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Soil nutrients are in deficit after 2016
Crops, Features

Soil nutrients are in deficit after 2016

Consider the toll 2016’s big crop took on NPKS when planning for 2017 fertility

By
Make sure you have a late fall or early spring soil test as a guide to plant your 2017 crop fertility program. After the 2016 growing season, this is even more important than usual, says Rigas Karamanos, a long-time soil specialists who is now a senior agronomist for Koch Fertilizer Canada. Karamanos says his message isn’t […] Read more
Getting the most from soil test reports
Columns, Crops

Getting the most from soil test reports

Ratings vary depending on crop type, yield goal and soil zone

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When you understand your soil reports, you’re in a better position to develop fertilizer plans with your agronomist. All soil testing labs report the same basic information, but each lab has its own unique format. No matter what your report looks like, first, check the information at the top: your name, address, field name, etc. […] Read more
This is a feed barley crop at Spiritwood, Sask., in 1996, on Gray Wooded loam soil. This crop yielded 80 bu./ac. with no fertilizer in the year of seeding.
Columns, Crops

A convert to long-term experiments

Soil fertility is a long-term prospect that calls for long-term approaches to research

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In my younger days I was not a fan of long-term experiments. Almost all were on Federal Research stations with good soils and plot practices that did not always relate to farm fields. But recent information coming from long-term experiments has changed my mind. Worldwide, the longest experiment is the famous Broadbalk field at Rothamsted […] Read more
Crop diversity, rotational diversity and, if possible, getting animals on the land, are the ways to start building soil health.
Crops, Features

Cover crops for better soil health

Cover crops can help build the “livestock” that lives in the soil and improves productivity

By
It appears that the idea of farmers improving the soil is starting to take hold. The Western Canadian Soil Health Conference was held in Edmonton, Alberta, the first part of December 2015. Nora Paulovich and Tom Fromme, co-chairs on the organizing committee, did a wonderful job pulling speakers together and organizing it. It started at […] Read more
Extending information to farmers
Columns

Extending information to farmers

For 40 years, Grainews and Les Henry have shared ag research with farmers

By
Looking back on Les Henry’s 40 years of Grainews columns causes me to reflect on how most things have improved in Prairie agriculture, though a few haven’t. I got my start as first field editor of Grainews in 1976, around the same time as Les started writing his columns. One of my first stories was on the proper […] Read more
Dean Glenney found an abundance of earthworm holes in the non-trafficked areas of his field.
Crops, Features

CTF benefits soil over time

Fencerow farming system increases corn yield and changes farmers’ soil biology

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Fifteen years ago, when the bin-full alarm went off on Dean Glenney’s combine as he harvested his corn crop near Dunnville, Ontario, he had no idea what was going on, and he certainly didn’t expect the record yield of 236 bushels per acre he pulled off the field that season. Since then his yields have […] Read more
The project may look simple from above ground, but underground many sensors and scales take complex soil measures.
Crops

Soil health sensor project largest in North America

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A new $2-million soil health research project aims to figure out the impact of different cropping systems on the environment. Research will also be conducted on crop productivity relating to soil health. The result should be new knowledge on productivity of traditional cropping systems versus those with cover crops. The project, at the new Soil […] Read more
Danish firm Kongskilde offers its 9200 Series vertical tillage implement to North American farmers in working widths from 11 to 43 feet.
Machinery

Less common tillage implements

A look at implements from brands that aren’t exactly household names in Canada

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If you get a thrill out of attending as many farm shows as you can reasonably get to in a season, you’ve likely noticed a few uncommon equipment brands displaying their wares. At the U.S. Farm Progress Show in Boone, Iowa, in August, Mark Moore made a point of stopping by exhibits from a couple […] Read more
Can tillage fit into a no-till system?
Crops, Features

Can tillage fit into a no-till system?

Some zero-tillers are now looking to tillage to manage disease and weed issues

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A large majority of farmers in Western Canada have adopted zero-till systems — with the exception of those in the Red River Valley who are dealing with heavy, wet clay soils where tillage is just a fact of life. Most farmers understand the many benefits of zero till, such as prevention of soil erosion, better […] 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

By
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

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