irrigation Archives - Page 2 of 7

More than one way to fight fusarium head blight

An integrated approach, using multiple best practices, can offer better chances of success

By Mark Halsall February 15, 2025

Fusarium head blight has been a stubborn threat to cereal crops in Western Canada since the 1990s. Some years are worse than others, but when the conditions favour this fungal pathogen, fusarium can cause significant losses in yield and crop quality in wheat, barley, oats and corn. The two primary weapons against fusarium — fungicides […] Read more

Columns

Selenium sits on thinnest line between health and hazard

Agronomy Management: Removing selenium from water is costly and difficult at best

By Ross H. McKenzie January 22, 2025

There are increasing concerns about the potential effects of a proposed coal mine development in southern Alberta and the impacts selenium could have on the environment in southern Alberta and into Saskatchewan. The proposed Grassy Mountain Coal project would be an open-pit mine built on a former coal-mining area about seven km north of Blairmore […] Read more

GrowPro

Understanding tile drainage

Tiling can be a good solution for fixing multiple problems, but it can also be complex to install, and costs vary widely depending on the farm. Make purchasing decisions easier by doing your homework first.

By Mark Halsall December 20, 2024

Removing excess water is the big payoff for tile drainage. Submerged fields and saturated soils can slash yields, cause salinity problems and even spell the loss of the entire crop, if it’s bad enough. However, it is not an inexpensive fix, nor is it a simple solution, and it won’t work for every farm. That’s […] Read more

Quebec OYF nominees Alison Blouin and Simon Plante among the strawberries on the Polyculture Plante farm.

Features, Fruit/Vegetables

Simon Plante and Alison Blouin

Outstanding Young Farmers 2024: Its acres capped by geography, this market garden operation seeks to grow more per acre

By Lee Hart November 8, 2024

Increasing production on the same land base, which in turn will help make more marketing opportunities possible— that’s the goal of a young Quebec farming couple heading up a second-generation fruit and vegetable operation near Quebec City. Investing heavily in new production technology on the family-owned Polyculture Plante, located at Sainte-Pétronille on Île d’Orléans, is […] Read more

Equipment

VIDEO: Crops feeling the thirst for irrigation

By Greg Berg August 27, 2024

Western Canada has been getting more attention when it comes to irrigation, particularly for crops such as potatoes, lentils and sugar beets, but that’s not all. “Pretty much everything in our area if you can put water on it,” says Rob Mraz, general manager with Delta Irrigation. In this video, Mraz talks about technology applications […] Read more

A view of Oldman River which flows into the Oldman Reservoir, which according to local news media is at its lowest point in 30 years, near Pincher Creek, Alberta, Canada March 15, 2024. REUTERS/Todd Korol

General, Reuters

Alberta municipalities, farmers agree to cut water use as drought persists

By Reuters April 19, 2024

Municipalities and irrigation districts in Alberta have agreed to use less water this summer to combat a severe ongoing drought, the provincial government said on Friday.

General, Reuters

Farmers, oil drillers in parched Alberta brace for water shortage

Drought could cause double-digit declines in Alberta's wheat yields, data suggests

By Reuters, Rod Nickel, GFM Network News March 18, 2024

Drought in Alberta is stretching into its fourth year and farmers and oil companies are planning for water restrictions that threaten production of wheat, beef and crude.

Water lines are trenched in on the field to feed drip lines placed at the root level.

Features

Subsurface irrigation called way of the future

Early adopters in southern Alberta are using drip lines to run water directly to crop roots

By Alex McCuaig March 13, 2024

Glacier FarmMedia — Subsurface drip irrigation is a relatively new system to the Prairies, but one of southern Alberta’s early adopters is confident it’s an effective way to grow crops with water efficiency rates second to none. Subsurface irrigation systems deliver water directly to roots using drip lines and is commonly designed to be spaced […] Read more

Columns, Editor's column

Editor’s Rant: Planning for failure

By Dave Bedard March 8, 2024

Since this issue of Grainews is supposed to be on the press in two hours or less, there’s a good chance this week that I’ll either be very brief in this space, or not nearly brief enough. I really loathe leaving things like this to the last minute, but this past week didn’t work out […] Read more

A centre-pivot system at work near Cowley, Alta., about 40 km east of Crowsnest Pass. Snowpack in mid-February was estimated at 50-75 per cent of normal at monitoring sites in southern Alberta's Rocky Mountains.

Columns, Crops, Weather

Managing irrigation with limited water

Some irrigation districts are advising users to brace for limits on available water

By Ross H. McKenzie March 8, 2024

There is increasing concern with below-normal mountain snowpack and potential for limited irrigation water availability in 2024. Snowpack in mid-February was about 50 to 75 per cent of normal at most of the snow pillow monitoring sites in the Rocky Mountains of northern Montana and southern Alberta (visit the Alberta River Basins web page, then […] Read more

U.S. grains: Soybeans near six-week low as China shuns U.S. supplies

GM wheat gets closer to reality in U.S.

Prairie forecast: Looks like summer weather

GFM Network News