A weekly report prepared by the staff of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA). If you require further information, regarding this report, call the Elora Resource Centre at 519-846-0941. Office hours: 8:30am to 4:30pm. For technical information, call the Agricultural Information Contact Centre at 1-877-424-1300 or visit the OMAFRA website: www.ontario.ca/omafra
ONTARIO DOWNTOWN REVITALIZATION COMMUNITY OF PRACTICE SESSIONS
Downtown Revitalization Community of Practice sessions are an excellent opportunity for downtown revitalization coordinators, volunteers and community leaders to network, gain insights into the experiences, successes and challenges communities have faced on their downtown revitalization journey, and see firsthand examples from host communities.
OMAFRA has partnered with the Ontario Business Improvements Area Association (OBIAA) to organize and facilitate three Communities of Practice Sessions across Ontario in 2015. The Communities of Practice sessions are being hosted by communities currently undertaking OMAFRA’s Downtown Revitalization Program.
These one-day sessions showcase the community and people involved in the revitalization of their downtown. This includes presentations by communities undertaking OMAFRA’s Downtown Revitalization Program, facilitated discussion of downtown revitalization best practices, and networking.
The first of three sessions was held in Hanover on June 19th. Participants rated the session highly and comments included:
“Keep offering these sessions. Love sharing best practices with communities in similar situations.” “Great takeaways and ideas for growth.”
Upcoming Downtown Revitalization Community of Practice Sessions will be held in Tilbury on September 29th. For further information and registration details, please visit www.obiaa.com.
For more information on OMAFRA’s Downtown Revitalization Program visit our website http://www.omafra.gov.on.ca/english/rural/edr/dr/
FORAGE OPTIONS FOLLOWING WHEAT
With higher land costs as well as the need for more forage in some parts of Ontario, there is increasing interest in following winter wheat and other cereals with a forage crop. Not only can this approach produce some extra feed, it also provides excellent winter cover crop benefits.
There are a few double-crop forage options that can provide some cheaper, good quality forage. When potential winterkill with ryegrass or winter cereals does occur, consider that little has been lost, as it provided cover crop benefits and there is still the opportunity to plant an alternate crop in that field in the spring.
Summer seeding alfalfa mixtures rather than waiting until next spring can provide the benefit of a full yield next year without the usual establishment year yield loss. Each option has its advantages and disadvantages, and every situation is different.
The challenge is getting the wheat harvested, the volunteer wheat controlled, and the next crop seeded in a timely manner. Competition from volunteer wheat can be a significant problem. Without vernalization winter wheat will not form a stem in the fall to provide significant growth and yields are very limited. A lot of volunteer wheat can result when light grain goes through the combine, such as fusarium infection situations.
One approach to reduce the problem is to do some light tillage (at least behind the combine swath) to encourage the grain to germinate. A burndown with glyphosate 7 to 10 days later will remove much of the volunteer grain. Of course this takes time, and as the calendar gets later some options are lost. Dry summer weather following seeding can delay germination and growth.
(Summer Seeding Oats For Forage – http://fieldcropNews.com/2013/07/summer-seeding-oats-for-forage/)
Moderate to high forage quality depending on the stage at cutting; adding peas to improve quality is an option; cut in the fall; wilting and harvest can potentially be challenging; follow these annuals with another crop any time next spring.
(Italian Ryegrass – http://fieldcropNews.com/2014/06/italian-ryegrass/)
Potentially high to very high “dairy” forage quality; a cut in late fall and a cut next May can be followed by corn silage, soybeans, sorghums, etc; if first-cut stand is good, an option is continue to cutting every 4 weeks; risk of winterkill should be managed
(Double Cropping Winter Cereals For Extra Forage – http://fieldcropNews.com/2013/08/double-cropping-fall-rye-for-extra-forage/)
Fall rye or winter triticale; moderate to high forage quality depending on the stage at cutting next May (target flag-leaf); some risk of winterkill; high yield potential; can follow with corn silage, soybeans, sorghums
(Summer Seeding Alfalfa – http://fieldcropNews.com/2012/05/summer-seeding-forages/)
Full yield potential next year without the usual spring seeding establishment yield loss.
COMING EVENTS
Aug. 25 – Beef Carcass 101 – University of Guelph, Animal Science Building – Meat Wing. For more information contact Brian Pogue at brian.pogue@ontario.ca 519-826-5106 or Dan Ferguson at dan@ontariobeef.com 905-375-8551.
Sept. 4 to 6 – Orangeville Fair. For more information, please check the website www.oaseventcentre.ca
Sept. 5 to 7 – Mount Forest Fair. For more information, please contact mountforestagriculturalsocety@hotmail.com or phone 519-323-1659.
