Different types of soil have different properties. University of Alberta research is focusing on measuring soil quality.

Controlling traffic to improve your soil

A new test offers another way to test soil quality improvements

It can be called “fractal hierarchical aggregation” or just “fractal aggregation.” Whatever the moniker, the new method of soil health testing promises to offer an important way to assess soil quality and land stewardship, says Guillermo Hernandez, an assistant professor at the University of Alberta. Hernandez is the lead researcher on a suite of projects […] Read more

Lystek takes municipal waste and turns it into a rich fertilizer for your land.

Turning city waste into good fertilizer

Soil Management: Lystek International’s CFIA-registered fertilizer takes waste from sewage to nutrition

One man’s trash is another’s treasure. It’s a familiar idiom at the heart of a Canadian company’s process for turning municipal sewage into fertilizer. Faced with the challenge of dealing with sludge, Canadian municipalities have done everything from dumping it in landfills to letting it flow into the ocean. Lystek International, based in Cambridge, Ontario, […] Read more


Farm it like you’re ‘just’ renting it?

Farm it like you’re ‘just’ renting it?

Do farmers look after rented farmland differently than land they own? Should they?

We’ve all heard the term “drive it like a rental” but could that also apply to farmland? Is a farmer more likely to use conservation practices like no-till or variable rate technology, or apply more fertilizer and/or manure to improve the fertility on land he or she owns than on rented land? In April 2013, […] Read more

What’s influencing land rental rates?

What’s influencing land rental rates?

An Ontario survey found that close relationships and long rental terms made no difference


According to new data from Statistics Canada’s 2016 Census of Agriculture, Prairie farmers are renting more and more land. In Manitoba, farmers rent or lease 33 per cent of the farmland, in Saskatchewan 28 per cent and in Alberta 42 per cent. Needless to say, they are not all paying the same rental rates and […] Read more


Tom King (left) from the soils science department at the University of Saskatchewan talked about plant nutrient and 4R field trials at Saskatchewan Agriculture’s Crop Diagnostic School in Indian Head in July.

Growing crops in saline soil

Sometimes dividing up the field is the best solution to salinity

The Saskatchewan Ministry of Agriculture’s Crop Diagnostic School is a great opportunity for farmers and agronomists to get outside for a hands-on, up-close look at plots, plants, insects and weeds. This summer, the School was held in Indian Head over two days in July. One of the many speakers, Gary Krueger, Saskatchewan Agriculture irrigation agrologist […] Read more

Yellow peas performed better in several areas than some other pulse crops.

Putting pulses to work in your crop rotations

Soil Health: A good pulse crop can do more than fill your bank account. It also benefits the soil

Along with more pulse crops in Prairie farmers’ rotations, there has also been more research into the impact these crops have on our soil. Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada researchers have recently published several research papers on this issue. This work has led one of these researchers, Dr. Chantal Hamel, to conclude that there are several […] Read more


Hugh Beckie was on hand during Nufarm’s field day at Ag-Quest’s Saskatoon location. Beckie is holding a GPS collar that researchers can attach to kochia plants to track how the weed disperses seeds as it tumbles across the prairie.

Herbicide-resistant weeds: don’t be in denial

Herbicide resistance is a growing problem that all Prairie farmers need to address

Dealing with resistant weeds is a little like dealing with alcoholism, according to a Nufarm executive. The first step is to acknowledge that you’ve got a problem. Lachie McKinnon heads North American business development for Nufarm, and is also the Canadian manager. McKinnon shared thoughts on managing herbicide resistance based on his experience working in […] Read more

Some plants had more affected leaves than others, however, there was no pattern to the affected plants or the location of the injured leaves on those plants. For example, the top leaves were affected on some plants, while the middle leaves of others were exhibiting symptoms.

Crop Advisor’s Casebook: What’s stressing these lentils?

A Crop Advisor's Solution from the August 29, 2017 issue of Grainews

“I have never seen anything like it in 15 years of growing lentils,” Vaughn, a southern Saskatchewan producer, told me after he discovered yellowing, unhealthy-looking lentil plants in his field the week of June 23, 2016. Our office had already received several calls from Assiniboia-area growers with similar concerns. Producers had also dropped off samples […] Read more



The plants in the field’s inner region were already starting to bloom, while the plants in the perimeter remained green and weren’t nearly as tall.

Crop Advisor’s Casebook: What’s holding up this canola’s blooming stage?

A Crop Advisor's Solution from the May 16, 2017 issue of Grainews

Kyle farms 2,000 acres of canola, oats and peas west of Yorkton, Sask. He called me the first week of July, last year, when he discovered part of his canola crop wasn’t flowering with the rest of the field. Kyle thought perhaps environmental factors, seeding issues or nutrient deficiencies could be stressing the crop. The […] Read more