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Seed-placed fertilizer safety

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How much seed-placed fertilizer is safe? Pat Beaujot says 
any seed-placed fertilizer is risky business

The cold, late spring this year brought many farmer questions regarding seed-placed fertilizer and how much starter fertilizer including phosphate (P) could be safely seed-placed. My answer is that with today’s seeding equipment and optimally placed side-band fertilizer, any amount of seed-placed fertilizer is too much! Why risk fertilizer toxicity and jeopardize germination and emergence when you […] Read more
Features

Bleaching grain

Fall rain can mean bring lower quality wheat and fewer hard vitreous kernels

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An untimely rain just before harvest can cause wheat kernels to “bleach” or whiten and can lead to some loss in quality that can cause downgrading at the elevator. Bleaching of grain kernels is caused by wet conditions at or near maturity when alternate wetting and drying causes tiny fissures because the grain expands when […] Read more
Features

Barley bred in Alberta

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Bentley barley, a variety bred for its malting properties, was introduced into the marketplace this year after Canada Malting contracted 30,000 tons of it to Alberta and Saskatchewan farmers. This is the first malt barley bred by Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development (AARD) to be commercially contracted for malt. Dr. Patricia Juskiw, Alberta Agriculture and […] Read more
Features

Diversity in the soil

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A teaspoon of soil might just look like dirt, but soil scientists see a complex ecosystem affected by everything from crop rotations to fertilizer


Using DNA technology, researchers are finding that microbial diversity in the sea is huge, said Dr. Marcia Monreal, soil microbiology scientist with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. “But (their results) suggest the diversity in the soil is much larger.” Monreal explained that there is a food chain in the soil that includes bacteria plus other creatures […] Read more
Features

41 threshing machines set new record

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Experienced threshing crews gathered at Langenburg, 
Sask., in August to set a 
new Guiness Record

Forty two threshing crews from across western Canada and the U.S. gathered at Langenburg, Sask., in late August to help set a new Guiness Record for the number of threshing machines run at one time in one spot. The previous record was 29 threshing machines. The group raised over $60,000 for the Foodgrains Bank. The event was […] Read more
Features

New Viterra varieties

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Viterra will have two new traditional brown flax varieties on the market in 2014. WestLin 70 is a traditional brown seed flax variety. Its yield is similar to Bethune. Ryan McCann, Viterra Generics’ seed commercialization manager, says “it has a larger seed size compared to other varieties.” WestLin 70 will be available from seed growers, […] Read more
Features

Flax after the reboot

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The flax industry has been in turmoil since the fall of 2009, when genetically modified flax seeds were unexpectedly discovered in Canadian flax shipments to the European Union. Although the GM variety, Triffid, had been deregistered in 2001 and all Triffid seed was supposed to have been destroyed, Triffid seeds have been lingering in the […] Read more
Features

Busting the soybean fertility myth

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An Illinois researcher says soybean crops don’t leave excess 
nitrogen in the soil for next year’s crop

I think the way we’re fertilizing soybeans is atrocious,” said Dr. Fred Belows, a professor and researcher at the University of Illinois. “Soybean does not add nitrogen to the soil. That’s another one of those urban legends.” Addressing those comments to a group of farm journalists, Dr. Belows was a guest speaker at Case IH’s […] Read more
Features

Close call on the farm

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Farmers face risk on a regular basis. Routine tasks can quickly turn life-threatening, as Dorothy Barr discovered while loading grain to feed her cattle. Dorothy and her husband, David Barr, farm just over 1,000 acres near Mervin, Saskatchewan. David also holds a full-time job off the farm, making seeding and harvest hectic. May 29, 2009, […] Read more
Features

Frozen soils: Life under the soil

More of our nutrients are lost of snow melt run-off than rain. Researchers are working 
on ways to lower this loss

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Dr. Barbara Cade-Menun is a research scientist at the Semiarid Prairie Agricultural Research Centre (SPARC) at Swift Current, Saskatchewan. A soil scientist by training, Cade-Menum is the “nutrient cycling” scientist at SPARC. This role moves her beyond traditional soil fertility, and includes nutrient transport from land to water. The focus of her research is to understand how nutrients […] Read more

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