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Tag Archives soil erosion

Stony soil surface of an eroded knoll.
GrowPro

Ground Level: Mapping and managing eroded knolls

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How do we identify an eroded knoll? Eroded knolls lose soil organic matter due to years of tillage, wind and water erosion, which results in surface soil lacking good granular structure and thin to non-existent topsoil. When erosion occurs, it has different physical, chemical and biological characteristics. Some physical characteristics of an eroded soil can […] Read more
Topsoil being removed from a depression area in a soil landscape restoration site in southern Manitoba.
Crops, Features

Restore productivity on your eroded knolls

Landscape restoration, cover cropping, residue redistribution and adjusting crop inputs are some management practices that can help

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The eroded knolls or hilltops common in Prairie farmland are typically the least productive, often yielding considerably less than other parts of a field. Curtis Cavers, an agronomist with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada based at Portage la Prairie, Man., says there are ways to boost crop productivity in these problem areas. Cavers provided an assessment […] Read more
The Solitair DT combines extensive tillage and seeding in one pass, as well as fertilizer application.
Equipment, Machinery

Lemken Solitair DT blends tillage and seeding

Combination unit wins Environmental Sustainability Award

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Lemken’s Solitair DT combination tillage and seeding implement is new to the North American market, and the brand has been showing it at different farm shows around Canada this summer to introduce farmers to it. That included a stop at Canada’s Outdoor Farm Show at Woodstock, Ont., where it won an Environmental Sustainability Award. It […] Read more
Farming Smarter’s strip tillage unit at work.
Crops, Features

Opposing exposure to erosion

Early indications in Alberta research are that soil stays put, with no adverse effect on crop performance

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Strip tillage and cover crops are two techniques being tested in southern Alberta applied research trials, seeking practices that will help reduce the risk of soil erosion. Farmers on the Prairies — and across North America — have made huge strides over the past 40 years in reducing soil losses by applying conservation farming practices […] Read more
seeding near lethbridge 2011
Crops, Features, Weather

Prairie soils’ organic carbon climbing

Data from StatCan and AAFC highlight positive changes made in agriculture since the 1980s

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Glacier FarmMedia — For much of the last five years, the federal government has been setting targets for Canadian farmers to reduce nitrous oxide emissions from fertilizer and methane emissions from cattle. The government has provided funding to help producers cut methane and nitrous oxide emissions from primary agriculture, while constantly beating the drumbeat of […] Read more
A study shows that in terms of response to moisture-related stress, the crop type is more important than the specific variety.
Crops, Features, Weather

Curb risk from moisture stress for less

A Manitoba agronomist offers up some tips for farmers on a budget

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With swings between wet and dry extremes in recent years, Prairie farmers have seen more water stress problems in their fields. Not only do they make crops less productive, but they can also crank up the stress levels for farmers. “Historically, our two main risks in crop production long term have been excess moisture and […] Read more
John Hardman says buffer strips allow him to turn heavy equipment around without compacting the soil where crops are growing.
Features

Are buffer strips right for your farm?

A Manitoba farmer discusses how his farm benefits from the practice

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John Hardman learned much of what he knows about farming from his father. Now Hardman owns Crooked Creek Farms near Dauphin, Man., which he has run for the past 40 years. He succeeded his father, Edwin, who farmed the same land for nearly half a century. One of the most enduring lessons Hardman learned from […] Read more
This photo was taken in 1946 near Saskatoon, Sask. The telephone poles were barely visible.
Columns, Crops

Les Henry: Gone with the wind. Soil erosion by wind mostly history in the Prairies

Soils and Crops: We need to let society know

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Our grandfathers broke the rich prairie sod in the early 1900s. Even then, power and machinery were available to keep the soil free of weeds in the fallow year and pulverize the soil in the process. Serious wind erosion started soon after cultivation, but the “dirty thirties” are best known for land destruction that sent […] Read more
Lynne Schoenau beside a front-end loader depositing a bucket full of topsoil taken from a slough onto a Rebuilding Productivity in Eroded Knolls research plot in May 2020.
Crops, Features

Move soil to where it’s needed most

Landscape restoration can restore productivity on eroded knolls and hilltops

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You could say it’s an old idea that’s new again. The idea is taking topsoil from where it has accumulated in low areas and putting it on badly eroded knolls or hilltops to increase the productivity of a field. University of Manitoba soil scientist David Lobb maintains that’s something farmers in hilly regions of China […] Read more

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