According to Stephen Case, chief executive officer and president of Fox River Resources, Canada has become completely reliant on phosphate sourced from other countries like the U.S., Russia and Morocco. He’s advocating to have the Martison Phosphate Project developed at a site northeast of Hearst, Ont. to alleviate Canadian reliance on phosphate from those other jurisdictions.

Dating back to the early 2000s, Canada sourced its own phosphate, most of which came from Redwater, Alta. At the turn of the century, that plant could generate up to 700,000 tonnes of monoammonium phosphate (MAP) per year, part of a near one-million tonne market for MAP across Western Canada. Through the years, it produced under the names Agrium, Sherritt Gordon and Veridian, among others. But with the formation of Nutrien, the phosphoric acid plant was converted to an ammonium-sulphate (AMS) production facility.

Since the mid-2010s, Canadian phosphate usage has pushed the industry into complete dependence on the U.S. and other imports. With the onset of the war in Ukraine, Canadian farmers were forced to pay higher short-term prices for phosphate from that part of the world.

“We’re now a two-million tonne market and two things have happened in the past 20 years,” says Case. “Agrium had a fixed number of tonnes they would produce per year, but the western Canadian market and Ontario’s continued to grow and they have essentially doubled consumption in the past 10 years.”

At the same time, U.S. supply has been declining since the early 1990s, from a high of about 48 million tonnes in 1991 to a little under 20 million in 2022. There is the possibility that Nutrien’s White Springs, Florida facility will close later this decade or earlier, due to a lack of phosphate reserves. That plant has produced 500,000 tonnes of phosphoric acid, but its closure will only worsen the North American shortfall of phosphate.

A solution

Case’s bid is a two-pronged approach. First, get phosphate on the 2024 Critical Mineral List (CML), a move which would help get the Martison Phosphate Project up and running. Projects like Martison require billions of dollars to build and it will need access to government support that comes with being on the critical mineral list.

“It accesses infrastructure funding, tax credits and possibly government guarantees,” says Case. “The federal government’s also involved in streamlining the permitting process to reduce the timelines for critical minerals. It’s all of those things that make it easier to get this developed — and it should be on the list — potash is, and clearly, if you look at the criteria for critical minerals, one of the aspects is food security.”

Getting phosphate on the CML can also affect the level of infrastructure support with Indigenous participation, a jump to 75 per cent compared to 50 per cent for non-Indigenous interests.

One key strategic advantage of the Martison Phosphate Project is that it originates from igneous rock versus sedimentary sources which contain higher levels of cadmium. Within the last 10 years, cadmium has become a trade issue among EU importers of cereals and other foods. Again, with increased demand for production of crops across the country, Case says it’s counterproductive to apply lesser-quality phosphate to farmland when there is a better, made-in-Canada solution.

What’s needed is the drive to get it into production.

Case also says the focus on lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries for the electric vehicle market could divert attention from food and fertilizer.

The size of the Martison Phosphate Project is unknown at this time and although there may be enough ore to fill both markets, the two are definite competitors.

“Part of what we’re talking about is predicated on the fact that the U.S. is running out of rock and the rock they do have is of poor quality,” adds Case.

“If we don’t do something about this, we’re going to be paying more for something we shouldn’t be.”

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That was the focus of a recent paper and webinar by the Council for Agricultural Science and Technology, which discussed the application benefits of genome editing and to envisioned the future of its applications on society.

Genome editing tools can greatly advance plant breeding progress through less complicated techniques compared to transgenics.

Although CRISPR technology is the most frequently mentioned gene editing technique, the science is relatively young.

“Obviously it’s a very important tool in our field of plant breeding and innovation, but it’s also increasingly something consumers are hearing about in the marketplace,” said Sarah Evanega, associate professor at Cornell University and an author of the council’s issue paper.

Although CRISPR was developed 10 years ago, global events, including the pandemic, changed public attitudes toward technical advances.

Evanega highlighted several applications in the agri-food and agri-business sector, among them Calyno high-oleic soybean oil from Calyxt, waxy corn from Corteva and Sicilian Rouge tomatoes from Sanatech Seeds. All use some form of genome editing to impart desirable traits for specific markets or end uses.

“We then move into the benefits we’re seeing through the application of this tool and we sort of ‘bucket’ those into three key categories,” added Evanega.

“Those are benefits to the environment, benefits that are social in nature as well as economic benefits.”

She noted that U.S. consumers are “especially excited” about the role of genome editing in making food more nutritious while reducing pesticide and water use.

First steps

1. The issue paper made five recommendations to ensure genome editing in agriculture benefits society:Increase public investments that incentivize research and development and minor-use crops, identifying areas of genetic vulnerability to extend applications beyond the major commodity crops and agronomic traits that will be served by the private sector.

2. Increase public investments in genomics, trait discovery and the understanding of the genetics that inform those desirable traits to ensure applications that translate into products that serve and benefit society.

3. Create incentives for start-up companies using new breeding tools to develop products that address consumer demands.

4. Create incentives for developing products with a significant environmental impact, especially in large acre crops that confer big scaling opportunities.

5. Ensure a clearer, transparent, predictable product-based co-ordinated regulatory system (in the U.S.) that does not discriminate against specialty crops and minor-use applications.

Two steps forward?

As with every advance, there are challenges, and Evanega underscored consumer acceptance and governance as primary hurdles.

The first few products of genome editing are entering the marketplace and public perceptions will depend on how and what products are used in food systems.

Those that offer nutritional benefits or promote environmental sustainability are more likely to be in demand, she said.

But lack of global harmonization has slowed commercialization of crops developed through genome editing, noted Evanega.

The regulatory system must recognize product outcomes rather than the process or the technology used. That should be possible since many frameworks distinguish genome editing from transgenics.

Regulations in the European Union are now under revision to recognize the differentiation between those two, and that’s a positive step, according to many researchers, policy makers and farm organizations.

The post Getting acceptance for gene editing appeared first on Alberta Farmer Express.

Most growers have now been accumulating data for 20 years or longer, and many have resolved to keep that data in the hopes of finding value from the gigabytes and terabytes of accumulated information in the form of increased on-farm efficiencies, cost reductions and improved yields.

But how should growers and agronomists interpret this data?

That’s the goal of a venture by agronomist Aaron Breimer.

With his new business, Moose-Ag, he aims to use his decade of experience working with growers in southwestern Ontario to help them interpret data and turn it into useful management directives.

Breimer recently provided answers to a few questions growers may have on the use and interpretation of data.

Q: If we accept that growers aren’t using their data to greatest advantage, what factors hold them back?

A: Time is always at a premium for farmers, be it trying to get the crop planted, chores completed, business planning or spending time with family. There are a lot of software platforms that farmers have access to that enable them to visualize and create insights from their data.

Generally, they’re called GIS or geographical information systems software and they allow GPS-generated data to be organized and overlaid. But as powerful as they are, in order to fully utilize them, users need to be interacting with them on a regular basis.

For some, they might only want to interact with their data two or three times a year, and it might take several hours to remember the nuances of each. When time’s at a premium, those hours aren’t always an option.

The end result is the more powerful aspects of these platforms are not engaged with or the software isn’t utilized after the first or second time.

Q: What about data interpretation and expertise?

A: The current business model for agricultural data is a software platform, built and sold to end users who pay to use it but are actually doing the work themselves.

Yes, there are some of the higher-end data interpretation tools in platforms that can be challenging, but there are lots of industry experts that can provide explanations.

In my opinion, those experts are also running into time constraints, like agronomists who are tasked with evaluating in-field challenges or supporting the agriculture industry in crop input sales. It’s like tax software: there are great accounting platforms on the market and for individuals who want to, they allow people to manage their finances and tax reporting responsibilities effectively.

But there are also plenty of bookkeepers and accountants utilizing those platforms for clients who choose not to do the work themselves.

Q: What about biases in data interpretation?

A: Every human being has biases, some of which are obvious, some less so, like a preferred brand of farm equipment. The same is true with data. Researchers have formal training in how to set up and conduct studies to minimize or eliminate biases (in the field).

But on-farm data interpretation can be more challenging. When a grower invests in seed or a fungicide, they want the data to prove them right. 

In my opinion, biases cannot be eliminated in farm-scale data. We can try to minimize them and acknowledge that some still exist.

Q: How does the uniqueness of an individual farm operation affect data interpretation?

A: That’s one of the coolest things about agriculture; that uniqueness that each farm operation contains, and the story that created it. It isn’t just biases that might suggest Variety A does better than Variety B for Farmer Smith while the exact opposite is true with Farmer Jones.

It could be soil type, soil fertility based on the previous rotation or the presence of livestock; it might be drainage, or patience on the part of either grower heading to the field at planting.

When a farmer walks onto a research site or sees data results and says, “these are interesting but this isn’t my farm,” we need to listen to that statement, because it’s true. If a farmer is saying that because they want to continue to farm based on their existing biases, that’s OK. It’s been working for them.

However if a farmer wants to work towards continual improvement of their operation, they might be asking for support on how to evaluate their existing system and how to adjust those based on their unique operation. But evaluating those tweaks has to make sense and be easy to implement.

This is a huge reason why I’m a proponent that every field can be a research site. It doesn’t have to include 50 trials with every field requiring cleaning out the planter each time.

But I do believe that if each field is treated as a unique data set and we overlay a systems approach, it might be incredible what we can learn or gain from that individual farm.

One of the things that makes the Yield Enhancement Network project successful is that farmers are getting the support to do these research initiatives, and we need more of those.

The post Dealing with your farm data appeared first on Alberta Farmer Express.

Lalrise Start SC liquid inoculant aims to improve another key nutrient. The seed treatment designed to enhance phosphorus solubility has received full commercial registration and will be available in spring 2024 for spring wheat, oats, barley and rye.

Canola, corn, soybeans, pulses and winter wheat are also on the label and the product will be available for those crops in the future.

Traditional inoculants geared to pulses and legumes use Bradyrhizobium japonicum or Bacillus subtilis. Lalrise Start SC employs a new strain in its product formulation – Bacillus velezensis.

That strain is a plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria selected to increase crop establishment via improved root vigour and nutrient availability.

“What you have is a highly concentrated suspension that will give the seed a package of growth promotion because of a biofilm of these bacteria,” said Matt Pfarr, field solutions manager with Lallemand Plant Care, the company behind the seed treatment.

“This product is very different because it’s going to focus on phosphorus fertility. We’re complementing the grower’s fertility placement because up to 90 per cent of that can get tied up within one year of that dollar being spent, so we want to give the grower back that 90 cents in availability.”

In research and registration trials in 2022, Lallemand showed a 38 per cent increase in phosphorus availability in situations where phosphate is tied up in an organic or inorganic (mineral) form.

The plant uptake can be 25 per cent greater in the early stages of growth, helping with establishment and early vigour and leading to potential for healthy grain set. In theory, it should increase the number of grains on the head.

“With the Lalrise Start SC bacteria, they’re more like a probiotic, where we’re more interested in how they can colonize outside of the root, and plants are always giving carbon into that space,” said Pfarr.

“We’re hoping beneficial bacteria will come with beneficial fungi and colonize that root zone. We know Bacillus velezensis is aggressive and forms this biofilm and can colonize very well.”

More detail on soil

Pfarr acknowledges the industry is still in its early stages where soil health and root zone interactions are concerned, and growers have questions about any new inoculant. What is the effect? What does it do for crops? What is the mode of action?

He likens the potential to investing in the root’s architecture at an early stage. There’s growth stimulation and the structure produces phyto-hormones that the plant will respond to and develop a more robust root system.

“We’re exploring that soil and then we enter an exponential growth phase of the vegetation of the shoot a little earlier than the non-treated,” said Pfarr. “There’s a bit of an investment period, but then five to six weeks after emergence, we see improvement over the untreated, and that leads to higher yields.”

Lalrise Start SC is billed as a resource for growers that uses the right solution at the right time in the right form and at the right rate. The question from Pfarr’s perspective is the metric on what the inoculant will bring.

“Whether it’s for stress mitigation or promoting the diversity of the soil microbiome, there’s a lot to be done,” he says. “We’re just appreciating that more and we’re going to manage for that. But we have to be able to measure it and get more looks at it.”

– This article was originally published at Farmtario.

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The precision ag system, designed by Dot Technology Corp., attracted considerable attention going through its paces during the annual ag showcase, held outside Woodstock, Ont. The demonstrations took place as part of a partnership with Corteva Agriscience.

The U-shaped model is manufactured to incorporate “Dot-ready” implements, with only a few designs currently available: the SeedMaster Ultra DSR (Dot Single Rank) 30-foot seeder, the SeedMaster row-crop planter, a Pattison Connect PLU 120-foot sprayer and a New Leader NL5000 G5 spreader.

Growers in Western Canada are well acquainted with the Dot A-U1 platform but the reactions from those attending Canada’s Outdoor Farm Show were a pleasant surprise to Dot Technology CEO Rob Saik. He had texts and e-mails from eastern growers expressing interest in seeing and learning more about its potential.

“The response has been incredible — really good,” said Saik, noting most growers are looking for ‘economy of scale’ or the cost-efficiency of the technology.

“Out west, we’re looking for scale, where we have to have two or three DOTs working simultaneously in the field. Here (in Eastern Canada), one DOT could satisfy most farmers that are in that 2,000- to 2,500-acre range.”

Interest in the East is sufficient, added Saik, that he and his team are trying to restructure their plans to get a Dot unit available for demonstrations in the spring of 2020.

The technology is marketed to save time and fuel and reduce pollution, with a mobile, diesel-powered engine, capable of reducing overall costs by 20 per cent.

The Dot A-U1 effectively surrounds a specially designed implement and operates via an on-frame computer that is fed detailed mapping requirements. An operator can monitor the unit’s progress and can assume control using a tablet specifically configured for the unit.

Although currently designed for four implements, Saik stated that interest is coming from different manufacturers about newer configurations.

As he pointed out, smaller, more specialized implements such as a rock picker or land roller might be ideal candidates for such innovation, along with the better-known names in farm equipment.

“DOT gives them the strategy,” said Saik, following a brief presentation on the unit. “The companies can come on as a Dot-Ready implement manufacturer and we make that available to them like another option on a Swiss Army knife.”

Current pricing on the Dot A-U1 Power Platform is US$260,000.

— Ralph Pearce is a field editor for Country Guide at St. Marys, Ont.

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Some of this trend is attributable to single-mode-of-action products and a reliance on one or two chemistries or technologies — but the adaptability of weed, disease and insect species can’t be underestimated. Their respective abilities to select for resistance and evolve beyond an active ingredient or single mode of action is well-documented.

That’s why the move to multiple modes of action (MMOA) is gaining popularity. According to Glen Forster, technical development manager with BASF, growers are well aware of the impacts of herbicide resistance, particularly since they’re dealing with it at greater frequencies. That’s why many newer fungicides launched in the past four or five years are taking the multiple-mode-of-action approach, he said.

“With fungicides, there’s a lot of education going on in the marketplace to help producers become more aware, and that it’s important to think about resistance management before resistance occurs,” Forster said. “Growers are well-versed in herbicides but the knowledge base on resistance management in fungicides is becoming stronger on a yearly basis.”

One of the primary challenges in sharing that message comes from the frequency and intensity of herbicides versus fungicides. Growers must manage different weed species on an annual basis, whether it’s Canada fleabane or lamb’s quarters. But diseases are different: in any year, the right environmental conditions must be present, the host species must be at the right stage and there have to be sufficient amounts of the pathogen present — all at the same time.

“Even though you may spray the same mode of action on a wheat plant and then the next year, spray the same mode of action on a soybean crop, since the diseases may not be affecting that crop, you don’t have a selection pressure on an annual basis,” Forster said. “If the disease isn’t present in the field or the weather conditions aren’t conducive for that disease, you won’t have selection pressure.”

Advances in breeding technology have also helped growers, with resistance “packages” for diseases such as phytophthora root rot in soybeans and fusarium head blight in wheat. In some years, such breeding enhancements might negate the need for a fungicide application in wheat fields, or at least reduce their number.

But not every disease package is perfect, hence the industry’s move to MMOAs. No matter how sporadic a disease incidence might be, or whether its intensity is low, the key with MMOAs is to be proactive — to reduce the potential for the selection of resistance before it has a chance to start the selection process.

“The chance of having a population that’s resistant to both a strobilurin and a succinate dehydrogenase inhibitor (SDHI) in a field with a multiple mode of action is extremely rare,” Forster said.

“Although fungicides may not need to be MMOA today, it’s always a better strategy to use those prior to resistance selection, to prevent losing one of those tools you have. Diseases will adapt and we need to make sure that we constantly preserve the tools that we have from a fungicide performance perspective, and prevent disease from occurring.”

— Ralph Pearce is a field editor for Country Guide at St. Marys, Ont. Follow him at @arpee_AG on Twitter.

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During the 2017 edition of Canada’s Outdoor Farm Show at Woodstock, Ont., Deveau, the application technology specialist for the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA) at Simcoe, spoke to farmers about a new continuous-rinse system.

In some European jurisdictions, farmers have lost the freedom to do sprayer cleanouts at their own discretion. With point source contamination threatening ground water sources, some governments have responded to the detection of farm chemicals, so legislation was enacted dictating that farmers must perform a cleanout before they leave a field.

“They weren’t allowed to leave until their sprayer held one or two per cent of the original tank concentration as sampled at the nozzle,” said Deveau. “Recognizing that a conventional triple rinse can take 20 or 30 minutes, that adds a lot of time to somebody’s day when they have to be clean coming out of every single field.”

In Europe, engineers realized sprayers typically have one pump to either spray from the boom, circulate spray or draw water from a clean water tank. Unfortunately, they can’t do all of those at the same time.

In a triple-rinse scenario, there can be five to 15 gallons of spray mix left in the lines, or the sump pump, or in the tank.

“If you introduce one-third of the clean water you’re carrying using the main pump through the rinse-down nozzle, you get slightly less dirty water, and that’s a dilution,” Deveau said. “Then you circulate that through the system as best you can, climb back into the cab and spray it out the boom. But again, you’ve left five, 10 or 15 gallons of now more-dilute spray behind.”

That step is repeated twice, with the remaining solution becoming more dilute each time. But has enough water been added to reach that one or two per cent?

European engineers found that using smaller amounts, rinsed through the system repeatedly, is more effective. To help, they added a dedicated low-volume pump for the water, creating a continuous-rinse system.

“It draws clean water from the tank and introduces it to the rinse-down nozzles directly, bypassing the plumbing and the main pump,” Deveau said. “The main pump can then be used to continually spray, and when it’s empty, you flip a switch in the cab and clean water displaces the dirty water rather than dilutes it.”

The good news is that it will drop that concentration down to that one or two per cent level, and do it in a fraction of the time — from 30 minutes for a triple-rinse, down to 10.

“Best of all, you never left the cab, so operator exposure is nil, and you’ve sprayed that rinsate out over the field where it can break down naturally down rather than having point source contamination.”

Deveau worked with HJV Equipment to adapt the system to a Rogator, which cost roughly $1,500. More recently, he worked with Green Lea Fertilizer and Application Equipment to install a similar system on a Case IH Patriot 4440 for about $2,000-$2,500.

That may sound like a lot of money, but considering the time savings, it pays for itself fairly quickly.

— Ralph Pearce is a field editor for Country Guide at St. Marys, Ont. Follow him at @arpee_AG on Twitter.

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Drenching rains in midwestern Ontario have left both commercial fields and variety plots ruined.

Rainfall amounts from June 22 to 23 varied in the potato-growing areas, with the Orangeville and Beeton districts the hardest hit. Orangeville received 5.5 inches of rain while Beeton, to the northeast, received 3.5 inches. Roughly 100 acres in that region were lost.

In other locales, Shelburne’s growers recorded between two and four inches, Simcoe-Delhi saw roughly 1.5 inches; Burford to Aylmer received one to two inches, as did the Alliston-Stayner corridor. At the other end of the spectrum, the Leamington area received less than an inch, and some growers are concerned about the dryness.

Eugenia Banks, a consultant with the Ontario Potato Board, said she thought her variety trial near Beeton was ruined, but it was saved when standing water was redirected to a nearby drainage ditch. Her plot north of Alliston also survived, with the chipping variety Spartan Chipper beginning to bloom (almost as early as Dakota Pearl, she added). Fresh market varieties Envol and Glossy are also at the early bloom stage.

The heavy rains will challenge growers in three ways, Banks said:  nitrogen leaching, the potential for increases in late blight, blackleg, aerial stem rot and soft rot, and a high probability of quality problems in fields where growth is advanced.

The nitrogen issue, Banks said, can be fixed, but the late blight issue is a concern. Spores of the disease have yet to be detected in Michigan, Wisconsin and Maine, and Banks received the results from spore traps in the Alliston and Shelburne regions from late last week, with no late blight spores detected.

In fields where late blight spores are detected, she recommended an application of Bravo or a specific late blight fungicide. As for blackleg and aerial stem rot, Banks suggested copper hydroxide (Parasol or Kocide) as options.

In terms of quality issues in wet fields, growers should look for tuber malformations, growth cracks and hollow-heart developing due to the excessive precipitation.

— Ralph Pearce is a field editor for Country Guide at St. Marys, Ont. Follow him at @arpee_AG on Twitter.

The post Pearce: Heavy rains cause losses in Ontario potato fields appeared first on Alberta Farmer Express.

Eugenia Banks, a consultant for the Ontario Potato Board, stated such a “signal” might indicate an increase in the population of the fungus that causes late blight, even though it’s under the detection limit.

“A spray is recommended for the Simcoe-Delhi area where early planted fields are flowering or are close to flowering,” Banks said in a brief summary from Friday.

Late blight test results from the Shelburne and Alliston areas were negative at the start and finish of last week, she added, noting early spraying against late blight always pays off.

In the Alliston region, many fields are expected to be at row closure within the next few days. At the same time, prior to last Friday, there’d been sufficient rainfall to create conditions that are perfect for late blight. Added to that, this past weekend saw several storm cells in the area, with more-than-enough rainfall in both the Alliston fields and those in the Shelburne area.

The heavier rainfall around Shelburne should help those fields that were recently planted, Banks said. Simcoe-Delhi, on the other hand, missed out on the weekend rain events.

Other disease updates

There have been reports concerning blackleg — including a new strain — and brown spot in different regions.

According to Banks, blackleg was reported in an early-planted field of potatoes grown for the fresh market. Its spread can be reduced by copper hydroxide application.

The lack of precipitation in the Simcoe-Delhi region has also spurred the development of brown spot, a problem that emerges in dry weather conditions.

Of particular concern is the announcement of Dickeya, found in Wisconsin. Although it’s a new strain of blackleg, it exhibits typical symptoms, including wilted plants with black rotting stem bases. An application of copper can reduce the spread when wet weather is an ongoing issue.

New varieties

Banks also details her experiences with Spartan Chipper (from Michigan State University) and AAC Glossy (from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada). She planted the varieties in plots on May 7 near Alliston.

Spartan Chipper emerged quickly, with vigorous plant growth and a maturity that’s slightly behind Dakota Pearl, which is already in flower. Spartan Chipper can be chipped right out of the field but may also be a candidate for lengthier storage.

Glossy is another fast-emerging plant and appears to be similar to Envol in terms of maturity. It’s marketed by La Patate Lac St. Jean with a cream-coloured flesh, and is grown for the fresh market.

— Ralph Pearce is a field editor for Country Guide at St. Marys, Ont. Follow him at @arpee_AG on Twitter.

The post Pearce: Tests negative, weather positive for late blight in Ont. potatoes appeared first on Alberta Farmer Express.

Two weeks ago, the reports from the Ontario Potato Board were full of warm temperatures and dry soils, and growers, particularly around Leamington and Delhi, took full advantage. One farmer in the Delhi area managed to plant red potatoes under sunny skies, a temperature of 16 C and dry soil conditions on April 18.

During the first week of May, however, a special weather statement from Environment Canada in effect for all of southern Ontario will likely put a hold on planting — of any crop — for at least the next week.

Some parts of the region are forecast to receive between 40 and 70 mm of precipitation from Thursday to Sunday, which could exacerbate an already-saturated soil base across many parts of the province.

Still, there are some positive signs on planting, at least in the potato sector. Reports from the Ontario Potato Board indicate the 2017 processing potato crop has been planted around Leamington. On one farm in that corner of Essex County, Dakota Pearls planted on April 12 have emerged and are reportedly healthy looking.

In the Delhi area, one farmer cited rainfall totals of three inches on his farm during the last week, and though he doesn’t believe there’ll be any planting done in that area for the next week, he estimates between 30 and 40 per cent of the crop there has been planted.

As for other parts of the province, fields in the Alliston area that were fall-fumigated have standing water between the rows, reported on Monday. One farmer near Bowmanville, east of Toronto is waiting for dry weather before he can get back to planting.

In all, there have been about 1,800 acres of potatoes planted in Ontario.

— Ralph Pearce is a field editor for Country Guide at St. Marys, Ont. Follow him at @arpee_AG on Twitter.

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