On March 22, the federal government announced it would develop such a strategy, calling it “an opportunity to discuss how we can address freshwater-related threats and opportunities,” protect freshwater ecosystems, and secure water for communities and the economy, according to a news release.

The Canada Water Agency, which was repurposed in 2024 as a stand-alone freshwater management agency separate from Environment and Climate Change Canada, will spearhead the strategy’s development.

While the announcement was scant on details of what such a strategy might look like, it said the agency will work with provinces and territories, First Nations, Inuit and Métis partners, “stakeholders across sectors” and the public.

Farmers should be among those consulted, the CFA said in a statement to Glacier FarmMedia.

“Water security is absolutely critical for the future of Canadian farmers. Farmers in different regions of Canada have been devastated by water issues over the past few years, such as the floods in B.C., or the ongoing long-term drought in the Prairie provinces,” a federation spokesperson said.

“A lack of water has severe negative impacts on any type of farm, no matter what they grow or raise.”

Prioritizing food security, agriculture

The strategy should protect farmers and mitigate the effects of water-related events. It should also secure predictable access to water so farmers can maintain food production — for example, through effective water management policies and investment in water infrastructure, CFA said.

“Farmers need to make it clear that food security and agriculture production should be prioritized if there was any issues with access to water.”

“Farmers are also on the front-line of climate change, dealing with the on-ground realities of water-related events,” CFA added. “They have experience and knowledge that will be critical in developing this strategy.”

While the announcement made no specific mention of the agriculture industry, the sector will have an opportunity to share its views during the public engagement process, “recognizing that freshwater is fundamental to our economy, powering industries, agriculture, and the growth of communities,” a federal spokesperson told Glacier FarmMedia.

The federal government has not yet set timelines for consultations, but said those will be announced “in the coming months.”

The post Get farmers in on federal water security strategy planning, CFA says appeared first on Grainews.

This seasonal storage underpins water security across much of the country. Prairie agriculture depends heavily on mountain snowpack for irrigation. The Great Lakes basin relies on snowmelt to sustain spring inflows that support navigation, ecosystems and freshwater withdrawals. Hydropower systems in British Columbia and Quebec depend on snow accumulation and melt timing in upland watersheds.

WHY IT MATTERS: Farmers on the Prairies rely on mountain snowpack for irrigation, the Great Lakes basin relies on snowmelt to sustain spring inflows, and hydroelectricity systems in B.C. and Quebec also depend on snow accumulation in upland watersheds.

For decades, scientists and water managers have relied on snow water equivalent (SWE) to measure this winter water reservoir. SWE estimates how much liquid water snowpack would produce if melted instantly. It is physically intuitive and remains central to seasonal water forecasting.

But climate change is altering not only how much snow falls, but where snowpack persists and how long it lasts. Warmer winters are bringing more rain instead of snow, more frequent mid-winter melt events and shorter snow-cover duration. In many regions, peak snowpack now arrives earlier. Snow cover is becoming more intermittent, particularly during early winter and spring transitions.

These changes expose a limitation in traditional SWE measurements at large spatial scales. As temperatures rise, snow may disappear across large portions of a landscape while remaining deep in isolated patches. Under such conditions, the average snow water equivalent can appear stable even though the snow-covered area has shrunk substantially.

To address this limitation, colleagues and I have introduced a complementary metric called snow water availability (SWA). Rather than averaging snow water across an entire area, SWA estimates how much water exists within the portion of the landscape that is covered with snow. The metric combines SWE with satellite measurements or climate reanalysis estimates of the fraction of snow cover over the landscape. The result is a measure particularly sensitive to patchy snow, a condition that is becoming more common in a warmer climate.

Snow water availability

Using our SWA metric, we conduct a large-scale analysis across Canada and Alaska and have found pronounced differences in how snow water is changing. In northern and eastern regions, snow water availability has increased in recent decades. In some Arctic and sub-Arctic areas, reduced sea ice and warmer air temperatures enhance atmospheric moisture, increasing snowfall in northern regions.

However, in Western Canada, especially within the Rocky Mountains, significant declines in SWA are emerging in mid-elevation mountain headwaters. These regions feed major river drainage systems, including the Saskatchewan, Fraser and Columbia river basins.

The response of mountain snowpack to warming is strongly elevation-dependent. High alpine zones, where winter temperatures remain well below freezing, can retain relatively stable snowpacks. Low elevations may already experience intermittent snow.

However, mid-elevation transitional zones, where winter temperatures frequently hover near freezing, are especially climate-sensitive. Small temperature increases can shift precipitation from snow to rain, shorten snow-cover duration and accelerate melt timing and rate.

This creates an important asymmetry. Although overall, SWA has increased across Canada and Alaska between 2000 and 2019, gains in sparsely populated northern regions do not compensate for losses in southern and western headwaters where water demand is highest.

In addition, mountain regions function as natural water towers. When snow storage declines there, the effects propagate downstream through entire river basins. Where snow disappears can matter more for water supply reliability than how much accumulates elsewhere. The geography of loss matters.

Uneven snowpack

The impacts can be amplified when declines in western headwaters coincide with widespread but less statistically pronounced decreases downstream. Combined, these patterns influence drainage basins that support a large share of Canada’s population and economic activity.

Historical events underscore this vulnerability. The 2015 Western Canada snow drought reduced streamflow originating in Rocky Mountain headwaters, stressing municipal systems, agriculture and aquatic ecosystems. During the winter of 2011-2012, reduced snowpack in southern Ontario and Quebec contributed to depressed Great Lakes water levels, affecting shipping and water management.

Climate variability adds further complexity. Large-scale ocean–atmosphere patterns can amplify or temporarily offset warming effects from year to year. Some winters remain snow-rich; others are dominated by rain-on-snow and/or mid-winter melt events. But long-term warming increases the likelihood of SWA loss in patchy snow regimes across climate-sensitive elevations.

Despite its advantages, our proposed SWA is not free of uncertainty. Snow observations remain sparse in remote northern and high-elevation regions. Satellite products are affected by cloud cover, vegetation and polar nights.

Climate reanalysis rely on modelling assumptions that vary among models and products. While basin-scale trends can be detected with reasonable confidence, uncertainty increases at finer spatial scales, where slope orientation, vegetation, terrain details and microclimate greatly affect SWA.

As water management decisions increasingly require sub-basin precision, improving spatial resolution and physical realism in snow monitoring becomes essential. Future research will require improved satellite observations, enhanced land-surface modelling and expanded ground-based monitoring networks.

In a warming climate, understanding how much snow exists, where it persists, how fragmented it becomes and how quickly it disappears will be central to anticipating water supply risks.

Canada’s snowpack is not simply shrinking or growing; it is becoming more uneven. And in an uneven landscape, the location of loss can matter more than the total amount of gain.

Ali Nazemi is an associate engineer of building, civil and environmental engineering at Concordia University in Montreal.

The post OPINION: Canada’s shifting snowpack reveals water-loss location matters for agriculture appeared first on Grainews.

Israel-based Galileo Wheel burst onto the international market in 2011 with its unique inverted sidewall tire design, which flattens out the tread surface in contact with the ground and creates a longer footprint than a conventional tire, making it perform like a track.

The rebranded name emphasizes that feature. The company describes it as “track-equivalent traction and weight distribution in a tire that installs on standard rims.”

The Trackwheel tires designed for skid steers and irrigation pivots are also airless, like a track, so they aren’t prone to going flat.

“In nearly 30 years in the the material handling and equipment industry, I’ve never seen 100 per cent customer satisfaction in irrigation applications,” said Chris Rice, executive vice-president of sales at Galileo.

“The rebrand makes the value proposition immediate: it’s a tire that performs like a track.”

Market penetration

According to the company, that satisfaction is due in large part to increased traction and flotation.

“They (customers) say, ‘since I bought the tires, the pivot doesn’t get stuck anymore,’ ” Galileo chief executive officer Armin Schon said earlier this year.

“We expect the same bang from the skid steer tires we’re launching.”

The company says it has sold more than 8,000 irrigation tires in the past few years and expects continued strong demand for them, despite their higher purchase price.

To back up their claim of superior performance and justify their higher cost than conventional tires, the brand is offering an impressive 10–year, 10,000 hour warranty.

Galileo Wheel is also hoping to increase its market penetration in the United States and Canada with recently increased investment funds. It sees the autonomous ag machine market as one emerging area ripe for market penetration, due to the segment’s expected 17 per cent annual growth rate through 2032.

The post Galileo Wheel rebrands tires as Trackwheel appeared first on Grainews.

Quattro Ventures in Alberta is one of very few. Emily Ford, senior agronomist at the joint-venture farm where mint is cultivated for the essential oils market, knows of only one other Prairie farm producing this specialty crop.

Ford said this presents some unique challenges for agronomists like herself.

“When you are growing other specialty crops, let’s say potatoes in southern Alberta for example, you usually have a wealth of peers and experts to phone up when something looks funny or you have a problem,” Ford said.

Why it matters: If a given crop isn’t often commercially grown on the Prairies, that doesn’t necessarily mean it was never possible.

With mint, there isn’t a network of people Ford can readily turn to for help. She noted some agronomic information is available through organizations, such as the Mint Industry Research Council in the United States, but much of what Ford understands about commercial mint production has been largely self-taught.

“I didn’t know anything about mint five years ago until I started working at Quattro,” Ford said, adding trial and error has been an important aspect of the learning process.

“If you are given the opportunity to work with a crop like this, you just dive in, read as much as you can, lean on the people who know something about it, and don’t be afraid to make mistakes. You have to work with farmers to figure it out together, because mint is so different from other crops that are really commonly grown,” she said.

“I think agronomists become agronomists because we’re curious people who want to find out how things work, so I can say this has been a fun challenge.”

Community curiosity around this novel crop has been strong as well. Ford noted a lot of producers in the area have visited Quattro Ventures so they could get a first-hand look at commercial mint production.

“We do a lot of farm tours, but so far no one has taken the plunge and tried it.”

Located in the Bow Island/Burdett area in southeastern Alberta, Quattro Ventures comprises five family farms cultivating a diverse array of crops across dryland and irrigated acres. This includes dill, another speciality crop grown for the essential oils market, as well as cereals, seed canola, peas and potatoes.

Ford helps run the 3,000-acre operation as part of the farm’s management team, which includes both owners and non-owners. Quattro Ventures was founded by the Palliser Triangle Marketing Group, a collection of forward-thinking farmers intent on exploring new agricultural marketing opportunities. The idea behind it was to unite the strengths of individual family farms while leveraging the group’s collective knowledge, resources and markets.

Essential oils are highly concentrated, aromatic liquids extracted from plants that capture the plant’s fragrance and flavour. The spearmint and peppermint essential oils produced by Quattro Ventures go into such things as candy, chewing gum, toothpaste and cosmetics, while the farm’s dill essential oil is used for dill pickles.

According to Ford, India and the U.S. Pacific Northwest are the main areas that produce mint for the essential oils market. In Ford’s estimation, Quattro Ventures has grown to the point where it now produces 25 per cent of North America’s mint oil.

One reason more Prairie farms haven’t followed Quattro Ventures’ lead could be that commercial mint production isn’t for the faint of heart.

Mint is a perennial rhizome crop that propagates through rhizome cuttings, not seed, so specialized agricultural machinery is required for planting and harvesting. Specialized processing equipment is also needed to extract and distill the oil from the harvested mint leaves.

Ford acknowledged some farmers may shy away from the risks associated with producing an unfamiliar crop such as mint, given the hefty expense of getting everything up and running.

“It’s a big investment. You need to have specialized equipment and facilities to process the oil and get it to market, and it’s very expensive.”

Area well-suited for mint

According to Ford, Quattro Ventures’s location in southeastern Alberta has several attributes that make it a prime area for producing high-quality mint oil.

One is linked to where it is situated in the Canadian brown soil zone. “Because of the soil types we have here, we produce a certain oil that meets quality standards the flavour houses or brokers are looking for with purity, menthol content, aroma, all of those sorts of things.”

Growing conditions in the area are another major plus. Mint requires long, warm summer days and cooler nights for optimal oil production. Quattro Ventures fits the bill, with an extended growing window of 124 to 132 frost-free days and average crop heat units in the 2,400 range.

As well, mint is a thirsty crop requiring reliable, consistent moisture, especially during peak summer heat. Quattro Ventures relies heavily on irrigation infrastructure provided by the St. Mary River system — something that’s particularly important within the drought-prone Palliser Triangle region where the farm is located.

“You can’t grow mint without irrigation,” Ford said. “At peak crop staging with the hot, dry weather, you’re looking at an inch to an inch and a half of water a week.”

Planting and field management

Each mint production cycle at Quattro Ventures starts with disease-free tissue culture plantlets the farm gets from a specialty nursery. The plantlets aren’t planted in fields right away but are placed in nursery blocks where they serve as a source of clean rhizome rootstock.

“Once those plantlets are established, the next spring we go back and dig up some of the rhizomes from that clean stock. We use a modified potato digger to dig up them up and then they’re planted into a production field.

“You only need one inch of a viable rhizome to create a mint plant. The first year we really focus on establishment and then after that, we’re looking at production and are harvesting a crop every year.”

The mint fields, once established, will remain productive for up to five years, Ford said, adding “because it is a five-year crop, there is no tillage on that piece of land for five years.” She noted this kind of tillage reprieve provides a nice break for fields, particularly since Quattro Ventures grows some heavier tillage crops, such as sugar beets and potatoes.

“I think that’s really beneficial for soil health, not just for the mint crop but for all the other subsequent crops we grow on that land.”

According to Ford, mint is a heavy feeding crop for fertilizer, which is applied to Quattro Ventures mint fields in the spring. Typically, each acre receives 120 to 150 pounds of nitrogen, along with 100 pounds of potassium and 80 pounds of phosphorus. Because mint doesn’t grow in rows, fertilizer is distributed through broadcast applications.

In recent years, Quattro Ventures has started using environmentally smart nitrogen products for its nitrogen applications in mint fields. Ford said the slow-release fertilizer allows nutrient availability to be better matched with crop uptake. It has also meant fertigation, something the farm has practiced in the past, is no longer needed.

The mint at Quattro Ventures is typically harvested in late July to early August. Swathed crops are chopped with forage harvesters and loaded into specialized tubs, which connect directly to steam lines at a central distillation facility at the farm where the essential oils are extracted.

Crop residues left over from the distilling process serve a very useful purpose, Ford said. They spread the “mint plugs” on the fields to increase organic matter and remediate areas that are erosion-prone.

“It is a nice soil addition, with very similar characteristics to well-composted cattle manure. And there aren’t any restrictions on what fields you can put it on because it’s clean. It has been steamed to 300 degrees, so essentially all the weed seeds are not viable.”

Weed, disease and pest management

According to Ford, weed control in mint is critical, especially after it is first planted in a production field.

She noted because mint is a broadleaf crop, there are limited options for broadleaf weed control. As a result, Ford said, “we really focus on the first couple of years trying to get weed free. Usually by the fifth year, it’s a tough time to try to control those broadleaf weeds.”

Careful herbicide selection is also essential because of rotational considerations for the following crops. “Re-cropping restrictions mean there are only certain chemicals we can apply in the first couple of years of a mint stand.”

As far as disease threats go, powdery mildew is an important one to watch for in mint because it is a heavy canopy crop. Powdery mildew is a fungal infection that can cause mint leaves to wilt and fall off.

“It is imperative to maintain those leaves, because the leaves are where the oil is. You don’t want them on the ground,” Ford said, adding early fungicide applications are used as a preventative measure at Quattro Ventures to help protect against powdery mildew.

Ford noted verticillium wilt is also on the farm’s radar since it has been a problem for mint producers elsewhere, particularly in areas when mint has been cultivated for much longer than it has in southeastern Alberta.

“We have been lucky not to see it here. That’s something you have to really watch out for, because there’s nothing to be done about verticillium wilt once it shows up.”

According to Ford, disease control efforts are hampered due to very few products with minor use registration being available for a specialty crop such as mint. It’s a big reason Quattro Ventures always ensures it is sourcing disease-free mint stock.

Ford said while mint is generally resistant to major insect pressure, spider mites can emerge during hot, dry spells. They can harm mint plants by sucking the oil out of the leaves.

However, spider mites usually only appear near the field edges, Ford noted, adding the bugs avoid moisture so they can be effectively controlled with irrigation.

The post How a southern Alberta farm maintains mint condition appeared first on Grainews.

A July storm had dumped close to 20 centimetres of rain, washing out the roads and flooding his yard. With land already prone to pooling, Gray was suddenly facing a major infrastructure headache.

But after speaking with Saskatchewan’s Water Security Agency (WSA), he discovered how a consolidation drainage and irrigation project could help him turn that excess water into an on-farm asset.

“Consolidation” refers to the practice of draining multiple small, sometimes temporary, wetlands into a single, larger storage site. In some cases, that reservoir simply improves drainage by giving excess water somewhere to go. In others, it can be used as a source for irrigation.

The result is better control of excess moisture, reduced risk of spring flooding and, where applicable, a new source of water that can be reused later in the growing season through opportunistic irrigation.

As extreme weather becomes more frequent, farmers are looking for practical, affordable ways to manage water. So it’s not surprising that at the 2025 Ag in Motion farm show in Langham, Sask., Naomi Paley, manager of drainage extension at the Water Security Agency (WSA), said she’s seeing a growing interest in these types of projects across the province.

Problems with potholes

Paley pointed out that a good portion of Saskatchewan’s agricultural land is in what is known as the prairie pothole region, characterized by numerous small depressions that collect water in the spring.

The region stretches across parts of western Manitoba, Saskatchewan, eastern Alberta, and into the northern Great Plains of the United States. It’s dotted with thousands of small, shallow wetlands formed during the last ice age.

While these potholes provide critical habitat for waterfowl, they can be a headache for farmers, creating low-lying areas prone to pooling. Fields can flood in spring and dry too quickly in summer, making crop production and grazing unpredictable.

That’s why consolidation projects tend to be a good fit in these areas. With the right design, farmers can adapt the natural features of the land to work to their advantage.

A growing part of WSA’s mandate

The Water Security Agency oversees drainage approvals in Saskatchewan, including those involving consolidation. While most applications are still for traditional drainage, consolidation is on the rise.

“We’re definitely starting to see more interest in it,” Paley says. Many farmers are drawn to the flexibility of keeping water on their land, which can make the approval process easier and less reliant on neighbour permissions, she says.

Consolidation is one way to adapt to water extremes and build in some risk management on the farm, Paley says.

“Agriculture is 100 per cent dependent on Mother Nature,” she says. “We have great soil, but without water, we’re nothing.”

Gray’s project—sparked by those 2014 floods—is fairly typical of the consolidation work the WSA supports, Paley says.

Gray’s was one of three consolidation demonstration projects now featured on the agency’s website.

The Gust family, near Davidson, Sask., began working with WSA to drain over 40 quarters of land into a single reservoir that feeds an irrigation pivot.

Jeff Odgers, near Spy Hill, started irrigating in 2017, using a 50-acre pond to support crops and his cattle herd, with WSA assisting with mapping, planning, and approvals.

For Gray, consolidation was about more than drainage. It was about efficiency, sustainability and feed security.

Gray farms near Langenburg, but his family also owns a 5,000-acre grain farm near Eyebrow, Sask. where he grew up with irrigation. The Langenburg farm has about 700 acres of cropland, 150 to 200 cow-calf pairs, and a rotation of cover crops and forages.

The heavy rains of 2014 sparked the idea, and a chance conversation with WSA staff in 2020 cemented it.

“They were looking to do a pilot project to mitigate downstream flooding,” Gray says.

He already knew the value of irrigation from his family farm, so incorporating that into his drainage project made sense. “It was going to work well as a consolidation drainage and irrigation project.”

The project now irrigates about 300 acres, and they’re growing four to five tons more per acre for silage than they do on their dryland acreage.

That includes hay: he gets two very good cuts, and the third either provides a decent final harvest or regrowth for fall grazing.

“And it’s all connected to my main yards,” Gray says. “So, I don’t have to haul the feed very far.”

The system isn’t just about growing more feed. For Gray, it’s part of a broader strategy to increase efficiency and reduce vulnerability to climate extremes. He’s aiming for better feed quality, reduced fertilizer costs, and more dependable moisture for his cattle and cover crops. To that end, he’s designed the system to recycle water efficiently.

“If we get three or four inches of rain, everything drains back to the reservoir,” he says.

His target is to keep reservoirs at 50 per cent or less. That leaves room to capture spring melt and summer storms.

“The goal is to have zero discharge off this farm.”

Costs and funding

While irrigation and drainage infrastructure can be expensive, Gray’s project benefited from its location.

“I was close to water,” he says. “So, I didn’t need a lot of pipe.”

Still, total costs came in around $1,000 per acre, reflecting higher material prices during the pandemic.

What made the difference was funding. Gray received a grant through the Canadian Agricultural Partnership (CAP), now the Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership (S-CAP) program. Combined with his long-term goals, this support gave him the confidence to move ahead with the project.

While the project has streamlined his operation and improved yields, it has yet to pay for itself financially.

“After maybe 15 years I might start seeing a return on investment, which is fine,” says Gray. “We don’t build a family farm to run it for five years.”

Still, the project is already paying off in other ways. “It’s a guaranteed food source for cattle.”

When asked what he’d do differently overall, Gray didn’t hesitate: “I’d have done it sooner.”

Then, after a pause, he added a practical note: he would have invested in more centre pivots and fewer travelling guns.

“It is a lot more work to irrigate the same number of acres when you’re working the travelling guns.”

Support and approvals

In a follow-up interview, Paley told Grainews the WSA takes a client-focused approach to all water management approvals, helping producers navigate the complex web of permits, licenses and potential funding.

WSA staff work closely with landowners from start to finish, offering guidance on everything from project design to connecting with qualified professionals. Staff can also point farmers toward the right specialists within Saskatchewan’s ministry of agriculture to explore funding options.

Two main sources of financial support are available for water management projects in Saskatchewan. The first is the Ag Water Management Fund, offerevd directly through the WSA. Depending on the scope of the work, this program can provide up to $95,000 per project, including:

• Up to $25,000 for qualified person services and mediation
• Up to $50,000 for technical design and engineering support

The second source is S-CAP, a federal initiative administered through Saskatchewan’s ministry of agriculture and jointly funded by the provinces and territories and federal government. The Farm and Ranch Water Infrastructure Program (FRWIP) is currently the only S-CAP stream available for consolidation and irrigation projects.

Paley says the WSA collaborates closely with provincial ministry staff to ensure applicants are connected with the right funding specialists.

“These projects require infrastructure on the farm,” she says. “Funding can be the difference between a good idea and a viable one.”

Importantly, the system must be designed to reduce downstream impacts. Projects where water crosses a neighbour’s land are more complex and require additional permissions. Paley says that can often be the deciding factor when a grower opts for a consolidation project.

“If you keep all your water on your own land, it makes the approval process much easier and less cumbersome.”

After first consulting with the WSA, approval typically follows three main steps:

• Hire a qualified person — someone who can help map the land, prepare designs and navigate legal requirements
• Prepare an application — including project plans and land permissions
• Receive approval — once the technical review is complete and all permissions are in place.

While Paley’s comments apply specifically to Saskatchewan, regulations and funding options vary by province. In Manitoba, drainage and irrigation approvals fall under the department of environment and climate change. In Alberta, guidelines and legislation are outlined by the Alberta Water Portal.

Looking ahead

For Gray, consolidation has already boosted productivity — but it may also open doors to new crops and new income streams.

“I’m hoping to grow some higher-value crops,” he says, specifically mentioning sweet corn.

“The nice thing about it is it’s grown on recycled water. It could make a pretty good slogan.”

The post Turning excess water into an asset with consolidation drainage appeared first on Grainews.

A team of researchers from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) and Canadian universities want to help solve this problem, and they’re looking for a dairy farmer in Alberta to lend a hand.

Audrey Murray, an AAFC research scientist based in Charlottetown, is collaborating with Marico Arlos from the University of Alberta and Anne Laarman from the University of Waterloo in Ontario on a five-year study, which started this spring. The researchers are examining how wastewater from dairy operations can be naturally treated through constructed wetlands to produce water for irrigating cattle feed crops.

To do this, Murray has assembled a series of pilot-scale wetlands at the Harrington research farm in P.E.I. to test different design variables for a dairy wastewater treatment system that can be put into practice on dairy farms.

Murray is currently seeking a volunteer dairy farmer in Alberta to partner with her team so a full-scale version of the system can be set up in that province later on in the project.

“We hope to find one as soon as possible, partly because we want it to be a co-development project. We would also like input from the producer, so they can let us know what they want. We want something that works for farmers, not just something that works technically. If it doesn’t work in a way that is helping them to run their farm, then it doesn’t necessarily meet our goals,” says Murray.

Once the project is completed, it’s hoped progressive early-adopters interested in this technology will have a tried-and-tested model for building such a system on their own dairy farms.

—> READ MORE: Floating islands could help filter cattle feedlot storm ponds

Murray and her team hope to have an Alberta producer-partner recruited by next summer, so they can begin initial work on wastewater lagoon sampling and wetland design.

The researchers hope to hear from producers with 100 to 150 head of cattle and who also irrigate and grow feed crops, and they are getting the word out through farm conferences in Alberta and through Alberta Milk, the province’s dairy producers’ association. Those interested in participating in the study can contact AAFC at 1-855-773-0241 or by email.

Murray’s replicated experiments in P.E.I. are aimed at ironing out design parameters for effective wastewater treatment before a full-scale version of the system is set up in Alberta.

Once that’s up and running, likely by the third year of the project, farmers will be encouraged to check it out and familiarize themselves with this nature-based solution to water shortages.

“We’ve had calls from farmers in different parts of Canada who are thinking about wetlands on their property. Farmers are smart people, and a lot of them read research or are interested in this type of thing already. We’re basically just providing an opportunity,” Murray says.

She adds the goal is to provide dairy producers in Alberta with a clear roadmap for treating wastewater naturally and provide them with an extra irrigation source at a time when it’s most needed.

“This is what farmers are looking for. They need some direction,” Murray says. “One of our deliverables is to produce design guidance for this specific purpose in Alberta (and) find something that works well.”

She notes one reason researchers chose Alberta for the project was because that’s where they saw the greatest need for this kind of water treatment and re-use solution. “It’s important especially in an Alberta agricultural context. It might be a slightly harder sell in P.E.I., I think.

“They have water shortages in Alberta, and at the time we wrote this proposal, they were experiencing severe drought and had been told that they would get half the water allotments they usually get. If you’re a farmer in that position, you have to then find ways to make the best use of the water that you have, and water re-use could be a part of that.”

Murray has conducted other wetland studies in P.E.I., researching how constructed wetlands on potato farms can naturally filter water from field runoff before it enters nearby streams and rivers. As she points out, wetlands also provide natural habitats for many species of plants, animals and insects, and they can even help capture carbon and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Murray views her current wetlands project as one more application of her previous research, which she maintains hasn’t been explored for dairy farms in Canada up to now.

The middle layer

Here’s how the plan is envisioned to work in Alberta. Many dairy farms there have holding lagoons where wastewater from manure, used animal bedding and dairy production practices such as milk-house rinsing is stored. Farmers will often mix the contents of the lagoon in the spring, producing a nutrient-rich slurry that can be applied to crop fields as a natural fertilizer before planting.

Prior to mixing, the wastewater in these holding lagoons separates into layers, with a top layer that is thick and fatty and a bottom layer where much of the solids settle. There’s also a middle layer that contains the cleanest liquid — which is the basis of Murray’s constructed wetlands research. The treatment system starts with extracting this middle layer of liquid from unstirred holding lagoons.

“The ideal scenario is to build a wetland sightly downhill from the holding lagoon. A pipe is placed into the right location of the holding lagoon, connecting it to the wetland, and then gravity does the rest. This engineering solution is very common in municipal wastewater treatment plants,” Murray says.

As the water flows through the wetland, its quality is improved through physical and biological processes. It then enters a final mixing pond, where it is diluted with clean pond water and brought to quality standards required for use as a supplementary source of irrigation water.

“The wastewater is produced on site and the irrigation infrastructure is already there, so it’s just about tapping into that extra water source. It’s very efficient,” Murray says. She adds the end product may contain a bit more nutrients than regular pond water, but stresses it’s not meant to be used for fertigation purposes.

Murray is building her mini-version of this system using wastewater provided by local P.E.I. dairy farmers and mesocosms — that is, controlled outdoor experiments designed to simulate natural ecosystems. Various mesocosms consisting of different wetland soils and plants are being used to determine which are most effective in treating the wastewater.

Researchers are testing the output water quality from each mesocosm, and determining the ideal design concept and projected cost for the entire system, before moving forward with the full-scale design in Alberta.

Murray sees more possibilities for treating waste streams from other agricultural operations such as hog barns or feedlots this way, and she says she’d be interested in continuing her wastewater treatment and re-use research in this area.

“This is beyond the scope of this project, but I can see that there are many potential applications and a lack of clear design guidance for farmers who are interested in these technologies,” Murray says. “Hopefully there’ll be a continued appetite for this kind of research in the future. I think there might be.”

The post Taking dairy wastewater to the irrigation pivot, via wetlands appeared first on Grainews.

The company, based in southern Nebraska, says compared to previous versions of ReinCloud, the new version is more intuitive and allows operators to integrate more data-driven information into their water management.

“It’s way more advanced than what was previously out there,” Reinke president Chris Roth says. “For example, you can have any kind of map. You can load that into the app so you can get your irrigation scheduling much more precise based on those inputs.”

Compared to previous versions of the system, dating back to 2016, there are now more options on control settings as well.

“Within the app you can set up different kinds of controls,” Roth says. For example, “you might give your agronomist the ability to turn on the irrigation.”

ReinCloud 3 is designed with mobile devices in mind, but it’s fully functional on all digital platforms, including iPads, desktops and laptops.

A number of screen features can be customized on the new app. The order in which widgets appear on the screen can be set to any preference. Operators can move those that are most important to them to a more prominent position.

“We wanted to make sure the colour-coding makes sense to you,” Roth says. “You can change them however you want. You can also change the widgets on the dashboard … Maybe you just want on-off, so you can put that at the top of your list. It’s fully customizable, so you can do whatever you want to do.”

As for remotely controlling a system in the field, a number of updates are available there as well.

An operator can change the start and stop position of the end gun by moving its position on a screen image with a finger, rather than needing to know the exact GPS co-ordinates.

The new app is backward-compatible with the systems currently in use, so no changes need to be made to existing equipment. Anyone using an earlier version of the software can easily update it to ReinCloud 3.

“They just need to contact their dealer to do that, or we have support here at headquarters, but it’s pretty easy. There’s a navigate button and it just takes a minute. It moves over for you,” Roth says.

The new app also has an increased level of security to help prevent hacking into the system or allowing it to be used as a gateway to other programs a grower might have on digital devices. The new added steps include biometric and multi-factor authentication.

“Because of the world we live in now, we have more advanced security,” Roth says. ”We haven’t really heard of any hacking into irrigation systems, but the concern is that it’s coming, so we wanted to make sure these guys can protect their operation.

“Hackers are just looking for the weak spot, then they can get into your entire operation.”

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In the past five years, there have been increasing concerns about pollution risk from proposed coal mining in the Eastern Slopes in southern Alberta. This region of southern Alberta extends from the upper alpine slopes of the Rocky Mountains down to the foothills and onto the Prairies. This area forms the headwaters of the Oldman, Bow and Red Deer rivers, which merge to form the South Saskatchewan River.

In 1911, Canada’s department of the interior recognized the importance of the Eastern Slopes watershed that supplied water to the river systems that in turn provide water to the great plains to the east. Policies were developed to protect the Eastern Slopes and to keep lands from being privatized. It’s very important that the Eastern Slopes continue to be protected into the future. These lands have become very important as the major source of water to downstream users in Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba.

If coal mining proceeds in the Eastern Slopes of southern and central Alberta, downstream water users could be seriously impacted. Selenium and other elements potentially could contaminate water quality for humans, livestock and irrigated crop production and cause various other environmental and ecological concerns. In this article, I would like to focus more deeply on effects of Se on irrigation water quality, soil quality, and irrigated crop production and quality.

Selenium in drinking water and for aquatic life

Health Canada has an upper limit of 50 micrograms per litre (µg/L) of Se for drinking water, which is the limit used by the Alberta government. Alberta uses an upper limit of one to two µg/L for aquatic life. British Columbia uses an upper limit of 10 µg/L for Se for drinking water and of one µg/L for aquatic life.

Selenium in soils, forages and animals

First, it is important to note that Se is important for agriculture. It is an essential micronutrient for animals and humans. Selenium is not required by plants, but roots naturally take up very small amounts from soil. Plants are the main source of dietary Se for livestock.

Selenium can be found in soil in various forms, including selenide, selenite, selenate, elemental selenium and organic selenium. Selenium can also be found in different fractions in soil, including ion-exchangeable, oxide-bound, organic, sulphide-bound, and residual forms. The majority of Se in agricultural soils exists as selenate (SeO₄⁻²) or selenite (SeO₃⁻²). The toxicity level of Se in soil depends on the amount, chemical forms and bioavailability of the element. Therefore, Se toxicity levels in soil are variable and a function of a number of chemical soil factors. For more detailed information on Se in soils, read Imran et al (see “Reading for reference” at the end of this article for details).

It’s important to keep in mind that Se accumulation in soil can pose serious threats to crop production and agro-ecosystems due to bioaccumulation. Selenium toxicity in soil and then into food chains depends on Se forms in soil, rather than total Se contents. In 1992, the Geological Survey of Canada noted Se levels in Alberta soils ranged from 0.1 to 2.7 milligrams per kilogram (mg/kg), Saskatchewan soils ranged from 0.1 to 3.1 mg/kg and Manitoba soils ranged from 0.1 to 4.7 mg/kg.

Beef cattle have a Se requirement of 0.1 mg/kg (100 µg/kg) of dry matter. Generally, for domestic animals, the Se requirement is in the range of 0.05 to 0.2 mg/kg (50 to 200 µg/kg) in dry matter. A Se toxicity threat to livestock can occur if forages are continually fed at marginal levels of Se at 0.3 to 0.5 mg/kg. Forage above 0.5 mg/kg of Se can cause acute toxic conditions in livestock.

Health Canada suggests adult humans have a daily requirement of 45 micrograms per day (µg/day) of Se, which is 0.000045 grams/day. The tolerable upper intake level (UL) for Se for adult humans is 400 µg/day or 0.0004 grams/day from food, water and other sources — very small but critical amounts of Se.

Conversions for context

1 milligram/kilogram (mg/kg) = 1 part per million (p.p.m.)

1 microgram/litre (µg /L) = 1 part per billion (p.p.b.)

1 milligram/litre (mg/L) = 1 part per million (p.p.m.)

1 milligram/litre (mg/L) = 1,000 micrograms/litre (µg/L)

Irrigation water quality

The level for Se in irrigation water for Alberta is 0.02 milligrams/litre (mg/L), which is 20 micrograms/litre (μg/L). The safe level of selenium in irrigation water in British Columbia is set at 0.01 mg/L (10 μg/L). The World Health Organization set a guideline value for Se in irrigation water at 0.04 mg/L (40 μg/L).

An Alberta Agriculture report on irrigation water quality in southern Albera, by Little et al, found Se was detected in 69 per cent of collected irrigation water samples (419 of 607) across a number of irrigation districts. Detection frequencies within the irrigation districts ranged from 34.4 per cent in the United district to 95.3 per cent in the Western district. The greatest mean concentration was observed was 0.0021 milligrams per litre (mg/L, or 2.1 μg/L), while the greatest maximum concentration was observed at the Lethbridge Northern district at 0.01 mg/L (10 μg/L). Selenium exceeded guidelines for the protection of aquatic life in 12.8 per cent of samples. Irrigation guidelines, however, were not exceeded. The lowest compliance rate was found in Magrath district return flows (28.6 per cent).

The good news about this 15-year-old study was that Se level in irrigation water was acceptable in all 607 water samples from an irrigation quality standpoint in 2010. The concerning news was that Se was not acceptable for aquatic life in almost 13 per cent of samples. Se was of greatest concern in the Lethbridge Northern district, which receives all its water from the Oldman River — which is downstream from the proposed Grassy Mountain project.

How much selenium could be applied in irrigation water?

Here the important questions to ask are:

• How much Se would be applied in irrigation water?

• How would Se impact irrigated soils?

• How would Se impact crop production and quality?

These concerns would depend on the level of Se in the water. Keep in mind, the Alberta government considers 0.02 mg/L (20 μg/L) of Se to be the upper limit for irrigation water; the British Columbia environment ministry considers 0.01 mg/L (10 μg/L) of Se as the upper limit for irrigation water.

Most irrigation farmers apply 250 to 500 millimetres (mm) of irrigation water per season to their crops. Amounts of 250 to 300 mm are typically applied to grain and oilseed crops, while 400 to 500 mm are applied to alfalfa and special crops such as sugar beets, potatoes or corn. The amount applied each season varies depending on the amount and timing of growing-season precipitation.

If the Se level in irrigation water is 0.05 mg/L (50 µg/L) — the upper limit for drinking water — how much Se would be added to soil? To determine Se addition to soil, I will use 250 and 500 mm of gross irrigation water application, which works out to 2,500 and 5,000 cubic metres of water per hectare (m³/ha) respectively. I used a Se irrigation water level of 0.05 mg/L, or 0.00005 kg of Se per cubic metre (kg/m³) of water. When 250 mm of water is applied, then about 0.125 kg per hectare (kg/ha) of Se is applied in a growing season. When 500 mm of water is applied, 0.25 kg/ha of Se is applied in a growing season.

Amounts of 0.125 and 0.25 kg/ha of Se seem like very small amounts, but over 10 years would amount to an accumulation level of 1.25 and 2.5 kg/ha in soil and likely would result in unsafe levels of Se in harvested plant material. Again, keep in mind, Se levels in forage of 0.3 to 0.5 mg/kg are a concern for livestock.

Consequences of Se contamination in irrigated soils

If coal mining in the Eastern Slopes of the Rocky Mountains proceeds, Se contamination of downstream water is a likely result. When contaminated irrigation water is used, Se will accumulate in soil and will be taken up by crops. As Se accumulates in soil over years, more Se will be taken up by plants, making crops less suitable or unsuitable for human or livestock consumption.

High-value crops such as potatoes, beans and other pulse crops, canola and various grains are grown under irrigation for human consumption. High-yielding silage corn is widely grown for feed for the intensive livestock industry and alfalfa is also commonly grown for feed. Se-contaminated water applied to irrigated land over a period of a just a few years could be devastating to the irrigation industry. Production of crops for human consumption and feed for livestock production would be affected.

The irrigation industry contributes significantly to Alberta’s economy. It generates a large portion of the area’s gross domestic product (GDP), creates substantial employment and ensures diverse crop production. The irrigation industry likely contributes nearly $8 billion to the regional economy in southern Alberta. If irrigated land is well managed, irrigated crop production would be sustainable for hundreds of years. Coal is a non-renewable resource — and mining coal would be short-term, with long-term environmental problems.

Irrigation farmers and the public must ask: “Can we afford the risk of contaminating and damaging our irrigated lands? What would the effects be on food and feed quality produced on irrigated lands? What would be the environmental and economic impact of damaging irrigated lands with Se?”

To sum up

Let’s review: Health Canada has an upper limit of 50 µg/L of Se for drinking water, which is used by the Alberta government. Alberta uses an upper limit of 20 µg/L for Se in irrigation water and an upper limit of one to two µg/L for aquatic life. British Columbia uses an upper limit of 10 µg/L for Se for drinking water, an upper limit of 10 µg/L for Se for irrigation water and an upper limit of 1.0 µg/L for aquatic life.

Decisions need to be made as to whether water is best managed based on drinking water quality, irrigation water quality or aquatic life and river health. Ideally, from a water quality standpoint, the health of our rivers and lakes should be our highest priority. If river health and aquatic life of our rivers is well maintained and cared for, this will ensure the health of our environment.

In my opinion, using a Se upper limit of one to two µg/L would be a very wise target to maintain healthy rivers and lakes. This would ensure Se levels are very safe for human consumption, livestock, irrigation water quality and aquatic life.

CORRECTION, July 7, 2025: The print and previous online versions of this article incorrectly noted a selenium irrigation water level of 0.05 milligrams per litre equaling 0.005 kg per cubic metre. That number has been corrected to 0.0005 kg per cubic metre in the version above.

Reading for reference

British Columbia Ministry of Environment. 2014. Ambient Water Quality Guidelines for Selenium.

British Columbia Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy. 2025. British Columbia Approved Water Quality Guidelines: Aquatic Life, Wildlife & Agriculture – Guideline Summary. Water Quality Guideline Series, WQG-20. Prov. B.C., Victoria B.C.

Government of Alberta. 2018. Environmental Quality Guidelines for Alberta Surface Waters. Water Policy Branch, Alberta Environment and Parks. Edmonton, Alberta.

Health Canada. 2014. Guidelines for Canadian Drinking Water Quality: Guideline Technical Document — Selenium. Water and Air Quality Bureau, Healthy Environments and Consumer Safety Branch, Health Canada, Ottawa, Ontario. (Catalogue No H144-13/4-2013E-PDF).

Health Canada. 2021. Selenium and its compounds – information sheet.

Little, J., Kalischuk, A., Gross, D., and Sheedy, C. 2010. Assessment of Water Quality in Alberta’s Irrigation Districts, Second Edition. Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development, Alberta, Canada. 181 pp.

Fordyce, Fiona. 2010. Chapter 16 Selenium Deficiency and Toxicity in the Environment. In: Essentials of Medical Geology, Editor: Olle Selinus, Publisher: Springer Dordrecht.

Muhammad Imran, Zhikun Chen, Ayaz Mehmood, Shah Rukh, Wang Weixie, Waleed Asghar and Farhan Iftikhar. 2023. Distribution of Selenium in Soils and Human Health.

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From a precision irrigation standpoint, the new system will be the most advanced machine on the market, says Chris Roth, president of Reinke Manufacturing — “mostly due to the even outlet spacing from the pivot centre to the end boom or the swing-arm corner.”

The Nebraska company describes E3 as its first precision series of spans and end booms with uniform coupler spacing — which helps ensure a uniform water application rate along the entire length of the machine.

“We’ll be very precise in how we apply water from the beginning to the end,” says Roth. “It will be either 30- or 60-inch spacing, even across the tower tops which is the difficult part of irrigation systems to get that accomplished.”

“It doesn’t matter if it’s a 10-inch or a six-inch system, it will have a uniform spacing,” technical sales manager Jake Beam adds. “There are some machines on the market now that have uniform spacing, but you’re fixed on span sizes, lengths and sizes of pipe. This will be the first one we can build to your particular needs in the field.”

E3 systems will be available in 80- to 220-foot working widths at 20-foot intervals, as well as the popular 175-foot size.

Among other new features included on the E3 are V-ring seals that don’t restrict water flow and won’t fail due to UV exposure; maintenance-free bearings; and the new ReinLock anti-racking truss system, engineered for better strength when dealing with uneven ground.

E3 models will also be available with Reinke’s swing arm system, which is designed to irrigate field corners.

“A couple of years we came out with our ESAC,” says Beam. “It’s an electronic swing arm. These machines are so smart they know exactly where they’re at in the field, they know how much area they’re covering and precisely how much water to put in that location. It’s been a game changer in water uniformity under the swing arm.”

Because irrigation systems are so unique to each farm, most systems need to be custom-designed to fully meet growers’ needs, says Roth — and that includes using the right metals for longevity to cope with pH levels in the local water supply.

“We’ll ship out thousands of these every year, and virtually every one is customized. The majority of machines that go out are galvanized, but you can also get a painted Corten machine. (Corten is) like a weathering steel. If you go over a bridge and see where the metal is black, that is probably Corten metal.

“We have aluminum, stainless steel and then we have galvanized on the outside and black poly on the inside. It all comes down to whatever your water quality is.”

Growers also need to take into account the type of soil. Sandy soils have different infiltration rates than clay, so different droplet sizes might make a difference, depending on the crop grown. Also the speed the pivot moves through the field is a factor to consider.

Even water distribution is important in maximizing yields, Beam says.

“If I build a quarter-mile long machine, my last tower is going to cover almost 30 acres, so as you go out on the machine you have to increase that water demand to keep up. The uniform spacing is going to allow us to make a nice, steady step up in nozzle size. We don’t have to worry about filling in gaps. You should be increasing yields, because you’re getting more consistency.

“It’s a very sophisticated system, but once it’s out in the field and designed properly, it’s very easy to use. The hardest part with irrigation is always when and how much.”

The digital operating system on the E3 allows growers to make those decisions right from their cellphones. Connected to soil moisture sensors, it can provide simple instructions about when to begin irrigating.

“One of our partners, CropX — they do a very good job of soil moisture probes,” Beam adds. “They break it down very simply. There’ll be a note inside their platform that says ‘Irrigate now.’ It will tell you how much, and how much moisture holding capacity is left, so you don’t over-irrigate. And you can keep that soil profile open enough so that if a natural rain event came through you actually get to capture all that.”

“When you control your water application, you need to make sure it’s pretty much just right,” Roth says. “Telematics is a huge part of what we do today.”

For those with an existing system, wondering when it may make sense to upgrade to a new machine, Beam says a lack of uniform watering is a key indicator something isn’t right.

“I think a big thing people need to watch is their uniformity. A good way for people to monitor if their pivot is performing as it should is — rule of thumb — every month, document pressures at the centre point.

“If those pressures are changing throughout the year or month to month, there’s something happening where flows are going somewhere they’re not supposed to, or we’re not putting out as much water as we should; we’re not putting the water where it should be going.”

The post Reinke introduces updated E3 irrigation system appeared first on Grainews.

The design uses a unique concave sidewall that allows for a flatter, track-like contact with the ground, which the company says offers a 30 per cent increase in traction over regular tires.

Since that initial release, the company has developed other tires using the CupWheel concept — and now offers a version for lighter vehicle and machine use that still has an internal cavity but doesn’t require inflation pressure.

“For medium and low weights it turns out we can make tires that are totally airless,” Galileo Wheel CEO Armin Schon says. “In the U.S. we have a successful line of airless irrigation tires for pivots.”

The brand calls them the IrriCup line, and they are also available in Canada. They have a bi-directional tread pattern and come mounted on their own rim.

IrriCup tires are now available as original equipment from several irrigation system manufacturers. CupWheel tires are offered as a premium product and come with a higher price tag, but Schon says they offer performance regular tires can’t match.

“We sell the irrigation tires with a 90-day money-back guarantee. We sold maybe 6,000 of those and we didn’t have a single case where a customer came back and said it’s not worth it. They say ‘Since I bought the tires, the pivot doesn’t get stuck anymore’ — and they say this is worth it.”

Since Galileo initially launched the tires in North America, it has focused primarily on supplying them directly to irrigation system manufacturers — but it’s offering them as an aftermarket solution as well.

“For irrigation the strategy is very much OE-oriented,” Schon says. “Maybe half of our sales go directly to OE. The rest we’re selling in the aftermarket through through dealers and distributors.”

Schon recommends Canadian producers who are interested in purchasing any CupWheel tires should first contact the company directly through its website, Galileowheel.com. A product rep will get back to them, discuss their needs and let them know how to select the right tires.

Galileo reps will also display the tires at farm shows in North America this year.

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