“The worst thing you can do is to say, ‘Yeah, I have this thin stand. I’m not going to put any more money into it.’ That’s a real recipe for disaster.” – MURRAY HARTMAN, AARD Sometimes they die, sometimes they don’t. If half the tiny canola seeds that farmers put in the ground in spring
Good Crop, Bad Crop
Slow Down To Give Canola A Head Start
When seeding canola, slow and steady wins the race. Farmers who open up the throttle wider to get more acres seeded quicker this spring should keep in mind that lower speeds pay off in more consistent seeding depth, according to Jim Bessel, a senior agronomy specialist with the Canola Council of Canada. With a 40-foot
How Old Is Our Dirt?
What’s older than dirt? Lots of things, if you’re talking about Manitoba soils. In our province, the story began 10,000 to 12,000 years ago, after massive glaciers bulldozed the uppermost layers away, then melted to create the ancient Lake Agassiz. In terms of world history, that’s not a long time. Egyptian civilization goes back almost
Don’t Overlook That Special “K”
“You have two options: you can buy potash, or you can buy alfalfa seed every three years.” – JOHN HEARD Many farmers think hauling in potash at $900 per tonne onto their fields is something like bringing very expensive coals to Newcastle. There’s some truth to that, because thanks to the feldspar and mica content
Getting The Most Out Of Green Gold
“Being the opportunistic SOBs that we are in the industry, we take that free nitrogen, convert it to something, and then charge the guys for it.” – RAY DOWBENKO Growing crops to feed the world removes nitrogen from the soil. To figure out how much needs to be put back in for next year, a
Don’t Scrimp On Canola Inputs, Study Shows
“The Ag Canada guys called this the ‘stacking benefit.’ But what it means is that you can’t get the maximum benefit out of canola if the canola is starved for all of those other inputs.” – DERWIN HAMMOND Astudy that looked at how individual canola inputs affect yield has found that the effect of the
Grazing Clubs Run Out Of Grass
“I guess the feds have decided they could spend their money better somewhere else.” – MICHAEL THIELE, DUC Manitoba’s 30 grazing clubs could be scrambl ing for an alternate source of funding this spring as the federal government pulls the plug on Greencover Canada. As the sun sets on the five-year program, up to two-thirds
Not Your Grandpa’s Crops
Camelina, calendula, niger, zero-tannin fababeans and hemp are some of the non-traditional crops that have been sprouting up in Manitoba fields in recent years. All of them can be grown successfully in this region, judging from the results from the Western Ag Diversification Organization’s (WADO) test plots last year. Of them all, camelina has been
Soil Test For Success
“Maybe your banker sets soil fertility rates for your farm.” – JOHN HEARD If 80 per cent of Manitoba farmers aren’t soil testing their fields, how do they know how much nutrients to apply at the start of every growing season? That’s anybody’s guess, according to a MAFRI soil fertility specialist. “The last survey done
Organic Beats High Input, No Till
“The organic systems were giving us higher net returns, and also more stable net returns, so a banker would really like that.” – BOB ZENTNER A 12-year study in semi-arid central Saskatchewan, comparing conventional, reduced-tillage and organic farming, found organic was the most profitable and made the most efficient use of non-renewable energy inputs. But
Cyber-Savvy Farmer
