Nitrate is the form of nitrogen that plant roots take up from the soil. It is transported to the leaves, where it eventually is converted into protein. When plants are stressed or injured, this process is interrupted and excess nitrates accumulate. Drought, hot dry winds, hail, or frost can result […]
Columnists
If you follow the news with any regularity, it’s safe to say the upcoming U.S. election is fraught with fear and angst while hope has all but left the building—and that is an understatement of the colossal kind. The rhetoric makes my teeth hurt while I watch (if I watch) […]
I can barely believe it is already August! Time just slips on by. This month started out with an inch of rain but I hope that it will hold off now for a while! Many are finished haying and many (like me) are so close! We lost some time on […]
This week’s column is coming to you from the road as I travel south to Wheeler Lake in Alabama to compete in the Forrest Wood Cup, the championship event of the FLW Tour. My Dad is with me this week so while he is driving I can to pound away […]
I know you shouldn’t complain about all the wrong things in your life because I do realize how much good I have. But seriously–this year really has been a tough one! We’ve lost some good people in our district, this weather, and personally I’m just having a tough time with […]
The Fort Frances Canadian Bass Championship came to an exciting conclusion early Saturday evening. The finalists kept exchanging the “hot seats” as the crowd wound up from the blare of music and the showmanship of the anglers. I had not volunteered for the tournament in several years, but had kept […]
Are you familiar with lupines? They are of a genus of flowering plants in the legume family, just in case you wanted to know. Actually, they are of a genus of flowering plants in the legume family even if you didn’t want to know. Lupines grow freely in the abandoned […]
This past weekend was a busy one for competitive bass anglers across Northwestern Ontario. The 22nd-annual Fort Frances Canadian Bass Championship took place on Rainy Lake while up in Kenora, the 10th-annual Bronzeback Classic took place on Lake of the Woods. Both events had fields of over 100 teams and […]
By Gary Sliworsky Ag and rural rep The following is the first of a two-part article on lowering predation losses by Barry Potter, OMAFRA: Livestock predation costs. Predation costs the farmer time, money, and emotional stress when production animals are destroyed. Predation also costs the government time, money, and emotional […]
Sadly, Rainy River District lost one of its strongest supporters last week. I received the sad news late Friday night that Linda Armstrong had lost her battle to cancer. Linda loved agriculture and her community. She had great passion about the Ontario Federation of Agriculture and was a part of […]
Why do birds begin singing at 3:30 a.m. before there is even the hint of a sunrise? Why on nights of high humidity are the sounds of the trains amplified? All of these questions—and even many more—have crossed my mind this past week as I have awakened from a deep […]
My friend has died; he is away as my grandmother said of death. Mike and I went to high school together, knew each other almost immediately, and for five years we had many of our classes together and we were friends. When I heard of Mike’s passing I felt an […]
