Soil health Archives - Page 10 of 24

Cattle take shelter in the stalks of Brett McRae’s intercropped corn grazing system.

Corn-soybean intercrop goes to a taste test

The novel crop combination is getting an even more novel test of its utility

By Alexis Stockford March 13, 2024

Glacier FarmMedia — Brett McRae is spicing up his corn grazing system this year. He’s got more than one variety growing — a grazing-oriented option and the typical silage corn — but the real experiment is happening beneath the canopy. This year, the corn shared space with forage soybean and hairy vetch. The beans were […] Read more

Water lines are trenched in on the field to feed drip lines placed at the root level.

Features

Subsurface irrigation called way of the future

Early adopters in southern Alberta are using drip lines to run water directly to crop roots

By Alex McCuaig March 13, 2024

Glacier FarmMedia — Subsurface drip irrigation is a relatively new system to the Prairies, but one of southern Alberta’s early adopters is confident it’s an effective way to grow crops with water efficiency rates second to none. Subsurface irrigation systems deliver water directly to roots using drip lines and is commonly designed to be spaced […] Read more

Bourgault's 3725QDA coulter drill will be available for the spring of 2025, and it offers a quick depth adjustment using shims.

Equipment, Machinery

Bourgault updates two product lines

Quick depth adjustment on coulter drill and new XP Duo meter air planter

By Scott Garvey March 12, 2024

In February, Bourgault announced two new features that allow for significant design changes on some of its drills. First, the 3725QDA coulter drill makes its debut. “The 3725 was kind of an extension of the 5 Series model, the 3335, when Bourgault went with the quick-adjust frame,” said Colin Rush, North American sales and marketing […] Read more

Staff of SB Quantum at work. The Sherbrooke, Que. company was chosen to be part of John Deere’s annual Startup Collaborator program for 2024. It has developed technology based on a novel quantum magnetometer that can more accurately measure fluctuations in the Earth’s magnetic field.

Equipment, Features

A quantum-sensing startup gets Deere backing

John Deere's Startup Collaborator program helps new companies develop, explore innovative tech

By Doug Ferguson March 8, 2024

Glacier FarmMedia — A Canadian firm that uses quantum sensing to improve navigation for autonomous vehicles is among six start-up companies from around the world that will be collaborating with John Deere. “This is a perfect opportunity to find a technology that’s really interesting that may have a large application to solving customer problems that […] Read more

A centre-pivot system at work near Cowley, Alta., about 40 km east of Crowsnest Pass. Snowpack in mid-February was estimated at 50-75 per cent of normal at monitoring sites in southern Alberta's Rocky Mountains.

Columns, Crops, Weather

Managing irrigation with limited water

Some irrigation districts are advising users to brace for limits on available water

By Ross H. McKenzie March 8, 2024

There is increasing concern with below-normal mountain snowpack and potential for limited irrigation water availability in 2024. Snowpack in mid-February was about 50 to 75 per cent of normal at most of the snow pillow monitoring sites in the Rocky Mountains of northern Montana and southern Alberta (visit the Alberta River Basins web page, then […] Read more

aerial photo of irregularly shaped manitoba cropland

Crops, Features, Forages

Bless your mess: Crops may not be best for underperforming acres

Taking poorer-producing ‘messy’ landscapes out of crops may improve fields’ economics and farms’ sustainability

By Lee Hart March 6, 2024

UPDATED, March 7 — It might be difficult to consider “messy” fields as a pathway to improved crop production and profitability. But in the early going, a Prairie-wide university-developed research project suggests taking poor-producing acres out of annual crop production might be a means of improving overall efficiency, as well as the all-important bottom line. […] Read more

Machinery, Traction & Compaction

Getting the right tire

Loader tires need the right tire and inflation pressure for the load

By Scott Garvey March 4, 2024

When spec’ing out a new loader tractor, there are a lot of things to consider: lifting capacity, horsepower, size et cetera. Easily overlooked, though, are the specifications for the tires the tractor rides on — and how they can seriously affect tractor performance. “One thing that’s important for operators to understand is how proper ballasting, […] Read more

A combine harvests wheat in September 1952 at the Matador Co-operative farm in what's now the RM of Lacadena, about 65 km north of Swift Current, Sask.

Columns, Weather

Precipitation cycles: When will the dry cycle end?

There's no way to predict from here what the 2024 growing season will provide

By Les Henry March 2, 2024

Many farmers in the Brown and Dark Brown soil zones of the Palliser Triangle have spent a few years now looking at the sky and hoping for rain. In some areas the snowmelt went straight to soil moisture and was a big factor in providing something for the trucker to do. But multiple years with […] Read more

Researchers now recommend allowing one or two years between terminating an old alfalfa stand and reseeding.

Columns, Forages, Practical Tips

Alfalfa replant disease and related disorders

Whatever the cause, we can realize it's a problem and try to avoid it

By Ieuan Evans March 1, 2024

Back in the 1980s I spent a lot of time on alfalfa diseases, particularly the verticillium wilt disease problem that was spreading across the Prairies, particularly in southern Alberta. In a few snow-free and cold Decembers in those years, a lot of damage was done to alfalfa, winterkilling entire fields of three-year-old stands. Even white […] Read more

Equipment, Forages, Machinery

Compostable bale wrap heads toward wide release

Nature's Net Wrap an environment-friendly alternative to long-lived plastic

By Scott Garvey March 1, 2024

Virtually every cattle farmer and rancher has tripped over an old piece of plastic baler twine or net wrap stuck in the ground in a corral or bale yard. The stuff just never seems to go away. But an entrepreneurial Alberta ranching family has come up with a solution to eliminate that problem with a […] Read more

U.S. grains: Soy, corn futures weaken on harvest pressure, firm dollar

U.S. livestock: Cattle futures higher, though traders uncertain about demand

Feed Grain Weekly: Corn prices steady, barley harvest slows

GFM Network News