Category Archives: Sponsors

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RESOURCES: Check out www.weathercentral.ca, a site-specific, weather-based planning tool

What is www.weathercentral.ca?

  • Site specific (based on grower’s specific field locations), weather-based, agricultural decision support tools for grain grower
  • It is accessible to everyone.
  • It is completely free thanks to sponsorships from PRIDE Seeds and Bayer Crop Science.

What features will I receive?

  • SPRAYcast® – Based on field location, identifies time of day more or less favourable for spraying.
  • BINcast® – Based on bin location, five day, site-specific forecast of optimal times for operating fans. Growers can select any grain for monitoring and are given a five day forecast of drying windows broken down into hourly intervals.
  • Growth stage calculator for corn – Growers enter field location and planting date. Receive an estimated calendar for an entire season’s stages – emergence, tassel, blacklayer, maturity, etc. based on CHU and rainfall accumulation at location.
  • Corn Drydown calculator – Using calculator above, growers enter estimated maturity date and specify desired % moisture loss to find the estimated day their corn crop will reach blacklayer.
  • Insects – Pest advisory of when to scout based on grower field locations and accumulated GDD from planting date.
  • Programmable alerts – Growers can receive text/email alerts for frost warning and or before any crucial stages of corn growth – emergence, tassel, silk, maturity. Extremely useful for accurate timing for application of fungicides.
  • Weather forecasts for field location area (daily & hourly), monthly rainfall and CHU maps, site specific crop heat unit and growing degree day accumulation and much more.

How do I sign up?

  • Go to www.weathercentral.ca and click on “Sign-up for FREE today” where you can create your user ID and password.
  • Fill out the form, some fields are required.
  • Click submit.

Now that I’m signed up, how do I register my fields? 

  • To register your fields, you need to locate your field on the map. Enter your 911 address or GPS coordinates in the box provided above the map and click on ‘Go’. You can also zoom in on your location with the + and – located on the left side of the map. Once you have found your farm, click on the location.
  • Select your crop (Corn, wheat or other)
  • Enter agronomy details – Variety, crop rotation, tillage practises etc.
  • Click ‘Submit’. Your field has been added successfully and is marked on the map.
  • To add another field, click on ‘Plot more fields’ above the map and repeat steps above. No limit to the number of fields registered!

FOR MORE INFORMATION

  • Kathy Lacina at 519-436-7096 or klacina@prideseed.com.
  • To download a printable copy of this information click here: Weather Central.

PRIDE Seeds are proud sponsors of our goldenhorseshoe newsletter. Watch for more details on this program in the Summer 2013 edition.

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HAVE YOUR SAY: FarmSmart suggestion box

FarmSmart was built on the model of “by farmers, for farmers” and the team work hard each year to develop programs that will have broad appeal in our agricultural community. We welcome your comments and suggestions to help us make our next FarmSmart events even more successful. Please email our team members to share your suggestions or use the handy online form below to share your submissions:

  • Program suggestions: ian.mcdonald@ontario.ca
  • Sponsorship opportunities or potential partners: goldenhorseshoe.scia@rogers.com
  • Host locations for Friday “Smart” workshop: cattleco@zing-net.ca

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Local association news: Norfolk SCIA AGM 2013

With the completion of the Norfolk Soil and Crop Improvement Association, the county annual meeting circuit in the large eight-county region of the Golden Horseshoe Soil and Crop Improvement Association has now wound up for another year. Held at the Delhi District German Home in Delhi, guests are always guaranteed a fabulous homestyle meal and for their 2013 AGM with over 200 tickets sold, Norfolk can report their largest crowd in recent years.

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RESOURCE LINKS

John Shepherd was retained for 2012 to administer the corn and soybean trials for the Norfolk SCIA and provided members with the following reports, now available online:

2013 DIRECTORS

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Back row, left to right: Ann Vermeersch, Larry Bauslaugh, Brett Schuyler, Rick Pasztor, Fred Judd, Stefan Dewaele, Scott Ruppert. Front row, left to right: Jeff Purdy, Arpad Pasztor, Scott Sowden (past president), Frank VanDeSlyke (secretary/treasurer), Tracey Court. Absent: Dave Dockx, Noel Heye, Rob Jamieson, Greg Squires (president), Brad Persall, Kees Meijaard. Photo credit: Anne Howden Thompson

GUEST SPEAKER

  • Steve Peters, Executive Director of the Alliance of Ontario Food Processors, former Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario and former Ontario agriculture minister

Steve Peters, the former Liberal MPP now heads the Alliance of Ontario Food Processors as its executive director, channelling his enthusiasm for the agriculture industry in new new challenges. “For too long they think the economy runs on four wheels,” Peters told the audience, noting that the food and beverage sector (from farm gate to the public) is a $40 billion a year business, outnumbering the auto industry four to one. “The food and beverage industry is the farmers’ best customer. Do we have potential for growth? You bet we do,” he said. Peters said he would like to see the creation of an Ontario store for retail and distribution purposes to showcase the wonderful Ontario-grown products.

During his keynote address Peters recounted memories from his almost 20-year political career, recalling both the humorous and the sombre moments. He said the sense of camaraderie that used to exist at Queen’s Park in past eras has gone, describing it now more like a battle ground and saying today’s politicians need to have the will to make change. “We have to get beyond this opposing for the sake of opposing, or supporting for the sake of supporting. Not everything that (Premier Mike) Harris did was bad, not everything that (Premier Dalton) McGuinty did was good,” he said.

He said the culture of politics has changed and that one of the biggest problems facing politics right now at both the federal and provincial levels is the amount of control from what Peter’s calls “the corner office”, whereby much of the government agenda is driven by the Premier’s or Prime Minister’s office. “(I’ve) seen this erosion of power of the MP and MPP…and until the politicians take that play back, we are divesting too much of our decision making in the hands of unelected individuals,” he said, noting that the voters need to start pushing back.

During his years in opposition at Queen’s Park Peters was a vocal agricultural critic for the Liberal party and enthusiastically accepted the honour to serve as minister of agriculture during the Liberal government’s first term of office. He also served as labour minister during this term as well, but following the 2007 election, McGuinty did  not return him to cabinet–a disappointing decision at the time but one that proved fortuitous for Peters. “I decided I didn’t want to go play second fiddle,” he said, and entered the race for the chance to serve as the 40th Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario, a plum role Peters successfully secured that brought with it heightened responsibility, an apartment at Queen’s Park, and new challenges and opportunities for Peters.

The guest speaker presentation was made possible by the generous donations of Farm Credit Canada and Total Equipment Rentals.

SPONSORS

  • AgriCorp
  • AgroSpray
  • AIM Environmental Group
  • Alpha Agri-Products Inc.
  • ALPINE: The starter fertilizer company
  • Cargill AgHorizons
  • Dey’s Equipment Centre Inc.
  • DuPont Pioneer
  • FS PARTNERS
  • Farm Credit Canada
  • Green Lea Ag Centre Inc.
  • Horizon Seeds Canada Inc.
  • Hyland Seeds
  • Maizex Seeds Inc.
  • Norfolk ALUS (Alternative Land Use Services)
  • Norfolk Tractor (a div. of D & W Group Inc.)
  • Premier Equipment Ltd.
  • PRIDE Seeds
  • Scholten’s Farm Equipment Ltd.
  • Sylvite
  • Syngenta Canada
  • Total Equipment Rentals
  • Underhill’s Farm Supply
  • Vanmaele Leitch-Gair Insurance Ltd.
  • Wessuc Inc.
  • Whiteside Irrigation

Thanks to all the sponsors for their generous contributions to the Norfolk Region Soil and Crop Improvement Association.

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Local association news: Wentworth SCIA AGM 2013

Thanks to the following sponsors for their generous contributions of time and support to the exhibitor trade show of the Wentworth Soil and Crop Improvement Association’s Annual County Meeting 2013:

  • AgroSpray Limited (Ron Paret)
  • Alan J. Kelly Grain Bin
  • Almac Agronomic Services Inc. (Corrie Almack)
  • ALPINE: The Starter Fertilizer Company (Pierre Pinsonneault)
  • BroadGrain Commodities, Inc. (Neil Hemingway)
  • Cargill AgHorizons Canada (Jess Hurley)
  • Clark’s Agri Service Inc. (Andrew Pattemore)
  • County Ag Services Inc. (Bob Somers)
  • Crossroads Equipment Inc. (Bob Jerome)
  • Dey’s Equipment Centre Inc.
  • Egger Truck & Machine Ltd. (Bob Henley)
  • FS PARTNERS (Moe Crickmore)
  • Galer Farm Equipment Ltd. (Kevin McAllister)
  • Horizon Seeds Canada Inc. (Peter Lanthier)
  • Hyland Seeds (Paul Kerr)
  • Laidlaw Farm Drainage (Bruce Laidlaw)
  • Masterfeeds Inc.
  • O’Neil’s Farm Equipment (1971) Limited (Casey Smith)
  • PRIDE Seeds (Brad Hallock)
  • Quality Seeds (Ted Hargreaves)
  • Royal Bank of Canada (Brett Howden)
  • Stratford Agri Analysis (Jim Hazlewood)
  • Veolia Water (Paul Purser)
  • Wellandport Home Hardware
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Local association news: Halton SCIA AGM 2013

County annual meetings are underway across our region, and the local agribusiness community are strong supporters in each of our local associations. Thanks to the following sponsors for their generous contributions to the Halton Region Soil and Crop Improvement Association, who had a very successful Annual General Meeting, with a large audience in attendance to hear from special guest speaker Jack Rabin of Rutgers University.

  • Alliance Agri-Turf Inc.
  • General Seed Company
  • Halton Region
  • John Nurse (DeDell Seed Corn Dealer & Tall Pines Farmworks)
  • Terratec American Water
  • Julia and Mike Whalen, DuPont Pioneer Sales Representatives
  • Woodrill Farms Ltd.