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