a handful of granular fertilizer for crops

Rethinking nitrogen efficiency

Tracking nitrogen with stable isotopes offers surprising insights into fertilizer uptake, loss, and management strategies

Understanding how much nitrogen actually gets taken up by plants is key to improving efficiency—both for profitability and sustainability.

a pile of lime awaiting application on a farm field

It may be time for lime on acid soils

Liming may be an expensive option — but it’s the only proven method to raise soil pH

Acidic soil can plague crop producers with nutrient deficiencies and poor root growth, leading to reduced yields. Lime can be expensive, but may pencil out as the most important fertilizer treatment for those soils.









Adding wood ash to soil both practical and cost-effective

Adding wood ash to soil both practical and cost-effective

Practical Research: Too often headed for the landfill, ash can reduce soils’ acidity and enhance cropland fertility

Here’s a perfectly good organic source of lime, with plant macro- and micronutrients, being taken from the woodlands and virtually thrown away. Wood ash is an excellent source of magnesium, calcium, potassium, phosphate and micronutrients, which can very effectively raise up acid soil pH levels.



Understanding phosphorus, part 3: Developing fertilizer recommendations

Understanding phosphorus, part 3: Developing fertilizer recommendations

Agronomy Management: It’s important to have adequate P close to the seed during the first six weeks of growth

Part 3 of 3. Prairie farmers spend over $1 billion annually on phosphate fertilizer; these three articles will hopefully assist with a better understanding of how soil P functions in soil, soil testing for P and then how to develop wise phosphate fertilizer recommendations.