Dr. Alan Moulin takes tour attendees through the field.

Mixing and matching inputs and rotations

Brandon researchers spent 18 years combining three different input levels and crop rotations to study the impact on nutrients, soil quality, yield and implications for climate change

Farming for short-term yield will be different than long-term soil benefit. That’s not a new idea, but it has been driven home by 18 years of research spearheaded by researcher scientists Alan Moulin and Taras Lychuk of Brandon’s Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada research station. From 1994-2003, the pair’s team cross-compared organic, reduced- input no till,

Dr. Alan Moulin takes tour attendees through the field.

Measuring tillage impact

There may be a middle path that gives the best results

Conventional wisdom says less tillage is better when it comes to soil structure, but the issue is more complex when comparing organic soil health to zero till, according to Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada researcher Dr. Alan Moulin. Moulin’s team looked at “soil aggregates,” or how soil particles bind together into larger groups, under high-input conventional


The University of Manitoba’s Martin Entz, an agriculture professor and cropping systems specialist, suspects reduced tillage and organic production may not be mutually exclusive.

Can organic no till work in the field?

Environmental benefit is part of organic market value, but organic weed management usually means tillage, commonly considered a black mark for soil health. Is there a middle ground?

Hairy vetch may be the key to reducing tillage in organic farming, at least in the short term. Martin Entz, a professor and agriculture systems expert from the University of Manitoba has been looking at mulches for organic weed suppression, rather than the tillage typically used. “We found that when we used the right mulch,

"The main factor in residual nitrogen is always crop uptake, so when we have high yields of cereals and canola, as many have, the soil’s N is generally depleted." – John Heard.

Getting a jump on fall fertilizer

Recent rain may alter farmers’ plans, just like a dry year to date has

Recent rains in Manitoba will be welcomed by agronomists taking soil samples and farmers looking to do fall tillage work and fertilizing, according to one provincial soil specialist. John Heard, of Manitoba Agriculture, says fall soil tests remain the gold standard, in determining fertilizer needs for the crop. Agronomists often like to get a jump

soil

Farmers’ focus must shift from yields to soil health

But looking after the land doesn’t have to result in a ‘yield penalty’

A funny thing happens whenever talk turns to how to make farming more sustainable. As various options for improving how agriculture treats the natural environment are discussed, someone inevitably brings up the “yield penalty” farmers and society would pay. That penalty is seen as the gap between conventional methods using tillage and high rates of


VIDEO: Getting down to your roots

VIDEO: Getting down to your roots

Crop Diagnostic School offered a cutaway view of how crop roots move through soil

Along with her colleagues, Marla Riekman, land management specialist with Manitoba Agriculture, took up a shovel last month at Crop Diagnostic School to help show what’s going on underground with roots. Allan Dawson met up with Riekman to learn about the types of root systems in crops, how they extract nutrients from the soil, the effects of

Tour attendees kneel to get a better look at the mix during the Aug. 4 tour focusing on green manure at Carnegie Farms north of Brandon.

The making of a green manure mix

Grain-only operation one of several tours organized by the Manitoba Organic Alliance

For organic grain farmers without livestock such as Carnegie Farms north of Brandon, green manure has become a mainstay for nutrient management. Visitors to the fully organic operation’s field day Aug. 4 took in two green manure mixes, ranging from peas, beans, oats and buckwheat to a field with all of the above, plus kale,

Dr. Yvonne Lawley of the University of Manitoba presents initial data in front of her newest line of plots evaluating the impact of tillage on soybeans.

To till or not to till? For soybeans that’s the question

The Westman Agricultural Diversification Organization is testing out planting dates and 
pre-seed tillage systems in its latest round of soybean experiments

Conventional wisdom says to break out the harrow before planting soybeans, the better to expose black earth and warm the soil, but new research is putting that assumption to the test. Dr. Yvonne Lawley of the Unive­rsity of Manitoba is measuring the effect of seeding date and different tillage systems on soybeans through several regions


University of Manitoba soil scientist Mario Tenuta says a 4R nutrient management tour June 28 has a lot to offer to farmers, crop consultants and students. It starts at 9 a.m. and concludes with lunch.

New technology and techniques on 4R nutrient management tour June 28

In-field nutrient measurements are just one facet that will be explored

News ways to measure nitrogen in soils and use nitrogen fertilizer more efficiently will be highlighted during a 4R nutrient management tour June 28 in the Miami and Carman areas. “We will be looking at some very cool things,” University of Manitoba soil scientist and Canada Research Chair in Applied Soil Ecology Mario Tenuta said

Manitoba Agriculture land management specialist Marla Riekman (l), and farmer Doug Wilton and his son Andrew discuss the ‘soilyourundies’ demonstration in one of Doug’s zero-till fields near Roland, Man. April 18.

What’s in your field?

Planting a pair of tighty whities can help you find out

Doug Wilton is curious about how much soil “wildlife” is in his fields. That’s why the Roland-area farmer is participating in the “soilyourundies” demonstration launched during Soil Conservation Week in April. “The Soil Conservation Council (of Canada) decided this would be something kind of fun and exciting and different to do in order to bring