ST. CLAIR REGION (LAMBTON, ESSEX & CHATHAM‐KENT) SOIL AND CROP IMPROVEMENT ASSOCIATION’S
FREE SELF‐GUIDED SUMMER TWILIGHT TOUR
Runs from Thursday, August 5TH To Wednesday, August 11TH
Interested in exploring some interesting agricultural sites and research plots this summer? Your Local Soil & Crop Associations have put together a FREE self‐guided summer Twilight Tour to replace our regular Twilight Tours. Participants are able to drive to various tour stops throughout the St. Clair Region, scan a QR CODE using their smartphone and automatically link up to and view a short informational video about the site. Please note: You may need to download a QR Code Reader APP to your phone for this to work.
If you aren’t able to drive around to the various stops, you can view them at the following YouTube link as well – https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL8ui0YpYfc0m6tz7Ex57-cSkKak4VUXXe
TOUR STOP DETAILS
Schoeley Ridge Farms, South of 7722 Jericho Road, Lambton Shores
SWAT mapping (Soil Water and Topography) by Fieldwalker Agronomy. The SWAT box maps topography and electrical conductivity. It is used to build, group and manage seed and fertilizer response zones.
Miracle Max’s Minions Sunflower Field
Located at 5023 Douglas Line, Forest. Sunflowers planted by Brian Schoonjans in memory of Max Rombouts who died of Leukemia in 2019. Donations accepted and directed to various charities including Childcan, the TLC Foundation and Ronald McDonald House.
Tillage Demo, 4282 Forest Road, Brooke-Alvinston (Just North of Petrolia Line)
Consists of static display of tillage equipment from Kuhn, Agro-X, John Deere, Degelman, Landoll and Kubota along with a strip of ground they have worked.
Kucera Farm Supply Tillage Demo, 8082 Courtright Line, Brooke-Alvinston
Located on the corner of Courtright Line and Nauvoo Road South of Alvinston, entrance is off of Nauvoo Road. Consists of static display of tillage equipment from Case IH, Lemken and Salford along with a strip of ground they have worked.
Buurma Residue Management in Winter Wheat, 354 Gould Road, Croton
Site highlights the complications of poor chaff spreading for corn following winter wheat in a strip til vs. conventional tillage system.
Shea Ag Planted Field, Just South of Home Hardware in Watford (Nauvoo Rd. Watford, Just North of Confederation Line)
Field planted with Precision Planting products and Yetter Manufacturing for corn and soybean planter upgrades.
Essex Region Conservation water quality study.
Denotter Farms – The field is located at the SW corner of Road 6 W and McCain Side Rd. (The closest address to the field in 3323 McCain Side Rd which leads you to the northern extent of the field).
There are three swales on the field, each with a V-notch weir at the end to measure surface runoff (flow, sediment, nutrients) leaving the field during precipitation events. The middle swale has a 10 foot buffer strip in place to determine if it will improve water quality and reduce sediment from leaving the field.
Tier 2 Project Continued – Connecting Soil Health with Yield, J. Brush Farms Ltd., 3235 County Road 11, just North of Harrow on West Side
This project started in 2019 and identifies low and high producing areas in corn fields based on imagery and historical yields.
PRIDE Seed Education Farm, 6824 Pain Court Line, Pain Court, ON (behind the PRIDE Education Centre; GPS Coordinates N‐42.38444 W‐82.311673)
The PRIDE Seed Education Farm demonstrates what’s latest in seed technology through new varieties, seed treatments and trait technology to protect corn and soybean crops.
This clay site was no‐till planted utilizing several Precision Planting Technologies, including:
- Delta Force
- Furrow Force
- Clean Sweep
- Smart Depth
- Conceal for precisely placed banded Nitrogen
The Site includes 3 different planting dates from April 7th ‐ May 19th and June 9th.
These different planting dates provide insights into getting crop maturities right, correct depth and even population recommendations as we progress through spring planting season.
Other demonstrations include residue management, various nitrogen rates applied with the planted and Agronomic decisions around plant populations in a no‐till environment.
Lower Thames Valley Conservation Authority, 5425 Tecumseh Line, Tilbury, ON – at St. Peters Church
This video spotlights the ONFARM Program. The ONFARM Applied Research and Monitoring Program is a 4‐year applied research initiative that began during 2019, that supports soil health and water quality research on farms across Ontario. The program is delivered by the Ontario Soil & Crop Improvement Association with the support of a number of organizations. The Lower Thames Valley Conservation Authorities’ role is to collect environmental data in the subwatershed of Jeannettes Creek. Data Collection includes:
- agricultural land use
- water quality
- soil health
- climate
In turn, this data is used to assess how agricultural practices are affecting regional nutrient loads, which can ultimately contribute to the development of Harmful Algae Blooms in the Thames River, Lake St Clair, and Lake Erie.
Haggerty Creek Ltd. – 2 Locations! 7708 Bentpath Line, Bothwell, ON and 1036 Annett Road, Bothwell
Stop by Haggerty Creek where staff will talk about their soil optix sensor, the grain system, and also allow people to drive around the grain elevator, if they wish. They will have their 2 autonomous weeding robots on display (Naio Oz) for participants to look at and ask questions about.
Approx. 3 minutes from Haggerty Creek, at 1036 Annett Road, Bothwell, ON, staff will have the Raven OmniPower (formerly DOT) autonomous power unit with fertilizer spreader setup as well as a live demonstration of the Autonomous Grain Buggy system (Raven OmniDrive) so people can see what the first autonomous farming vehicles are going to look like in the field.