Analyzing soil in the field with a smart probe may not be such a distant dream after all. For some time now, staff at the Sollio Agriculture crop production research farm in Saint-Hyacinthe have been testing a probe from ChrysaLabs that could be used to adjust farming practices quickly and improve crop fertilization.

For the past two years, members of the research farm’s team have been lugging ChrysaLabs’ futuristic-looking, smart soil-analysis probe around their plots.

Farm businesses have many avenues to reduce their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, including soil management, farming and breeding practices, and the recycling of manure and organic waste. Sollio Agriculture is currently investigating how farmers can benefit by earning carbon credits for adopting these practices.

The new AgConnexion | Grain Portal Toolbox gives farmers quick access to market trends and prices.

In the Grain Information Toolbox, you’ll find the "Market zone and prices that are associated with the farm" and "Flash Marché". These two tools help grain farmers make decisions and facilitate contact with Sollio & Grains Québec’s regional grain merchants.

Although little known and underestimated, fertilizing residual materials (FRMs) are a cost-saving solution for farmers.

“There’s an FRM for every need, from fertilizing to adding organic matter and correcting pH,” says Simon Naylor, Vice-President and Co-Founder of Viridis environnement. Viridis has a 70% share of the FRM recovery market and delivers 600,000 tonnes of organic matter to 700 farm businesses each year.

Ten years after they were first introduced on a large scale in onion fields in Montérégie, sterilized pink onion flies have successfully replaced a controversial insecticide, while generating a dramatic reduction in the natural populations of onion maggots (Delia antiqua), the main onion pest in Canada.

The sterile insect technique (SIT) works in a surprisingly simple and ingenious way. It essentially uses one pest to combat another. To do so, onion flies that are factory reared and sterilized through irradiation ahead of time are released into fields.

The AgConnexion digital agriculture platform is constantly evolving. Several new features are now available to make farmers and retailers even more efficient in farm management.
 

Connect directly to laboratories

No more downloading and emailing analyses. AgConnexion now submits soil, water and hay analyses automatically. This works with A&L Canada, EnvironeX and AgroEnviroLab.

Sollio Agriculture’s digital team is always on the lookout for agricultural innovations that will really make farm work easier. The connected silo technology available on AgConnexion is a good example.

The technology is very simple: It collects real-time data from silos and sends it to AgConnexion. This lets farmers know how much grain they have, making the procurement process easier.

What is grain worth? How do you know when it’s the right time to sell? How is the market doing? The grain portal on AgConnexion, our digital agriculture platform, helps field crop farmers better manage their crops and maximize their profits.

The comprehensive, easy-to-use grain portal gives field crop farmers quick access to market trends, contracts, tickets and settlements. It also allows farmers to compare selling prices by market area or delivery location.

The first step to a successful corn crop is to ensure that the planting is done properly. Here are some tips and ideas on how to avoid key corn planting mistakes.

1. First Planting Window

Here are some key reasons why growers miss that first good planting window:

• New tractor or new planter not talking to each other;

• Planter has a crimped cable or hydraulic hose that didn’t get noticed.

Robots are one of the most talked-about innovations in agriculture, and rightly so—they can weed with precision, reduce soil compaction and shrink farm carbon footprints.

Scientists at the Sollio Agriculture research farm are always on the lookout for innovations that promote more sustainable agriculture.