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Preparing for the Ontario solar eclipse

Apr 02, 2024

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The event happens on April 8

By Diego Flammini
Staff Writer
Farms.com

Someone contact Bonnie Tyler because there’s a total eclipse coming.

On April 8, a solar eclipse, when the moon passes between the sun and Earth, will occur in the afternoon.

The event is scheduled to happen in Ontario beginning around 2:00pm.

Niagara Falls, Ont., is noted as the best place to see the eclipse, with the sun being fully eclipsed for roughly three minutes from 3:20 and 3:23pm.

Farmers will be watching with anticipation.

“I’m looking forward to this one because it’s going to be a total eclipse,” Stuart McCall, owner of McGrows Farms & Gardens in Garson, Ont., told Farms.com. “I’m expecting some dramatic changes.”

When an eclipse last occurred in 2017, McCall noted and graphed the changes on his farm.

“We have a 10-kilowatt solar power generation system on the roof of the house,” he said. “Before the eclipse we were operating at around 8,700 kilowatts. When the eclipse hit, that (energy number) dropped to under 3,000 kilowatts. And that wasn’t even a full eclipse, so I’m interested to see what readings we get this time around.”

The temperature in his greenhouse dropped about 15 degrees. And the relative humidity levels went up from around 55 per cent to over 65 per cent, he said.

The animals on his farm also reacted to the eclipse.

“We’ve got ducks, chickens and geese and it got really quiet,” he said. “They weren’t making any noise, maybe thinking it was nighttime.”

McCall has some tips for farmers to help keep plants safe during this eclipse.

“I wouldn’t overly water before the eclipse because the humidity will come up,” he said. “If you’re in a situation where you have solar panels, make sure you’re not relying on power generation too much during that time. And I don’t think I’d be doing too much transplanting at the time.”

Researchers will also be keeping an eye on plants during the solar event.

Jim Willwerth, an assistant professor specializing in grapevine physiology at Brock University, expects to see some plants display changes.

“Anything that’s leafed out, you’re going to see some tropism effects, where the leaves change direction because of the scattered and reductions in sunlight,” he said. “We’re having an eclipse day here at Brock and that’s one of the experiments we’ll be doing.”

Anyone who wants to watch the eclipse indoors can do so via a NASA livestream beginning at 1pm ET on April 8.

Solar eclipses will also occur in 2026, touching Greeland, Iceland and Spain.

Another one happens in 2027, affecting Spain and nothern Africa.

Parts of the U.S. and Russia will experience an eclipse in 2033.

The next one to affect the U.S. and Canada is slated to happen in 2044.

Video: Turning Plant Defense Into a Management Strategy

Turning Plant Defense Into a Management Strategy

Understanding how a plant responds to stress is one thing.

Using that knowledge to make better management decisions is another.

Systemic acquired resistance, or SAR, is the plant's more direct defense response. When stress or infection occurs, the plant begins signaling throughout its system and preparing defensive compounds.

But if we know that response exists, can we help prepare the plant before the stress arrives?

The answer starts with understanding what triggers the response and what the plant needs to carry it out.

The Trigger and the Fuel

Salicylic acid plays an important role in triggering the SAR pathway.

Think of it as turning the truck on.

The engine may be running, but it still needs fuel to do the work.

In this case, manganese plays an important role in supporting the enzyme systems involved in the plant's defensive response.

This makes manganese status an important part of the conversation. Whether a producer is using tissue testing, sap analysis, or simply scouting for visible deficiency symptoms, the goal is to make sure the plant has adequate manganese available.

Manganese is required in relatively small amounts, but that does not make its role small.

If the plant receives a signal to defend itself but lacks the nutrition needed to support that response, it may struggle to carry out the process efficiently.

The trigger matters.

The fuel matters too.

Prepare Before the Stress Arrives

The best time to think about stress management is before the plant is overwhelmed.

Once a crop is already struggling, management can quickly turn into a game of catch-up.

This is similar to nitrogen management. Once a plant becomes severely deficient, correcting the problem does not necessarily erase the time and yield potential already lost.

Plant defense can work the same way.

Low-rate, targeted approaches designed to support the SAR pathway may fit best ahead of an expected stress event rather than after significant damage has already occurred.

That requires producers to think about predictable stress.

We may not know exactly what the weather will do tomorrow, but we generally know summer heat is coming. We know certain field conditions increase disease pressure. We know a herbicide application can temporarily stress a crop as the plant processes the chemistry.

Even a properly timed and labeled herbicide application can create a temporary response in the plant.

That does not mean the herbicide is bad.

Weeds can create significantly more yield loss than the temporary stress caused by controlling them.

The question is not whether we should eliminate every stressor.

The question is whether we can better prepare the plant to manage necessary and predictable stress.

Not All Stress Is Bad

Stress is a normal part of plant growth.

A perfectly stress-free environment does not exist in the field.

In fact, some stress is necessary for normal plant development. A plant responds to wind, temperature, moisture, sunlight, and countless other environmental signals throughout the season.

The environment is stress.

The plant's job is to manage it.

Problems begin when the stress load becomes greater than the plant's ability to respond.

Extreme heat, drought, high salt concentrations, disease pressure, and even certain management practices can add to that load.

This is where understanding SAR becomes useful.

Instead of waiting until the plant is visibly struggling, producers can begin identifying periods when stress is likely and make management decisions around those windows.

ISR Starts With the Soil

While SAR is a more direct defense response, induced systemic resistance, or ISR, brings the conversation back to soil health.

The longevity of a farm is closely connected to the health of its soil.

Carbon plays a major role because it supports biological life within the soil. Bacteria, fungi, and other organisms interact with plant roots and influence how the plant grows, accesses nutrients, and prepares for stress.

This is why soil health cannot be reduced to one product or one application.

It is a system.

Keeping living plants in the field longer can support biological activity. Cover crops may fit some operations. Better water management can improve soil conditions.