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Tag Archives soil health

Running equipment on the same tracks all the time is the essence of controlled traffic farming — and while the practice only has a few adherents in Alberta, they are passionate about its benefits.
News

Controlled traffic farming is proving its worth, say advocates

The system ‘shines’ during droughts and lets farmers seed and harvest sooner when it’s wet, they say

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Controlled traffic farming has yet to catch on in a big way in Western Canada, but the extreme conditions over the past two years have shown its worth to two long-term practitioners on opposite ends of the Prairies. “I grew canola and barley last year and we had 28-bushel canola on four and a half
Jim Warren, a soil scientist with the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, delineates the earth’s upper soil layers in a pit during the Harnessing the Power of Soil Health at the Grand River Raceway event where Senator Rob Black announced the national soil health study launching in the fall.
News, Other

National soil health study set to launch

It’s been decades since the last study was completed in 1984

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Glacier FarmMedia – The Canadian Senate plans to launch a new national soil health study this autumn. “The last study was done in 1984, chaired by Senator Herbert Sparrow,” said Senator Rob Black. “When I got into the chamber four and a half years ago, I set my sights on another Senate study.” Black announced
A field tour at the Gemstone Cattle Company gave attendees, many of them long-time practitioners of progressive grazing methods, a chance to get hands-on in examining soil health of this irrigated and rotationally grazed pasture.
Crops

COVER CROPS: Give ’em a shot and have some fun, says soil health expert

The short season here is a challenge, but there are ways to profit from this much-discussed practice

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Glacier FarmMedia – Cover crops aren’t a magic bullet but they’re worth a try. That was the message an American expert delivered to a group of Canadian producers who considered whether the much-hyped soil health practice can work during the short growing season. “Cover crops don’t solve everything,” said soil scientist Abbey Wick. “It’s not
Close-up file photo of an alfalfa plant in a Canadian field. (Jennifer Seeman/iStock/Getty Images)
Crops, Forages

P.E.I. seed potato producers backed for ‘soil-building’

Province puts up $3 million for BMP program

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In an attempt to support its potato farmers following trade suspensions with the U.S. over potato wart, the government of Prince Edward Island plans to put up $3 million in new funding for a program that will help farmers shift to “soil-building crops.” “In our meetings with industry and the P.E.I. Potato Board, the need
Editorial, Op/Ed

Editorial: Gritty winds of change

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One of the downsides of spring, aside from its slowness to arrive, is the wind. Invariably before crops get established, we get a series of major wind events that cause soil to move, shearing off the newly emerging plants, and filling ditches with dirt, the air with fine particles and our teeth with grit. These
Dry cycles almost always mean more salinity issues for farmers.
Crops, Oilseeds

Soybeans early signal of soil issues

Most affected spots frequently in high-traffic areas in fields

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It was just over 10 years ago that Marla Riekman started getting the phone calls on a new soil issue. The provincial soil specialist with Manitoba Agriculture and Resource Development suddenly started to hear from growers in the Red River Valley who were alarmed at the appearance of salinity in places they’d never seen it
Think of soil aggregates like the frame of a house, giving that building its shape and strength.
Crops, News

How to improve your soil architecture

Cover crops can help form better soil aggregates and soil structure

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A lot of architecture is about bearing weight and many of the buildings on your property do this with two basic shapes. The triangle, that you see in your rafters, or the arch, as in the double 2×4 header over your garage door, are important weight distributors. They allow you to have large amounts of
One way to increase soil organic carbon is to grow higher biomass crops in rotation or to grow cover crops.
News

More research on variable landscapes required: Lobb

While land varies widely across most farms, most research is done on uniform, relatively un-degraded plots

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The variation of farmland and the practices needed to restore it mean more research needs to be done on the landscape, not just in uniform plots, says one soil scientist. “Almost all of the scientific information on which we base our understanding has been generated on near-level, non-eroded landscapes,” said David Lobb. Lobb is a
Soil compaction can wring out your soil’s sponge ability.
Crops, News

Saving your soil sponge

It’s in the voids that your fields find their life

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“When it comes to soil, “… it’s all about the matrix.” Not the futuristic film, but the morphology. The soil structure. The ‘architecture.’ That’s according to soil scientist Francisco Arriaga from the University of Wisconsin, when talking about soil compaction at the recent 2022 Northern Soil Compaction Conference, hosted by the Minnesota Soil Health Coalition

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AgCanadaTV: In case you missed it; your national ag news recap for Jan. 16, 2026

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