Soil science Archives - Page 3 of 16

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?

By Alexis Stockford October 17, 2017

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.

Crops, Local news

Getting a jump on fall fertilizer

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

By Don Norman October 3, 2017

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

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’

By Laura Rance-Unger September 25, 2017

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

By Laura Rance-Unger September 19, 2017

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

Crops, Local news

VIDEO: Getting down to your roots

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

By Allan Dawson August 23, 2017

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

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.

Crops, Oilseeds

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

By Alexis Stockford August 15, 2017

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

Columns, Editorial, Opinion

Editorial: New opportunities

By Gord Gilmour July 20, 2017

Agriculture is often viewed, especially by outsiders, as a staid and conservative place where things are done by tradition. To be fair, it’s often true. After all, you’re practising a craft that’s 12,000 years old and the foundation of human civilization. Without farming we’d all be hunting and gathering our next meal with no time

Adding more nitrogen in crop, instead of in the fall or spring before planting, is one way to use nitrogen more efficiently. The 4R tour visited Tyler Russell’s cornfield near Carman where about 60 pounds of nitrogen was applied at the V4 stage. Depending on the crop, more will be applied just before tasselling.

Crops

Better nitrogen efficiency, now and in the future

By Allan Dawson July 12, 2017

The June 28 4R nitrogen stewardship tour looked at current research and tools that could be coming in the future

Increasing yields while applying the same or less nitrogen is good for farmers and the environment. It also sums up the goal of the 4R stewardship program. The four Rs refer to applying nitrogen to crops using the right source and rate at the right time and right place. “That’s our big challenge,” University of

Crops, Oilseeds

IDC suspected cause of a lot of yellow soybeans this year

Iron deficiency chlorosis can be mitigated by assessing a field’s risk and then selecting the appropriate variety, says Manitoba Agriculture’s Terry Buss

By Allan Dawson July 5, 2017

Dennis Lange has had lots of calls recently from all parts of agro-Manitoba about yellow soybeans, which in many cases was likely iron deficiency chlorosis. “With the cool weather last week, and some areas have had a bit more moisture, many fields have been yellowing and we’re seeing those IDC symptoms,” Lange, Manitoba Agriculture’s pulse

Edward “Ted” Poyser, 90, now retired soils specialist with Manitoba Agriculture, can recall the work underway in the 1940s and onward, that went into the development of the Manitoba Soil Survey.

Local news

How Manitoba’s provincial soil was named

Ted Poyser, now retired soils specialist with the province vividly recalls the work that went into the Manitoba Soil Survey

By Lorraine Stevenson June 29, 2017

Edward “Ted” Poyser doesn’t remember too much about the Manitoba village the provincial soil is named after. “Just that it wasn’t a very big place,” says long-retired provincial soil specialist now 90, who grew up on a farm at Austin, Man. Many decades have passed since he and his colleagues spent time there, digging and

Daily Network News

U.S. livestock: Cattle, hog futures rise on first WASDE since September

U.S. export sales include only small soybean business to China

U.S. corn and soybean yields revised down by USDA

Tag Archives Soil science