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Tag Archives Soil salinity

This is the slough where the salt water changes shown in the table were measured. This photo was taken on July 29, 2013. The water level is now much lower.
Columns, Crops

Water monitoring: dull but necessary

Keeping track of all of the numbers is still necessary for decision making

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Long-term monitoring of agricultural and environmental conditions and practices has been an important function of government agencies. It has been my experience in recent years that a lot of important monitoring functions have been reduced in scope or discontinued. In this column, I’ll describe a few examples of good monitoring and show the importance of […] Read more
Warren Eilers, in a slough bottom with an EM38. This spot is flushed of almost all salts.
Columns, Crops

Horse pasture soil salinity: beware of new ground

Land has been left in grass for a reason. And sometimes this reason is salinity

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In the mid to late 1970s soil salinity was the biggest issue on many Prairie farms. The hue and cry was that we would soon have little land left to farm. Some said salinity was increasing by 10 per cent per year but I never bought into that number. From 1975 to 1980 we held […] Read more
Cover crops provide residue on the surface over the winter, catching snow. In the spring, when that snow melts, salts are flushed down.
Crops, Features

Managing soil salinity through cover crops

For the growing problem of dry land salinity, try planting a cover crop

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Dry land salinity is a major problem on the Prairies. In Alberta, about 1.6 million acres of dry land are impacted by secondary salinity. On average, Alberta crop yields are reduced by 25 per cent annually because of the problem. Salinity also impacts 3.3 million acres in Saskatchewan and 0.6 million acres in Manitoba as […] Read more
This slide cabinet holds 5,000 slides and allows me to view 120 at a time. Any slide can be located in a flash if a good filing system is in place.
Columns, Crops

Exhibit 1: Weather cycles — Willowbunch Lake

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Over the course of 30+ years at the University of Saskatchewan I collected about 5,000 35 mm colour slides. Many were taken by me while pounding pavement but I also “inherited” slides from folks who retired or moved. I also have a slide cabinet at home with hundreds of slides from junkets to Tanzania, Swaziland […] Read more
Tom King (left) from the soils science department at the University of Saskatchewan talked about plant nutrient and 4R field trials at Saskatchewan Agriculture’s Crop Diagnostic School in Indian Head in July.
Crops, Features

Growing crops in saline soil

Sometimes dividing up the field is the best solution to salinity

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The Saskatchewan Ministry of Agriculture’s Crop Diagnostic School is a great opportunity for farmers and agronomists to get outside for a hands-on, up-close look at plots, plants, insects and weeds. This summer, the School was held in Indian Head over two days in July. One of the many speakers, Gary Krueger, Saskatchewan Agriculture irrigation agrologist […] Read more
Native grass prairies and sunset
Crops, Features, Forages

Forages and grasses for marginal land

Permanent cover crops can increase fertility in "problem soils" over time

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Jeff Schoenau has a word for agricultural areas currently in annual production that fail to deliver a return on expensive inputs: “heartache land.” It’s better known as “marginal” land, and it can be defined as land with soil that has limitations including poor water-holding capacity and water availability to roots due to sandy texture or […] Read more
soil
Columns

Diagnosing your own sodic soils

Do you have sodic soils on your farm? Here's how to find out for sure

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Sodic soils have a high level of exchangeable sodium (Na+) which can have a negative effect on soil quality, crop growth and yield. These soils often develop on naturally occurring high-sodium glacial till parent materials. Soil enrichment of sodium by groundwater movement can also cause sodic soil development. Sodic soils often have very poor soil […] Read more
Tile drainage in progress south of Melfort, October 2014. The water table was high and tiles were running as soon as installed. The drain outlet is Melfort Creek. This project is on the Alan Hurd farm. Mark Gordon of Agri-Trend provided the soil EC mapping of the site and Stu Brandt of NARF (Northeast Agricultural Research Foundation) installed the observation wells and is monitoring the site.
Columns, Crops

Soil salinity: causes, cures, coping

After recent wet years, we’re seeing salinity again. Learn to cure it or cope with it

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A few years back we predicted that the super wet years would lead to a marked increase in soil salinity. It is now happening. In this piece I am not going to talk about Solonetzic soils or true Alkali (high pH , low salts) soils. I’m talking only about saline soils — soils that have […] Read more

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