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Is it possible to grow more with less

Is it possible to grow more with less
Oct 11, 2022
By Denise Faguy
Assistant Editor, North American Content, Farms.com

Timing is everything

For 20 years Morley Wallace, President of GPS Ontario, has been in business and has tried to come up with a complete solution for reducing the inputs required to grow crops.

GPS Ontario has developed a system called Innovative Fertile Stripping, what he believes is the next step beyond strip till.

GPS Ontario applies the fertilizer through its system, metering it out and blowing it into the lead of the trench they are going to make. Then the cultivators up that fertilizer and the soil, blends it and converts it into a light, fluffy, moist, soil.

“When we go in and do fertile stripping, we're going to create a field and it's going to look like this when we pull out – he showed a 6 inches wide strip, 4 or 5 inches deep, but the 24 inches in between gets no fertilizer,” explained Wallace at the 2022 Great Ontario Yield Tour.

“The process is all based on timing. The time it takes for that seed to germinate, the time it takes for that root to germinate, the time it takes for the root to find fertilizer so that it can start to grow.”

GPS Ontario believes the amount of fertilizer being used by farmers can be reduced. GPS Ontario is currently conducting experiments with the University of Ottawa testing to see fertility results. It is the first year of the experiments, so no data has been released yet.

Watch the full 2022 Great Ontario Yield Tour presentation “Grow more with less”.




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Why Huitlacoche (Corn Smut) is So Expensive | So Expensive

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Huitlacoche, also known as the "Mexican truffle," is an edible fungus that forms on undeveloped corn ears and sells for as much as $40 a pound. Discovered by the Aztecs, the bulbous fungus has been consumed in Mexico for centuries and has recently become an increasingly popular specialty ingredient around the world.

However, the US has dedicated significant time and money to keeping its cornfields free of what they call "corn smut" and "the devil's corn." Huitlacoche forms naturally during the rainy season, but farmers can also inject the fungus into their cornfields to harvest the valuable "black gold". So why has Huitlacoche become so popular and what exactly makes it so expensive?