Ontario Farmers Receive Much Needed Rain

Jul 26, 2012

Ontario Farmer’s Sing ‘Rain is a Good Thing’

Many farmers woke up Thursday morning to the sweet sound of much needed rain. Ontario crops have been under a lot of stress from the drought, leaving many crops in ruins. The rain coverage was reported as spotty with some farmers receiving on average 8/10 of an inch.

“It won’t be enough rain for things to survive but it’s a good start,” says Martin Brodhagen, farmer from Stratford Ontario.

While some farmers are hoping for the best and that their crops will turn around with some rain, other farmer’s seem to be out of luck with their crops. Most of the corn that was planted early seems to be holding up, compared to crops that were planted a little later.

“The corn sure loved the rain but pasture fields haven’t come back yet,” Brodhagen said.

Brodhagen runs a cow-calf operation and says that it’s been hard having no pasture to work with. The majority of livestock farmers are already having to feed hay to get by. Purchasing hay is hard to come by with the cost going as high as $100-110 per round bail, a steep cost for farmers.

Let’s hope that the rain in the forecast stays so that farmers can try to take off a decent crop this year.

Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.