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Tag Archives Agricultural soil science

field of flowering mustard
Columns, Crops

Mustard fertilizer management

In Part 2 of a 4-part series on mustard agronomy, Ross McKenzie talks fertilizer

By
In the last issue of Grainews, I discussed agronomic management of growing mustard. In this issue we’ll discuss nitrogen requirements; in the next issue, we’ll discuss the other nutrients mustard needs to achieve optimum production. Mustard grown on cereal stubble almost always needs nitrogen fertilizer, frequently needs phosphate fertilizer and occasionally needs sulphur fertilizer. Soil […] Read more
Nitrate in the environment
Columns, Crops

Nitrate in the environment

Agriculture is a big part of nitrogen movement. Let's measure what we're doing

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This column has dealt with “nitrate down the well” a few times in the past. To make a long story short: Nitrate-contaminated farm wells have been known since 1945 when the first case of infant “blue-baby” was related to a contaminated farm well in Iowa. A 1948 survey of 2,000 Saskatchewan farm wells found 18 […] Read more
Crops, Features

Grid soil sampling best for prediction

Cavalier Agrow agronomist says grid soil sampling trumps satellite imagery

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Farmers who want to move into precision farming should focus less on satellite imagery and more on what’s happening under the soil’s surface, according to an agronomist. Bennie Dunhin is the agronomy manager at Cavalier Agrow, an ag retailer based in north-western Saskatchewan. Dunhin, who originally hails from South Africa, holds an MSc. in plant […] Read more
Managing mustard on the Prairies
Columns, Crops

Managing mustard on the Prairies

In Part 1 of a 4-Part series on growing mustard, Ross McKenzie looks at basic agronomy

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Mustard is one of my favourite crops to grow on dry land in the drier regions of the Prairies. It is a great oilseed crop to include in a diverse crop rotation, which helps to disrupt pest cycles, increase moisture use efficiency and increase farm income. Canada is a world leader in condiment mustard seed […] Read more
These field peas were seeded using the CTF system tucked in close to the standing stubble of the previous crop. The pea crop is able to use any residual nutrients from the previous crop and the standing cereal stubble provides protection and may help to support the pea crop as it matures. 

Crops, Features

CTF delivers improved crop emergence

Consistently higher yields are yet to come, but CTF improves overall efficiency

By
Steve Larocque is using his precision farming system to get to the root of improved crop emergence, which in the last few seasons appears to be getting about 80 to 90 per cent of the seeds coming out the ground. The word root is used both literally and figuratively for the central Alberta farmer and […] Read more
soil dirt
Columns, Crops

The soil test results have arrived

The best results are only as good as the plans you implement to deal with them

By
Complete tasks as you think of them. I can’t stress this enough. You see, there’s this rock. It’s big. And it’s sitting along the western edge of the pastureland I broke last fall. I nicked it with the Wishek disc I rented in October to mince the sod. I should have dealt with it then. […] Read more
This is what is known as an NDVI image (normalized difference vegetation index) of an on-farm, field-scale soybean trial. This trial, with different treatment strips across the field, was looking at using a pre-seeding herbicide, such as a granular which was incorporated, compared to a glyphosate treatment. In some areas where the pre-seeding product was ineffective they went back in with an in-crop herbicide treatment which in some areas damaged the crop. The mostly green area is a relatively healthy crop with the strips indicating different treatments. The red areas show problems in the field. The headlands may indicate a different crop or different type of vegetation, or higher compaction. The larger red patches on the upper left hand side show areas that have likely been flooded out or have a disease problem. The yellow areas indicate crop that has been damaged by in-crop herbicide. There is a powerline or pipeline right away cutting diagonally across the upper right hand side of the photo.
Crops

Digital pictures: They’re worth a thousand steps

Ground truthing is important, but aerial imagery can tell stories you can’t see with the eye

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You can’t beat an eye in the sky when it comes to telling you what’s happening on the ground with your crop, says a longtime Iowa crop management specialist. Different types of aerial imagery that show visual differences during the growing season can be an extremely valuable tool for pointing to shortfalls or successes concerning […] Read more
Chickpea is one pulse crop seeing renewed interest from growers.
Crops, Features, Pulses

Pulse acres on the rise this spring

High prices are driving higher interest in planting peas and lentils this season

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The Saskatchewan Pulse Growers Association (SPGA) predicts, in its January 2016 pulse outlook, that there will be a significant increase in pulse acres again this year, with lentils leading the charge. At least 4.46 million acres of lentils are expected to go in the ground this spring, with some market experts predicting it may go over […] Read more
soybean field
Crops, Features

New crops, new learning curve

Include corn and soybeans the right way, and reap the rewards

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There are more corn and soybean varieties designed for Prairie growing conditions than ever before. That’s good news for growers looking to diversify, but it’s important to make sure they’re incorporated in the right way to maximize benefits and yields. Corn and soybeans are easily included in most crop rotations, providing the opportunity to expand […] Read more
saskatchewan farmer Florian Hagmann credits several factors including good seed, decent moisture, and effective rates of liquid fertilizer products from Kugler Co. for helping him produce a field of a record-yielding 116 bushel canola crop in 2015. Albert Cochet of Birch hills (pictured) who actually combined the field for Hagmann stands next to one of the fertilizer signs.
Canola, Crops

Big fertility package produced a big canola yield

Liquid fertilizer blends seemed to make a difference for this Saskatchewan farmer

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Florian Hagmann threw everything he had into producing a quarter section of canola that topped 116 bushels per acre and averaged 111.3 bushels per acre last year. The Saskatchewan farmer, who farms near Birch Hills, northeast of Saskatoon says the input costs pushed his comfort zone, but the real point was to “push the limits” […] Read more

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