This picture of me in my office last month is a little more current, and the computer is a little more modern than in the photo below.

40 years of writing for Grainews

Les Henry reflects on his 40 year tenure in the pages of Grainews

It is hard to imagine that 40 years have slipped by since I scribbled my first piece for Grainews in 1976. It was “Nitrogen: When, what kind and how much to apply.” Today we would call it the 3 Rs: Right time, right source and right rate. The 4th R, right placement, was yet to […] Read more

This is my good neighbour Iver Johnson with his 9770 and MacDon header cutting peas on the farm of another good neighbour Curtis Block near Dundurn, Sask., on August 16, 2016. The crop yielded 50 bushels per acre of of beautiful white peas. The MacDon header is a real cutting machine and Iver made good time. Curtis and Iver work together and it is a great thrill for this old fossil to watch it all happen. During harvest, Iver traded up to an S 680, so now they have two S 680s at work.

Potashium: fertilizer mergers

In the wake of announced mergers, a look at the history of Prairie fertilizer

The recent proposed merger of Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan and Agrium has generated much discussion about the merits or pitfalls. I have little knowledge of the backroom dealings of huge corporations but am uneasy about companies becoming too large and competition dwindling. The final decision will be up to the Government of Canada Competition Bureau […] Read more


The first combine I ran, back in 1955, was an Oliver 30 Grain Master. The capacity was small and travel speed was low in a good crop. There was no unloading auger.

Combines I have known, Part 1

While we’re thinking harvest, Les Henry remembers some combines he’s loved

With harvest sputtering off to a slow start we all have combines in mind. My barley (malt, I hope — perhaps wishful thinking) is safely in the bin and dry. It was my great pleasure to run Curtis Block’s S 680 for a few hours in that crop. For me, that marked 61 continuous years […] Read more

This photo was taken at harvest time: June 3, 2015.

Lessons in asparagus… and water

When a soil scientist grows vegetables, it soon becomes a lesson in the water table

Western Canadian farmers have two main ways to generate income: growing something that either goes through a grain auger or walks on two or four legs. But there are other things to grow. In 2002 I planted a small asparagus plot: 1,000 crowns of Jersey Knight male sterile hybrid imported from New Jersey. It is […] Read more


Figure 1. A flat spade is used to level off the soil across several drill rows.

How to find the seed in the ground

There is a better way to find your planted seed, and your anhydrous ammonia

When zero till seeding began in the 1980-90s, field days to demonstrate new seeders that could accomplish the task were common. Many colours of paint would make a pass down the field and farmers took off like gophers to dig around and find out where the seed was placed. A trusty garden trowel was the […] Read more

Weather, soil moisture and crops

Weather, soil moisture and crops

Your definition of drought will depend on the amount of subsoil in your fields

My 2016 barley crop was seeded May 8 into excellent moisture at a depth of 1.0 to 1.5 inches — a bit deeper in some soft sloughs. Up to the date of seeding there had been essentially no spring rains. A May 4 burn off with 2,4-D + Glyphosate took care of the volunteer canola […] Read more


A few years ago, Inga and I had lunch by the dam. It’s a beautiful site.

Dam it anyway: the up side of dams

Detractors see the negative side effects, but dams can bring the world many benefits

Not long ago I saw a TV short piece with a city dude going on about the wildlife possibilities made possible by letting rivers run wild and flood as they do every so often. The gist of the argument was that all dams are bad and that all rivers should be left to run and […] Read more

Water level changes in a shallow (35 foot) observation well near Melfort, Sask.  1967 – 2016.

Climate and weather cycles

There have always been climate cycles. The question is "Where are we now?"

One of the biggest topics for discussion in recent years is climate change and how we have to shut down the world as we know it to keep alive in the future. On the CO2 and fossil fuel issue Canada is a rounding error. It is all about China. And China must change. Not so […] Read more


This is a Hach Hardness kit. It’s simple to use.

Water chemistry: the Coles notes

Measure your water in the field before you use it in the house, the field or the barn

This piece is all about encouraging the energetic young folk that are advising farmers to measure it in the field when a water question comes up. There are many additives for spray water on the market but check the water source first. A change of water may be the best and cheapest route. Water chemistry […] Read more

Nitrate in the environment

Nitrate in the environment

Agriculture is a big part of nitrogen movement. Let's measure what we're doing

This column has dealt with “nitrate down the well” a few times in the past. To make a long story short: Nitrate-contaminated farm wells have been known since 1945 when the first case of infant “blue-baby” was related to a contaminated farm well in Iowa. A 1948 survey of 2,000 Saskatchewan farm wells found 18 […] Read more