This is an update of a piece about fusarium head blight (FHB) we did about one year ago now. To be honest, much of it is actually “cut and paste” from last year. I’ve never done that before, but it seems appropriate for this situation. We are just adding another year of data. In agronomy […] Read more
FHB: a disease of even-numbered years
It seems unlikely that FHB strikes every second year, but the data backs it up
What exactly is sustainability?
There are many ways to farm sustainably, and many ways to discuss the issue
A lot of recent farm press talks about sustainability. When I look up “sustainable” in Webster’s it says: ‘… a method of harvesting or using a resource so that resource is not depleted or permanently damaged…” The first time I remember that term used with respect to agriculture was when a respected farmer on Sceptre […] Read more
D3: The digital dumbing down
Not all information is better in the digital age. Especially data about the weather
We are now in “the information age.” Information, mostly good but sometimes sketchy, is literally at our fingertips. As I wrote this piece if a spelling error occurred, my software program underlined it in red. Then I quickly opened a web browser and put my spelling of the word into Google and up popped the […] Read more
Highlights from the Crop Production Show
Annual farm shows are a chance to catch up — with friends and technology
Early January is a special time for me. In Saskatoon we are favoured with the Crop Production Show and Crop Week. The Show has exhibitors showing the latest in big and fancy equipment and all manner of crop inputs and advisers. Crop Week is the annual meetings of farm groups and commissions with speakers on […] Read more
Cooler July, thanks to farmers and canola
Swift Current temperature data shows different long-term trends in January versus July
This piece is a result of the Canola Discovery Forum at Canola Days in Saskatoon in December, 2017. Jay Whetter, former editor of Grainews and now communications manager with the Canola Council of Canada, invited me to address the issue of precision agriculture with specific reference to the role soil maps might play. My contribution […] Read more
Soil moisture: the old and new stories
Know your subsoil moisture and your chance of rain to make seeding decisions
The first freeze-up stubble soil moisture map was made in Saskatchewan in 1978. Readers with Henry’s Handbook of Soil and Water can see it on Page 109. It showed a lot of “very dry” and “dry” space. Red ink was common in the 1980s. The maps below show the situation in fall 1987 and fall […] Read more
Stubble soil moisture map, November 1, 2017
Les Henry’s annual map of fall soil moisture going into the winter months
The November 1, 2016, fall soil moisture map was, in a word, wet. In Manitoba and much of Saskatchewan all soils were at field capacity (holding maximum available water) and many areas were so wet that water tables were near enough to surface to be a factor. When the water table is within about five […] Read more
Exhibit 1: Weather cycles — Willowbunch Lake
Over the course of 30+ years at the University of Saskatchewan I collected about 5,000 35 mm colour slides. Many were taken by me while pounding pavement but I also “inherited” slides from folks who retired or moved. I also have a slide cabinet at home with hundreds of slides from junkets to Tanzania, Swaziland […] Read more
Diary of a pea crop
This season was too wet, then dry, but it’s left a promising start for next year
This is the story of the pea crop on my farm near Dundurn, Sask., in the 2017 growing season. August 21, 2016 Last year we combined an 82 bushel per acre malt barley crop on this field. The soil was well supplied with water at seeding time and the May to July rain was 10.5 […] Read more
Mail order houses: The Eakinton
The T. Eaton Co. Ltd. “Eakinton” was a very unique home
We have been getting quite a few queries about catalogue houses lately so I will tell the story about a very unique T. Eaton Home: Eakinton. First, a Q and A about the subject. What were catalogue or mail order houses? Starting in the early 1900s it was possible to order a house from a […] Read more
Cyber-Savvy Farmer
