Soils and Crops Archives - Page 16 of 17

Irrigation: Past, present and future

During the past few wet years, irrigation projects have lost their urgency. Now is the time to refocus

By Les Henry August 7, 2015

This column has dealt with irrigation many times over the past decades, but this instalment deals mainly with the situation in Saskatchewan. Alberta is the big irrigation province where irrigation has been going for the longest but it has pretty well maxed out the acres that have water available. Manitoba irrigation deals mainly with potatoes […] Read more

Columns, Crops

Technology brings the world to your office

With Google Earth, visit the whole planet from the comfort of your home

By Les Henry June 17, 2015

In my youth we pounded a lot of pavement both summer and winter. Winter was for short courses and other extension events and summer was for research — soil fertility and drilling holes all over for soil salinity work. It is my great pleasure to have driven every mile of every Saskatchewan highway in the […] Read more

Columns, Crops

Bigger farms, bigger farmers, but who owns the land?

There have been big farms since people started farming. But they aren’t  immune to market forces. Ownership rules can have an impact too 

By Les Henry May 29, 2015

The recent demise of big farms like One Earth and Broadacre has been much in the news lately. This column predicted just that when the trend started several years ago. Big corporate farms with decisions made in the corner office of the 51st floor in Toronto or Calgary are destined for failure. The three-piece suit crowd […] Read more

Columns, Crops

Proper nitrogen application for your crop

Researchers and farmers have worried about the 4Rs of fertilizer for decades. The answers are not the same for everyone

By Les Henry May 19, 2015

In recent years there has been a great deal of hype about the 4Rs when planning fertilizer use: right source, right rate, right time and right placement. The first Grainews column I penned was in October 1976: “Nitrogen — when, what kind and how much to apply.” Back then, phosphorus was seed placed and nitrogen […] Read more

Crops

“Spending” phosphorus fertilizer from the soil

We’ve greatly increased the spending from our capital accounts of phosphorus 

By Les Henry April 24, 2015

In my previous column, we established that phosphorus fertilization comes down to simple arithmetic: If we haul more phosphorus off to the elevator than we put on in fertilizer or manure, the phosphorus (P) soil test will go down and with it the crop yield potential. If we add more P than we haul away, over […] Read more

phosphate fertilizer spilling out from a hand

Cereals, Crops

New wrinkles to adding phosphorous

If you own the land, adding phosphorus fertilizer will pay off in the long run 

By Les Henry April 1, 2015

On February 8, 2010, my column looked at the economics of large single applications of phosphorus fertilizer. The economics are good, but the practice is still rare. Most graphs showing fertilizer use in Western Canada start in 1960. Before that, fertilizer use was sporadic and included only a few acres with a modest application of […] Read more

Deep brown colored wheat straw like this can have as much as one
per cent nitrogen and a total of 25 to 50 pounds of nitrogen per acre.

Columns, Crops

The value of wheat straw

It can be tempting to burn wheat straw, but that nitrogen is valuable

By Les Henry March 25, 2015

With five irrigation years in a row and with current adequate nitrogen and other fertilizer nutrients we have grown some big wheat crops with big straw left over. In 2014 some folks had problems with proper canola seed placement through the straw load on the surface. We might even hear the odd whisper about looking […] Read more

Though there have been worse floods along the Red River in Manitoba, 2009 still packed a punch for many farmers.

Columns, Crops

Extreme weather events: Part 3 of a three-part series

In the third part of a three-part series on water, Les Henry takes a look at the long term

By Les Henry March 6, 2015

The past few wet years have left some folks wondering if this is the new normal. What with Global Warming and all, perhaps we will have to live with these wet extremes. What we fail to recognize is that our experiences — even old fossils like me — are but a very brief flash in […] Read more

Columns

Land ownership and cycles in land prices

By Les Henry March 5, 2012

I’d like to start this column by thanking readers who have sent a letter and book order in the past year or so. The letters are the fun part of writing this column and great encouragement to keep scribbling. And, I learn something in the process — I now know where to find Keoma, Alta. […] Read more

Columns

Needed: watershed maps

March 5, 2012

The first extension meeting I remember was for a Watershed Co-op south of Birch Hills, Sask. The Watershed Co-ops were formed so farmers could work together to reduce runoff and the erosion that went with it. It is great to see work once again being organized on a watershed basis. This time around, the focus […] Read more

GFM Network News

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Tag Archives Soils and Crops

Irrigation: Past, present and future

Technology brings the world to your office

Bigger farms, bigger farmers, but who owns the land?

Proper nitrogen application for your crop

“Spending” phosphorus fertilizer from the soil

New wrinkles to adding phosphorous

The value of wheat straw

Extreme weather events: Part 3 of a three-part series

Land ownership and cycles in land prices

Needed: watershed maps

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