Väderstad widens its planter line

Väderstad widens its planter line

Tempo L series now includes 
an 18-row version

Väderstad has been increased the working widths of its Tempo L planter line to accommodate North American market demand. Now, it has added to the 12- and 16-row units currently available with the new Tempo L 18, 18-row model, which begins production in June. It can be configured to row spacing as narrow as 20 […] Read more

Photo: Thinkstock

Four ways to increase your organic matter

A question that I hear a lot is, “How do cover crops fit into a grain operation?” Lots of grain farmers have no desire to get into the livestock business and no interest in producing hay. But many have some soil issues that need to be addressed. This can be done by buying more iron […] Read more


field of soil

Soil temperature and crop emergence

Q & A with CPS

Q: What’s the impact of soil temperature on crop emergence? A: Seeding into warm soils ensures the best start for the crop. Proper crop emergence is the fundamental start to reaching the crop’s yield potential. Seeding into cold soils may result in slower emergence. This places crops at risk of infection by soil pathogens. Pathogens […] Read more

Photo: Thinkstock

Six factors to consider if your soil moisture level is low

To date, all indications are pointing to a dry spring, given the below-average precipitation received in many areas of the Prairies this winter. There are exceptions to every rule of course, but a lot of farmers had relatively dry soils going into winter, so we asked some agronomists and provincial crop experts what factors could […] Read more


Water Use Efficiency (WUE) and your crop

Water Use Efficiency (WUE) and your crop

Q & A with CPS

Q: While we have little control over available moisture for crop production, how can it impact the final result? What is meant by the term “Water Use Efficiency (WUE)?” A: When we consider inputs that are essential for crop growth we tend to think of fertility. However, there is one ingredient that every single cropping […] Read more

There’s a perception in the farming community that soil erosion and degradation are in the past, but that simply isn't the case.

Don’t forget lessons of the Dirty 30s

Although there’s a perception that dust is past, tillage erosion is on the rise in Manitoba

It seemed like the beginning of the end of the world: friends and neighbours dying of “dust pneumonia” and massive dust storms sweeping the land. These are some of the recollections of people who were alive in the “Dirty 30s,” recorded for an oral history project by Daryl Ritchison, interim director of the North Dakota […] Read more


Testing the calcium response

Testing the calcium response

Cavalier Agrow is running field trials to test the agronomics of calcium

An independent ag retailer in northwest Saskatchewan is examining the agronomics of applying calcium. So far they’ve found the best yield response and economic return in the most calcium-deficient soils. “As those calcium levels went up — no surprise — our returns came down,” said Greg Frey, location manager for Cavalier Agrow near Meota, Sask. […] Read more

Medicago sativa in bloom (Alfalfa)

Successful forage establishment

Q & A with CPS

Q: What are the top factors for successful forage establishment? A: To grow a productive forage crop, consider important factors like soil, weeds, previous crop and herbicide residues. Identify and consider the impact of soil factors like flooding, drainage, low pH (acidity), texture and salinity that may impede establishment, productivity or species/variety selection. Control winter annual, biennial […] Read more


D3: The digital dumbing down

Not all information is better in the digital age. Especially data about the weather

We are now in “the information age.” Information, mostly good but sometimes sketchy, is literally at our fingertips. As I wrote this piece if a spelling error occurred, my software program underlined it in red. Then I quickly opened a web browser and put my spelling of the word into Google and up popped the […] Read more

This soil is repairing and building, and looks like cottage cheese.

Balancing the soil biology

Helping Mother Nature with the fungi:bacteria ratio can keep our soils more productive

Soil health. Sounds like a good target we should be aiming at. Where do we start? What do we measure? How do we know when we get there? The first thing we need to find out is where are we? Nicole Masers is an agro-ecologist with Integrity Soils. For her three-day course in regenerative soil […] Read more