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Building soil health for future generations is the main goal on Tim Nerbas’ farm in Waseca, Sask. Nerbas took the first steps toward improving soil health on NRG Farms more than 20 years ago when he made the decision to eliminate tillage entirely. Some of the farmland had not been tilled for more than 30 years. From there, he focused on crop variety and diversity and constant cover, which he sees as crucial to soil health.
Crops

Soil health management on Harvest Moon and NRG farms

Alberta and Saskatchewan producers discuss soil care

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Since an unexpected disaster in 2017, in many respects, Alberta farmer Andy Kirschenman has had to start over. In October of that year, a massive fire ripped through Harvest Moon Farm. The Kirschenmans lost their house, a shed, a combine, quite a bit of equipment and most of the trees in the shelterbelt. But the […] Read more
Erin and Paul Kernaleguen have found that a change in forage production practices on their Saskatchewan farm has helped to reduce costs and benefit dairy production.
Cattleman’s Corner, Dairy Cattle, Forages

Dairy farmers see multiple benefits from forage blends

Input costs have been reduced and more acres returned to crop production

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Dairy farmers Paul and Erin Kernaleguen near Birch Hills, Sask. say they’re convinced about the value of regenerative farming practices in growing forage crops for their cattle. They farm with Paul’s parents, Jos and Brenda Kernaleugen. “We were a conventional operation until 2012 when we started looking at doing things differently,” Paul says. “Our average […] Read more
This full-season cover crop, which ended up being mostly oats and volunteer mustard, provided excellent summer pasture for cow-calf pairs under a strip grazing system.
Crops, Features

No such thing as failure, it’s all a learning experience

Plans are good in theory, but moisture is needed to really see what works

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When Josh Beck describes some of the practices he’s tried in a bid to incorporate regenerative agriculture practices on his southern Alberta farm, you’ll probably hear him say a few times, “Everything was looking really good early in the growing season … and then it turned dry.” Lack of growing season moisture is not only […] Read more
Southern Alberta farmer Brady Valgardson has been experimenting with cover crops for the past five years. 
One of his objectives is to reduce the risk of soil being lost to wind erosion during the vulnerable post-harvest to pre-seeding period.
Crops, Features

The cover crop learning curve

There is plenty of good information in theory, but a Taber grower is learning what works best for his farm

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Challenges, commitment, trial and error, faith and steep learning curve. Those are some of the terms that southern Alberta farmer Brady Valgardson uses when he describes his experience with regenerative agriculture over the past five years. Valgardson, who is the fourth generation on the family farm southwest of Taber (about 50 kilometres east of Lethbridge), […] Read more
Friendly Acres Seed Farm’s Kevin Elmy is the founder of Cover Crops Canada and the author of Cover Cropping in Western Canada.
Crops, News

It’s all about making healthier soil

Get soil chemistry and organisms back on track

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What do you want to change about your cropping operation? That’s the first question farmers need to think about as they look into the relatively new world of regenerative agriculture (regen ag). It’s a big subject area, with plenty of variables, layers and “twists,” say agronomy consultants who work with producers on implementing regen ag […] Read more
Even as conditions dried out in April, the cover crops hung in to provide feed and weight gain on yearlings.
Cattleman’s Corner, Livestock

Cover crops fit in SE Australia

Report from Down Under: Warm-season crops produced excellent gains on grass-fed beef

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With rain forecast for the next four days (in early May 2020) I take pen to paper to write about cover crops in southeast Australia. Seeding is well underway for these crops along with cereals, pulses, legumes, forages and others. The rain we are receiving across a wide swath of this part of the country […] Read more
Bayer’s cross symbol hangs in a terminal at Frankfurt International Airport. (Typhoonski/iStock Editorial/Getty Images)
Crops, Machinery, Reuters, Weather

Bayer launches carbon capture pilot for U.S., Brazilian farmers

Chem and seed firm expects to expand plan to other countries

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Chicago | Reuters — Bayer launched a pilot program in the United States and Brazil on Tuesday that will pay farmers for capturing carbon in cropland soils, making it the latest agriculture company to capitalize on environmental initiatives. The company seeks to enroll about 1,200 row crop growers in its Bayer Carbon Initiative in the […] Read more
Closeup of a plowed field, fertile, black soil.
Crops, Features

The five principles of soil health

USDA researcher says healthy soil needs a systems approach

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At the Regenerative Agriculture Forum in Brandon in November, Jay Fuhrer, soil health specialist with the Natural Resource Conservation Service of the USDA, spoke about soil health. Fuhrer has identified five principles of soil health, and how they work to improve soil health and increase productivity. Fuhrer defined soil health is defined as “the continued […] Read more
Farmers take a look at smaller-scale plots on a tour of the research farm at Carman, Man., in the summer of 2019.
Crops

Testing the cover crop hypothesis

Agronomy researchers are catching up with what farmers are doing in their fields

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It’s an exciting time for cover crop research. Last summer, many large-scale cover crop trials were underway across the Prairies looking at everything from cover crop combinations, rotations and planting methods to pollinator strips. One of the biggest ongoing projects, funded by Western Grains Research Foundation, Manitoba Wheat and Barley Growers and Manitoba Pulse and […] Read more
The One-Pass Cover Crop Seeder attachment is available on Unverferth’s new Rolling Harrow 1245 and 1245D models.
Machinery

New cover crop seeder attachment

Unverferth introduces the One-Pass Cover Crop Seeder option

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Unverferth Manufacturing used the National Farm Machinery Show in Louisville, Kentucky, in February as the venue to introduce its new mounted One-Pass Cover Crop Seeder attachment. It can be fitted the brand’s new Rolling Harrow 1245 and 1245D models that have working widths up to 37 feet. The attachment allows for one-pass planting of cover crops, an agronomic practice […] Read more

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