A weekly report prepared by the staff of the Ministry of Agriculture and Food (OMAF) and the Ministry of Rural Affairs (MRA). If you require further information, regarding this report, call the Elora Resource Centre at 519-846-0941. Office hours: 8:30am to 5pm.
For technical information, call the Agricultural Inform-ation Contact Centre at 1-877-424-1300 or visit the OMAF and MRA Website: www.ontario.ca/omafra
SAVE THE DATE! PREPARATIONS FOR SUMMER FARMSMART EXPO UNDERWAY
ELORA – Farmers and agribusiness personnel will want to circle Thursday, July 11 on their calendar and be sure to attend the FarmSmart Expo to hear the latest in agronomy News from members of the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Food (OMAF) and Ministry of Rural Affairs (MRA) field crop unit and the University of Guelph’s research departments.
FarmSmart Expo provides progressive farm operators and agri-business people with leading-edge, hands-on diagnostics to help them develop and advance their farm business operations.
Preparations of the research plots are in the developing stages, with organizers considering corn planter down pressure and row unit closing wheel options, cover crops and their impact on corn production, planting date by variety and fertility in winter wheat, full season emergence and annual forage crop options, near surface injection of liquid manure into forages.
A special program is also planned for rural youth on the following day, Friday, July 12. The day-long youth program features barn tours, hands-on activities and in-field demonstrations of on-farm situations with the field crops unit team. This is an excellent opportunity for a club meeting, a makeup session or a club/county field trip. Non-4H members welcome!
FarmSmart Expo and the FarmSmart Expo Youth Day will be held at the University of Guelph Elora Research Station, 6182 2nd Line, Elora (south of Elora, one block west of County Road 7). For more information and program updates visit: www.ghscia.com/farmsmart or follow on Twitter at @FarmSmart1.
The FarmSmart organization started in 1998 as a conference only event geared to help educate farmers on new topics that might assist them to develop their farming operations. Our FarmSmart philosophy is to attract all producers, whether the farm focus and interest is cropping and nutrient management or livestock production.
FarmSmart is a partnership of the Golden Horseshoe and Heartland Regional Soil and Crop Improvement Associations, the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food (OMAF) and the Ministry of Rural Affairs (MRA), the Ontario Agricultural College (OAC) of the University of Guelph, the Ontario Soil and Crop Improvement Association (OSCIA), the Ontario Cattlemen’s Association (OCA), and various agri-business partners, including presenting sponsor DuPont Pioneer and Platinum sponsors BASF Canada Inc., Bayer CropScience, DEKALB, Farm Credit Canada and Syngenta.
PROTECTING POLLINATORS DURING CORN PLANTING SEASON
by Tracey Baute
With corn planting season soon upon us, it is a good time to remind everyone to take extra precautions to try to reduce the risk to bees being exposed to neonicotinoid contaminated dust from corn planters. Virtually all corn seed is treated with a neonicotinoid insecticide (i.e. Poncho or Cruiser), and with over 200 incidences of bee kills in Ontario in spring of 2012, we all have a role to play in trying to keep these incidences from happening again.
Factors that may contribute to the issue: Seed lubricants (i.e. talc or graphite) are abrasive and rub the insecticide seed treatment off of the seed and carry it into the air. Negative vacuum air planters likely contribute to this by exhausting the contaminated dust into the air, instead of onto the ground like other planters do. Dry, windy and warm weather also likely played a role, both for early than usual bee foraging activity and helping to carry the dust further outside the field. This however does not mean that this issue could not occur under different weather and field conditions.
Best management practices to help mitigate the risk to bees include:
Communicate with beekeepers who have hives in your area. Bees can forage up to 5 km from their hives and likely venture in and around your fields. Let the local beekeepers know when you plan to plant. There may be steps that they can take to protect their hives during planting.
Adjust time of planting. If there is an opportunity to plant in the early morning or evening on windy days, when bees are less likely to be foraging, it may also help to reduce the risk of exposure to contaminated dust.
Manage dandelions and other flowering weeds in and around fields, prior to planting.
Minimize the amount of insecticide seed treatment used. Growers planting corn on corn with moderate to high populations of corn rootworm, should use Bt hybrids that have two different Bt traits to control CRW, instead of using high rate of seed treatments which are not as effective. Get back to integrated pest management. Evaluate your fields and determine if soil pests are present at threshold levels this spring and start thinking about whether an insecticide seed treatment is actually needed.Limit the amount of seed lubricant (i.e. talc or graphite) used at planting. Currently used lubricants are abrasive to the seed coat, rubbing the insecticide seed treatment off and help to carry the contaminated dust into the air. There has been a tendency to err on the “safe side” for planter performance, applying lubricant at the upper end of the label rate. Follow label recommendations as the amount of lubricant needed varies by planter. A build-up of talc on the blower exhaust indicates overuse.Exhaust dust towards the center of the field. If your planter exhausts air towards the right side, plant in a clockwise direction. This will help direct the dust into the field rather than directing the dust onto the vegetation and water sources near the field’s edge.
Modifying planters with deflectors – Deflecting exhaust air directly at or into the ground will reduce the distance the contaminated dust is able to travel. Deflectors have yet to be tested here in North America to determine their impact both on planter performance and on efficacy to reduce dust concerns. Research into this option is currently under development.
Following all of these measures does not guarantee that bee incidences won’t occur, but we can’t afford to neglect the role that pollinators play in agriculture and society in general. Planting time can be a frantically busy time but is important to do what we can to help protect the bees from any risks posed by agricultural practices.
COMING EVENTS:
May 14 Exploring Rural Land Use Conference, 8:30am to 4:30pm, Delta Hotel and Conference Centre, 50 Stone Road W., Guelph. For more information, check the website: www.uoguelph.ca/fare/institute/conference.html.
May 25 Spring Wellington Rural Romp – a self-guided tour to farms, nurseries and local food businesses. Time: 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Approximately fourteen farms, markets, gardens, restaurants and a B and B in Mapleton, Minto and Wellington North will open their doors to the public. Take part in a day in the countryside, meet local farmers, and enjoy real taste! For more information, check the website: http://guelphwellingtonlocalfood.ca/spring-rural-romp.
June 4 Wellington Federation of Agriculture, monthly board meeting at OMAFRA Elora at 7:30 p.m. For information, contact Lisa Hern at 519-848-3774 or email: jplh@golden.net.
June 19 & 20 Ontario Pork Congress, Rotary Complex, Stratford at: 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Check the website: http://www.porkcongress.on.ca/.
