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These old wooden elevators at Laura, Sask., had developed some peculiar angles by the late 1980s when I took this photo. The Tessier aquifer is underneath and flows from a relatively shallow depth. In 1946 the Saskatchewan Wheat Pool elevator in Laura drilled a 28-foot test hole that flowed, but no well is recorded.
Columns, Crops

How water comes out of the ground

Water comes to the surface in many different ways

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In my last column I looked at water entering the ground and the factors that control that flow. This time, I’ll look at water coming out of the ground and the clues it leaves about its origin. Contact springs A contact spring occurs when the contact zone between a very sandy soil and a finer […] Read more
Side-by-side comparison of the Stanfield’s undies. Left – brand new undies; right – official SCCC undies that were dug up at the Canada Agriculture and Food Museum in Ottawa. Photo: CNW Group/Soil Conservation Council of Canada (SCC)
General

It’s time for Canadians to dig up their undies

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It’s time for Canadians to grab their shovels, head into their gardens, flowerbeds or fields and reveal their underwear. Part 2 of the Soil Conservation Council of Canada’s (SCCC) experiment to help gauge the health of soils has come to an end, and if you buried a pair of cotton briefs, now is the time to retrieve them. “The Council was […] Read more
Figure 1. A slough on nearly level clay soil on the University of Saskatchewan farm. This photo was taken on April 28, 2017.
Columns, Crops

Natural controls on internal drainage of sloughs

Whether or not your slough will drain quickly is a more complicated question than it appears

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Many farms in Western Canada are plenty wet, and the 1.25 inches of rain we got on May 7 set seeding back a few days. When a rain like that comes we hope for a hot, dry wind to “dry it up.” But, evaporation is a small party of the overall equation. Sloughs do not […] Read more
This grass cage with rain gauge is on a multi-species pasture with 
three species of legumes and three grass species.
Cattleman’s Corner, Forages, Livestock

Multi-benefits of multi-species pastures

Collecting plenty of solar rays above ground benefits soil health below ground

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I am a big fan of diversity in both perennial and annual grazing situations. In some ways multiple species are more difficult to manage than less-diverse plant communities. In a multi-species scenario every action and in particular its timing will favour one species over another and shift the balance of power in the pasture. The […] Read more
A striped flea beetle on a canola leaf.
Canola, Crops, Wheat & Chaff

Don’t rush canola into cooler soils

Agronomy tips... from the field

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Your flea beetle management strategy this season is going to depend on what type of weather conditions and soil temperatures experienced in the days leading up to seeding. Striped flea beetles are going to be a significant threat to your emerging canola, and were responsible for about 90 per cent of the feeding damage we […] Read more
Figure 1. Roots of native sod of True Prairie in SE Nebraska. Each square in this figure is one square foot, for a total root depth of eight feet. The common names of a few of the plants are: Bc = side oats grama; K = Junegrass; B = blue grama; So = prairie goldenrod; S = needle grass. From: Plate A, after page 38 of Weaver, J.E. 1920. Root development in the grassland formation.
Columns, Crops

Back to the root of the matter

In Part 2 of a 3-part series, Les Henry talks about perennial crop roots

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This is Part 2 of a three-part series. In Part 1 we talked about the folks that provided very detailed diagrams of many plant roots to the depth needed to get the complete picture. In this part, we’ll talk about perennial plant roots, and in Part 3 will be about annual crop plants. Read more: […] Read more
Lentils
Crops, Features

Should you be planting green manure?

Researchers see planting and terminating ‘green manure’ as an alternative to summerfallow

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Researchers at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada as well as the Saskatchewan Ministry of Agriculture have published two recent studies about the effects of green manure on farmland in the Prairies. In one study specifically, the researchers looked at using green manure as an alternative to summerfallowing. Green manure “is a crop that is specifically planted in order to be terminated, […] Read more
On the left is a root of a sugar beet grown in fine sandy loam soil, showing root stratification in the second and fourth foot of soil where layers of clay were encountered. From Weaver, 1926, Root Development of Field Crops. The wheat and wild mustard graphic on the right shows root competition between Marquis wheat (on the left, with roots marked 1, 2, 3 and 4), and wild mustard, 22 days after emergence. (This graphic is from Pavlychenko and Harrington, 1937: Ecology Vol. 18 No.1 Pages 62-79.)
Columns, Crops

Getting to the root of the matter

For a look at the big picture, the ‘old’ research on roots is still relevant today

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Plant roots are receiving more attention of late and well they should. Roots are the foragers that deliver water and nutrients to the plant, but too often our attitude is “out of sight, out of mind.” With the current interest in many plant species, cover crops and soil health, much of it comes down to […] Read more
Rape field, canola crops
Crops, Features

How’s your moly doing out there?

Molybdenum was once known as ‘poor man’s lime’ for a good reason

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Under the category “if it ain’t one thing it’s another” when it comes to crop nutrient requirements, the question is now being asked, “have you thought about the molybdenum levels in your canola and pulse crops?” Cereals need it too, but canola, peas, beans, lentils, faba beans, soybeans and others all have higher molybdenum requirements. Molybdenum, also often […] Read more
If producers really want to try and get moisture levels down in their soil and decide to till, they need to think carefully about their phosphorus needs, says Dr. Mario Tenuta.
Crops, Features

Tillage is tempting, but treacherous

While tillage can get you in the field faster, it can also disrupt networks in your soil

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Many farmers across Western Canada have been struggling with wetter than normal conditions over the past few years. This spring many will again be facing soils that are close to the saturation point and puzzling over how to deal with them. Some farmers may turn to tillage to help dry them out, or at the very least to smooth […] Read more

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