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An acre of such soil may have up to 1,000 lbs. of earthworms, 2,500 lbs. of fungi, 1,500 lbs. of bacteria and up to 1,000 lbs. of protozoa and insects — most fully active in June and July.
Columns, Crops

Understanding soil organic matter

Do you know your crop residues from your soil organic matter?

By
The word “organic,” just like “environmental” has become confusing over the last 20 or 30 years. Organic food for example? All the food we eat is organic (except salt or other minerals). All farming activities are environmental, but every misinformed urbanite calls him or herself an environmentalist. “Soil organic matter” is made up of a […] Read more
Those pesky pigeons
Columns, News

Those pesky pigeons

Turn your on-farm nuisance into a new hobby for the New Year

By
Are there any farmsteads on the Canadian Prairies that do not have a flock of circling pigeons looking for spoiled grain? Believe it or not, pigeons were the first birds to be domesticated many thousands of years ago. Worldwide, countless millions of pigeons are kept for racing, ornamentation, fun and food. There are some 310 […] Read more
A large male wild boar — which can top 600 pounds — in a rare daytime photo. The animals tend to be nocturnal.
Columns, Livestock

A boaring threat to our meat production

The growing population of wild boar on the prairies threatens livestock production


By
People who say they have never seen wild boar should watch the ditches at dusk from Florida to Dawson Creek. I have seen them at both locations and many places in between, and more than once avoided a disastrous collision with a wild boar. Wild boar, wild swine, Sas scrofa, Eurasian wild pig or just […] Read more
Coyotes offer a credible rodent control service every day of the year.
Columns, News

Please do not shoot those coyotes

One man’s poison is another man’s meal. Or at least a meal for that pesky coyote


By
Prairie people frequently get together to shoot coyotes, often with the support of local farmers. I’m not against disposing of problem wildlife, but I fail to see any benefits from shooting coyotes. Coyotes are a major reason why we are not overrun by rabbits, jackrabbits, voles, mice, pocket gophers, rats and ground squirrels. If we […] Read more
The white thistles at the roadside and in the field near Edmonton in 2019 will either be severely weakened or they will die since they have no chlorophyll.
Columns, Crops

Bleached tops means bye-bye Canada thistle

Take a look in the ditches near you. A fungus may be infecting those weeds

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Canada thistle is an invasive import from Europe. It is technically called Circium arvense, a prickly member of the Aster family. In the U.K., it’s called creeping thistle; in New Zealand it’s called Californian thistle, perhaps derived from Canada thistle. Canada thistle is also known in North America by a range of other names but […] Read more
These photos, taken on August 15 just west of Edmonton, show classic copper deficiency. The field is a sandy loam soil with five to six per cent organic matter. The roadway, built about 10 years ago, has shoulders made up from deep-dug clay loam piled onto the field from the ditch. This clay loam is low in organic matter, probably one to two per cent or less, but high in available copper (see more below, including video).
Cereals, Columns, Crops

Identifying copper deficiency in wheat

Ieuan Evans looks at 2019 growing conditions, including areas where copper levels are low


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In early August in central Alberta I was still seeing yellow fields of canola. Honeybees and mosquitoes were having an extended nectar flowing season. I will stick my neck out as usual and make a few observations and prophecies across the Western Prairies. Crops are late in the northern part of the Western Prairies, but […] Read more
D’oh, a deer! How to protect your garden and shrubs from deer and moose
Columns, Crops

D’oh, a deer! How to protect your garden and shrubs from deer and moose

Nice to look at, but also destructive. How to keep cervids away from your property

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Moose, elk and deer are members of the family Cervidae (cervids) which includes some 41 species worldwide. In Canada, we have to contend with white-tailed deer (the number one pest), moose (called elk in Europe), mule or black-tailed deer and elk (called red deer in Europe). These animals can be very destructive around farms, acreages and orchards. Here is a list of […] Read more
Why soybeans need inoculant and how some crops fix nitrogen without it
Columns, Crops

Why soybeans need inoculant and how some crops fix nitrogen without it

Plus, never do this with inoculant

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Next to water, nitrogen is usually the most limiting nutrient in crop production. In prairie agriculture, by far the major source of fixed nitrogen for crop production is nitrogen produced industrially via the Haber process. But nitrogen fixation by legumes is also a very important economic factor in world agriculture. The nitrogen-fixing family of plants, […] Read more
The basic facts around limestone
Columns, Crops

The basic facts around limestone

The limestone market is worth a billion dollars annually, but invaluable for yield increases

By
Limestone, or calcium carbonate, CaCO3, makes up about 10 per cent of the sedimentary rocks on earth. Sometimes limestone contains appreciable amounts of magnesium. It’s then called dolomitic limestone, CaMg (CO3)2. Under pressure, limestone rock becomes metamorphosed into marble. Limestone rock is quarried in Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, Ontario, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland. Ontario and […] Read more
The component parts of soil are normally called clay, silt and sand.
Columns, Crops

What’s in the ground under your crop?

What is half air by volume, 50 per cent oxygen by weight, and has the capacity to grow a crop?

By
Is it dirt, earth, mud, sand, clay, silt, muck? Yes, it’s all of these, but what really are Prairie soils made of? There are four basic types of Prairie soil: dark brown, black, dark grey and brown. Rainfall on these soils, the prime yield-limiting factor, ranges from around 11 to as much as 20 inches […] Read more

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