ontario Forage Masters Competition
Entry deadlines is April 17 for the 2015
completion. In Oxford, contact Adam
Garfat, garfata8430@hotmail.com 519-
423-6570 to register. Great prizes are
available to be won, as well as the
chance to proceed to the Provincial
Competition this fall. Contact Adam for
more details. 4-H members are also
encouraged to enter. Sponsored by
Pickseed, SGS Labs and the Royal Winter
Fair. Details on the OSCIA Website
2015 Oxford S.C.I.A. Executive & Directors Name Phone Email Past President Ron Marshall 475-4646 ronmarshall@xplornet.com President Adam Garfat 423-6570 rdgarfat@execulink.com 1'st Vice Dan VanWeerdhuizen 463-9656 danvan@golden.net 2'nd Vice Scott Innes 475-6906 scott@blythedale.ca 3'rd Vice Adam Learn 532-4380 adamandkristenlearn@gmail.com ZORRA David Grieve 475-6085 david_grieve@live.ca Ian Matheson 349-2507 ian@rmmathesonfarms.com Richard Ball 475-4608 richmargball@execulink.com Nathan Renkema 788-4391 naterenkema11@hotmail.com E ZORRA/ TAVISTOCK Mark Erb 462-2650 marjoyerb@gmail.com Tim Pullen 462-1781 timpullen88@gmail.com BLANDFORD/ BLENHEIM Gerard Pynenburg 766-2092 gerard.pynenburg@syngenta.com Greg Wilson 501-6011 greg.wilson@syngenta.com Tyler Vollmershausen 617-9896 vollmershausen.tyler@gmail.com SOUTH WEST OXFORD Steve Hughes 495-1958 shughes@wellburnagromart.com Dwayne Kloepfer 423-6121 sdkloepfer@xplornet.ca Matt Davis 842-0878 md_davis8850@yahoo.com NORWICH Sally Pelleboer 688-6053 Gspelleboer@nor-del.com Travis Talbot 535-1282 ttalbot@thompsonslimited.com John Kroesbergen 424-3800 johnkroes@execulink.com Secretary/Treasurer: Cathy Dibble 463-9737 cdibble@ontariosoilcrop.org Ontario SCIA Director:Gord Green 475-4690 greenholm@execulink.com Soil & Crop Advisors: OMAFRA Christine Brown 537-8305 christine.brown1@ontario.ca
Peter Johnson 318-2040 peter.johnson@bell.net
Project Report Highlights
P A G E 2 3
Regional project to evaluate the yield & economic response to more intensive management practices through increasing plant populations, nitrogen rates and fungicide applications. Results: Corn yield response to SMART management practices were variable, with yield increases at thirteen trials, no response at one trial, and yield decreases at three trials The overall average response to SMART management practices across all site years was +7 bu/ac. The total additional cost for SMART management practices in 2014 was estimated to be $67/ac, which assuming a corn price of $4.50/bu would result in a breakeven yield requirement of 15 bu/ac. This was higher than the average 7 bu/ac yield response across all seventeen trials from 2011-2014. Only 2 trials yielded higher than the breakeven yield. Summary: Corn yield response to further intensifying nitrogen, population and fungicide relative to existing management practices was
variable across the seventeen field trials conducted from 2011-2014. While a positive yield response was observed at eleven trials, only two were economical. On average, this data suggests that SMART practices did not deliver economic benefits relative to these growers’ standard practices. Given the fact that standard grower practices were not the same across all trials, actual yield responses may depend on the relative aggressiveness of existing practices. Acknowledgements: Thank you to the Thames Valley Soil and Crop Improvement Association, OSCIA and all of the farm co-operators. Thank you to Shane McClure for technical assistance. Full report is available in Crop Advances on OSCIA Website Project Contacts: Greg Stewart, OMAFRA, greg.stewart1@ontario.ca Peter Johnson, peter.johnson@bell.net
5, 50 and Fungicide-Thames Valley SMART Corn
Sidedress N Rate (lb-N/ac)
Location Pre-plant
N Rate (lb
PSNT
(ppm)
0 45 90 135
----------------- corn yield (bu/ac) -----------------
1 90 30 161 181 185 185
2 100 23 n/a 155 170 175
Pre-sidedress soil nitrate
tests and final corn yields
across for application
rates at 2 locations
Location Pre-plant N
Rate (lb N/
ac)
PSNT
(ppm)
PSNT
Over 36
PPM?
Additional Nitro-
gen Recom-
mended?
Economic
Response to
Additional N?
1 90 30 No Yes Yes
2 100 23 No Yes Yes
Decision process to follow
when using the36ppm PSNT
threshold in deciding whether
to apply additional N following
100 lb N/ac application
Oxford SCIA, working with OMAFRA’s Greg Stewart, results from one year evaluating a
threshold of pre-sidedress soil nitrate levels for estimating N top-up needs. Full details are
available in the 2014 Crop Advances Publication—online or by contacting Cathy.
Hello Everyone!
Welcome to our new members from our annual meetings, SoilSmart/FarmSmart and the
Southwest Ag Conference. I hope you enjoy your newsletters, production meetings and tours
that Middlesex, Oxford and Elgin directors are planning for the coming year. There are also
some great provincial activities such as the Ontario Forage Masters competition and the Soil
Champion award. Check out the Ontario SCIA website for details.
We have plenty of field trials planned for the 2015 growing season, and details on all of these
will be posted on our regional website as soon as they are available. Please consider
participating in a plot with us!
Existing members - if you were not able to make it out to your local annual meeting, your
membership expiry date is printed on your mailing label. Contact your local secretary (below)
if you need to renew. Please check your mailing label for your civic address (911#) while
you’re at it - Canada Post is starting to send back some newsletters that do not have all
address information complete.
Keep up to date with all soil and crop happenings and much more by signing up to receive
our OSCIA News and Views and Coming Events emails at oscia.wildapricot.org or by
contacting me to be added to our list.
The next edition of this newsletter will go out in mid-June. Feel free to send in any photos or
stories. Good luck with spring planting! Cathy
CONTACT INFORMATION
THAMES VALLEY PROVINCIAL DIRECTOR
Gord Green 519-475-4690
gord.green@ontariosoilcrop.org
PRESIDENT:
Adam Garfat (Oxford) 519-533-3309
garfata8430@hotmail.com
DIRECTORS
ELGIN
Richard Paton 519-762-5004 patonrc@start.ca
Vic Lapadat 519-494-2920 vsl@amtelecom.net
Phil Oegema 519-661-7644 phil@oegemagrains.com
OXFORD
Ron Marshall 519-475-4646 ronmarshall@xplornet.com
Dan Van Weerdhuizen 519-463-9656
danvan@golden.net
MIDDLESEX
Paul Dietrich 227-4150 paulvdietrich@gmail.com
Peter Hodgins 666-3033 nkseeds@hotmail.com
Todd Charlton 808-7041 tcharlton@quadro.net
Cathy’s Comments
THAMES VALLEY WEBSITE
tvrscia.wordpress.com/
COUNTY ASSOCIATION CONTACTS
Middlesex: Marian Desjardine 294-6445
desmar46@gmail.com
Elgin ~ Margaret May 226-973-3548
mmay@ontariosoilcrop.org
Oxford ~ Cathy Dibble 463-9737
cdibble@ontariosoilcrop.org
ONTARIO SOIL & CROP 1-800-265-9751
OSCIA WEBSITE: ontariosoilcrop.org
MEMBERSHIP AND EVENT REGISTRATION
oscia.wildapricot.org
Newsletter produced by
Cathy Dibble,
Regional Communication Coordinator
(519) 463-9737,
cdibble@ontariosoilcrop.org
@TVRSCIA Thames Valley SCIA