Let the Internet Deliver Information to You!

Remember the days when we didn't have the internet to help us find information? Now most of us have internet access -- although for too many of us it is still slow, slow dial-up -- but in any case, we are able to search the internet for information from almost anywhere. Could it get any easier?

Well, one thing that's easier than searching the internet is letting the internet deliver information right to your computer. In fact, you can get a lot of OMAFRA horticultural crop information this way.

Here are some examples of OMAFRA resources you can subscribe to online, so that the information is delivered to you by e-mail. Get your pen ready, as I'll give you the shortcut to finding these subscription sign ups in a couple of minutes.

One of the most popular online OMAFRA subscriptions is the Hort Matters newsletter. It is full of information and updates on production issues, emerging pests, product registration, and coming events. Look for it monthly from October to February, twice per month from March to May, and weekly through the summer.

To learn when new fruit and vegetable production information is posted on the website, subscribe to the OMAFRA Fruit & Vegetable Crops Notice.

You can also choose from a number of OMAFRA crop updates to subscribe to. With these, you receive a notice when a new one is posted online. They include the Berry Bulletin, the Vegetable Crop Updates, the Ginseng & Specialty Crops Update, and the Maple Production Report. These are text updates.

There are also updates that provide a choice of text and audio. You can receive a notice when a new one is posted, and then go online to read the text version - or download the text or audio files. You can also subscribe to a podcast, in which case your computer will automatically look for and download new episodes. The audio files can be played on your computer, or if you choose, loaded onto an mp3 player, so you can listen to them on-the-go. The updates available this way are the Nursery & Landscape Report, the turfgrass management report, and Sound Advice, which includes news and information on a variety of topics of interest to the horticultural crop industry.

To sign up for any of these online subscriptions, go to ontario.ca/crops and look under Features, on the right side of the web page. Some will be found by clicking on "Crop & Pest Updates" and others by clicking on "Subscribe to OMAFRA E-mail Notices".

Browse the website and you can also find opportunities to subscribe to OMAFRA ag business information, field crop and livestock information, as well as notices of new OMAFRA publications and resources.

Keep the shortcut to the OMAFRA crop index page handy. Once again, it is ontario.ca/crops. 2007 marks the 10th anniversary of OMAFRA crop information online!

This has been Janice LeBoeuf, Vegetable Crop Specialist in Ridgetown, reporting for the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food, and Rural Affairs.

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