Natural environment Archives - Page 2 of 2

A thatch layer builds from the declining clover as the season progresses.  The thatch decomposes and nitrogen becomes available for corn nutrition.

Night of the living mulch

It’s more fairy tale than horror story, according to researchers  studying the technique

By Manitoba Co-operator Staff October 30, 2017

Living mulch may be a way to benefit both soil and the bottom line. The technique uses a perennial crop sown between the rows of an annual crop and University of Georgia researchers are studying how to make this old technique work even better. They’re studying the use of white clover between the rows of

A Finnish company is set to build food production systems inside shipping containers.

Did you know?, News

Finnish firm produces shipping container farm

Exsilio says its turnkey solution will let commercial kitchens and restaurants produce peak ingredients on site

By Manitoba Co-operator Staff July 4, 2017

Call it a garden in a box. Exsilio, a Finnish company, has developed a high-tech solution for cultivating crops like salads and herbs in urban environments. Its EkoFARMER system is a modified shipping container, stuffed with growing equipment. “Our solution is ideal for restaurants and institutional kitchens wanting to produce their own fresh ingredients,” Thomas

Dave Barnes stands at what will one day be the path separating a prairie garden and edible orchard

Country Crossroads

Community group looks to merge food production and conservation

The Assiniboine Food Forest Initiative hopes to break ground on two projects this summer, including an edible tree orchard open to the public

By Alexis Stockford May 3, 2017

For Dave Barnes, chair and founding member of the Assiniboine Food Forest Initiative, it all started with a desire to protect the stands of oak, ash and maple along the banks of the Assiniboine River east of Brandon. “I saw threats to landscape everywhere,” he said. “I saw these ancient oak trees. I know they’re

The rangeland and pasture health assessment tool aims to help land users and producers determine potential plant community composition, forage production, stocking rates and the impacts of management practices on ecological functions.

Forages, Livestock

Creating a better process for assessing pasture

Stakeholders from across the industry are currently working together to develop  a Manitoba-focused rangeland and pasture health assessment

By Jennifer Paige January 16, 2017

Following in the footsteps of our Prairie neighbours, Manitoba is working towards developing a customized rangeland and pasture health assessment. “The project is born out of similar initiatives that started in the United States, Alberta and then Saskatchewan. They have developed these tools for assessing rangeland health, looking at various indicators like bare soil, litter

Research at the University of Alberta looks to identify how land use and grazing impact soil carbon levels.

Livestock

Study shows grassland environmental contributions

The University of Alberta in partnership with Alberta Environment and Parks has undertaken  a number of studies looking at the impacts of land use and grazing on soil carbon levels

By Jennifer Paige December 7, 2016

Grasslands punch above their weight when it comes to carbon sequestration. That’s the conclusion of a researcher who started his career on an Alberta-wide study of how land use affects that province’s carbon pool. Daniel Hewins, now an assistant professor at Rhode Island College in Providence, R.I., says grasslands can and do store an enormous

Opinion, Other livestock

Deep waters: how can we protect our oceans and fisheries?

When it comes to animal protein, Canadians, despite having the  longest coastline in the world, don’t think about fish

By Mike Smit, Sylvain Charlebois October 19, 2016

Typically when Canadians discuss protein-related foods, they look to our key livestock industries: cattle, hogs and chicken. In comparison to those terrestrial food sources, fish stocks are transient and invisible. That can make oceans and their issues easily overlooked. But fish and seafood must be part of any discussions about sustainable food systems. Oceans feed

Thousands of litres of fuel are needed for farmers to grow, maintain and harvest their crops, and a carbon tax could dramatically rise their fuel costs.

News

Carbon tax alarms agriculture groups

Too heavy-handed regulation that’s out of step with other countries could put Canadian farmers at a disadvantage

By Alex Binkley October 13, 2016

Proposals for a carbon tax to help reduce emissions that cause climate change pose a major threat to Canadian farmers, says the Western Canadian Wheat Growers Association. Canadian farmers already have to cope with a tough climate, says Robin Speer, WCWGA executive director. “They’re already producing more food while using less land, water and fuel

Crops, Local news

Farmers Edge investing millions in sustainable crop production

Sustainable Development Technology Canada is one of the investors

By Allan Dawson October 11, 2016

Farmers Edge, the made-in-Manitoba global precision agriculture company, is investing millions of dollars in a bid to make crop production more sustainable. Sustainable Development Technology Canada (SDTC) announced a $6.1-million investment with Famers Edge Sept. 21. Farmers Edge and a consortium of partners will contribute another $12.2 million. The money will be used to develop

Ice melts on the Aletsch Glacier in Fiesch, Switzerland, August 12, 2015. One of Europe’s biggest glaciers, the Great Aletsch coils 23 km (14 miles) through the Swiss Alps — and yet this mighty river of ice could almost vanish in the lifetimes of people born today because of climate change.

News, Weather

Climate change could cross key threshold in a decade — scientists

Exceeding global warming targets could mean drastic action is necessary

By Laurie Goering, Reuters October 5, 2016

The planet could pass a key target on world temperature rise in about a decade, prompting accelerating loss of glaciers, steep declines in water availability, worsening land conflicts and deepening poverty, scientists said last week. Last December, 195 nations agreed to try to hold world temperature rise to “well below” 2 C, with an aim of

Martin Entz stands in the porch of a tiny clubhouse built so researchers and students could take shelter from the weather at the Glenlea Long-Term Study.

Crops, Local news

Twenty-five years of organics

Canada’s longest-running study of organic crop systems continues to yield new results

By Shannon VanRaes September 22, 2016

Martin Entz points down a road that is more mud than gravel as he drives towards a pint-size field house and a cluster of research plots. “This has become a real destination, it didn’t start out that way, but it certainly is now,” he said, turning towards the Glenlea Long-Term Rotation Study — the oldest

Daily Network News

USDA defends $12 billion subsidy amid farm economy challenges

Canada December retail sales down 0.4 per cent; seen up 1.5 per cent in January

Feed Grains Weekly: Domestic prices remain flat

Tag Archives Natural environment