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Tag Archives land management

Building up the soil in your fields
Crops, Features

Building up the soil in your fields

Changing your crop rotation and management can change the content of our soil

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New research is showing that it is possible to make new, nutrient rich, productive soil on your farm without waiting for eons, simply by changing your crop rotation and management. The research, led by Dr. Stuart Grandy at the University of New Hampshire, is revising our conventional understanding of how soil organic matter (SOM) is […] Read more
Cover crops can help increase production by keeping soil cool, retaining moisture, and feeding the microbes and earthworms that build a healthy soil.
Crops, Features

How to plan your first cover crop

Before you choose a cover crop mix, make sure you know what you want it to do

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Cover crops are becoming more popular. But how do you plan your first cover crop? The first part of the planning process is setting goals, says Kevin Elmy, owner of Friendly Acres Seed Farm at Saltcoats, Saskatchewan. Elmy has been growing cover crops for seven years and now grows and sells cover crop mixes. “With […] Read more
This is a water well map for part of Tp 29 R13 W3, west of Milden, Sask. Legend: The “A”s next to well locations indicate that these wells date from before the survey, pre-1935. For the 2 wells that show a number instead of an A, the 74 and 70 indicate the year the well was dug. Next to the A or year, the top number shows the depth to water in the well (in feet); the bottom number shows the depth of the well (in feet). Where the circle is black, the well is assumed to be located next to buildings. Clear circles indicate that the well location is unknown within the quarter section.
Columns, Forages

The “other” moisture

Surface moisture is easy to measure: Moisture from the water table is another story

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In making soil moisture maps as of freeze up the past few wet years, I have come to realize that we should have maps of areas where the surface moisture that we grow crops with has little or no connection to the water table. This piece adds a bit to that idea. In the 1980s […] Read more
The effects of soil compaction
Columns, Crops

The effects of soil compaction

In the first of a two-part series, learn how to diagnose soil compaction in your field

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Soil compaction can be a serious form of soil degradation resulting in decreased crop production and increased risk of soil erosion. Soil compaction can reduce water infiltration into soil, crop emergence, root penetration, crop nutrient uptake and water uptake — all of which can reduce crop yields. Compaction concerns Soil compaction is caused by tillage […] Read more
Don’t misdiagnose soil compaction
Crops, Features

Don’t misdiagnose soil compaction

Erosion or true compaction? A correct diagnosis is key to proper management

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Subsoils are naturally compact, and what looks like a soil compaction problem might actually be a case of erosion removing the top, soft layer of soil and exposing the dense subsoil. “People assume they have a soil compaction problem, but exposed subsoil is often misdiagnosed as a soil degradation issue,” says David Lobb, a professor […] Read more
Investing in vertical tillage tools
Crops, Features

Investing in vertical tillage tools

Soil Management: When it comes to vertical tillage, there is no "one size fits all" for every job

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Farmers struggling with excess residue, moisture, or compaction are experimenting with various forms of tillage. But many questions remain about how to best use the equipment on the market today. In the fall of 2014, the Buiten­huis and Baillargeon families ran a tillage demo at their farm near Edam, Sask. They ran seven different tillage units, plus used a […] 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
The T-Rex rotary ditcher uses an eight-foot rotary cutter to quickly create drainage runs.
Machinery

Ditch digging with a T-Rex

On-farm machine development creates another option for dealing with drainage

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Anyone visiting machinery shows over the past year in Saskatchewan or Manitoba has probably noticed the T-Rex rotary ditcher on display. Niverville, Manitoba, farmer Grant Dyck created the T-Rex Ditcher to solve his own on-farm drainage and ditching needs, and last summer he began commercially producing them. “T-Rex stands for the terra excavator,” he said, […] 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
This graphic, from a University of Minnesota Extension Bulletin, shows some common designs for tile drainage.
Columns, Crops

Trying tile drainage on your farm

There's information out there. Do your homework before starting tile drainage

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I am not an engineer and will not give recipes for pipe size, spacing or equipment. Rather, I’ll look at the principles and steps a farmer should take before investing big bucks in tiles. Tile drainage is not a new technology. Many of the better soils of the world are on flat, low lying, high […] Read more

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