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Low, high or in the middle, soil pH affects your farm
Crops

Low, high or in the middle, soil pH affects your farm

Acidic or alkaline soils can have a big effect on soil nutrition, but while farmers with acidic soil 
can turn to lime, fixing alkaline soils may be more of a challenge

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Alkaline soils are a common problem in Manitoba, but farmers may not have an easy fix. Amir Farooq, crop specialist with Manitoba Agriculture and one of the speakers at a soil fertility update in Brandon Jan. 30-31, argued that high pH soils would need a prohibitively expensive amount of elemental sulphur to lower levels. The
A combination of snow covered in dirt is colloquially known as “snirt” and it’s a common sight around Manitoba this year, including here, east of Winkler.
Crops, Local news

Erosion lessons learned… and forgotten

The dust-covered snow of this winter suggests there’s a soil erosion 
problem brewing, MSSS speaker says

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Disappearing shelterbelts and blackened fields have some wondering if the soil conservation lessons learned during the ‘Dirty ’30s’ dust bowl are being forgotten. “From the edge of Fargo to the edge of Winnipeg I did not see one flake of white snow on my way up yesterday (Jan. 31),” Daryl Ritchison, interim director of the
Tile drainage’s benefits to their operation have included reversing soil salinity, said Souris-area farmer Aaron Hargreaves, an Ag Days speaker.
Crops, Local news

Getting the most from tile drainage

Ag Days speakers emphasize there’s no one-size-fits-all tile drainage system for Manitoba

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There’s no doubt tile drainage can boost productivity and profitability. Just don’t assume it should look just like the neighbour’s system. Anyone eyeing the better yield prospects and earlier field access it offers must have a thorough understanding of how the subsurface pipe system works in their specific field conditions, Ag Days speakers said. ‘Should
Crops, Opinion

Opinion: Ongoing evolution necessary in farming

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Not only are farmers being trusted to look after the land, crops and animals, we also want to do the best possible job ourselves. The problem is we don’t always have the clearest picture of what the best practices really are, and we of course operate within the confines of present technology and profitability. Take
Dr. David Lobb puts a price tag on cumulative soil degradation in the kickoff event to the Riding Mountain Biosphere Reserve Soil Health Committee.
Crops, Oilseeds

Tillage questions posed for Manitoba

David Lobb with the University of Manitoba is researching the cost of soil degradation

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What does soil degradation cost you? Dr. David Lobb hopes the answer to that question will get producers looking more closely at what’s happening under their feet. The University of Manitoba researcher spoke Nov. 15 in Dauphin at the “Soil Health and Your Bottom Line” workshop, hosted by the Riding Mountain Biosphere Reserve. Lobb estimates
Manitoba sees changing erosion landscape
Crops

Manitoba sees changing erosion landscape

Manitoba may not have a lot of topography but Dr. David Lobb says it’s enough for tillage erosion, especially as soybeans expand

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As soybean acreage has exploded, new questions about soil erosion are arising. This past spring a record 2.3 million acres were planted and that has soil specialists expressing some concern about increased tillage practices and the soil impact of the new crop. “When you go to crops like soybeans, the ability of the soil to
Dr. Alan Moulin takes tour attendees through the field.
Crops

Measuring tillage impact

There may be a middle path that gives the best results

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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
soil
Comment, Opinion

Farmers’ focus must shift from yields to soil health

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

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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
Bob McIntosh, who farms in Perth County, says it can take a lifetime or longer to repair degraded soils.
Crops

Degraded soils cost farmers billions annually

Yet soil care remains a low priority for policy-makers as well as farmers

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Farmers have reduced the amount of soil they lose through annual cropping practices, but they continue to carry a costly legacy of degraded soils, a University of Manitoba soil scientist says. David Lobb used crop production data and computer models to estimate how much lost productivity has occurred over the past four decades due to
Members of the Manitoba Soil Science Society celebrated the sign’s unveiling alongside Newdale residents and visiting dignitaries.
Local news

Newdale sign tells the story of Manitoba’s official soil

A committee in the village worked alongside soil scientists and others to see signs developed and placed in and around the southwestern Manitoba village. They tell the story of the province’s official soil and the farm community it’s named after

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Newdale’s name is officially a “dirt-y” word and those living and farming here are proud of it. This past weekend local farm families and townsfolk unveiled a large sign on its Main Street showing how their community shares its name with the province’s official soil. The celebration comes precisely seven years to the day since

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