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An example of a cover crop mixture in the U.S. where some producers are using cocktails of 20 or more species. However, the U of M’s Yvonne Lawley warns about brassicas such as tillage radish, which might contribute to diseases such as clubroot in canola. 
Crops

Season too short for cover crops? Maybe not

They could have a fit for Western Canada, but they require 
just as much planning as any other crop choice


By
Open just about any U.S. farming publication and you won’t read for long before seeing the words “cover crop.” There’s been an explosion of interest in the practice of sowing a cheap mixture of seed to cover the soil after harvest, and then seeding directly into it the following year. The benefits go beyond soil
Corn rows in a strip-till versus no-till study in Urbana, Illinois, which showed the strip-till areas had higher yields.
Crops

Is strip tillage the new black for Manitoba farmers?

By
The answer is ‘maybe’ — and probably ‘yes’ for sandy soils, but no research has yet been done in clay soils, according to University of Manitoba graduate student, Patrick Walther whose master’s thesis focused on soybean response to different tillage treatments. Walther compared four tillage treatments in soybean crops — standard double disc, vertical till
Lower air pressure in tires to reduce soil compaction
Crops

Lower air pressure in tires to reduce soil compaction

There are no easy solutions to soil compaction 
but there are some strategies to help avoid it

By
For producers soil compaction probably feels like an unwinnable catch-22. They need to get out and perform field operations to grow crops, but each pass contributes to the creation of soil compaction that can seriously hinder productivity. Provincial land management specialist Marla Riekman told producers at the recent St. Jean Baptist Farm Days that there
An example of rill erosion which occurs when run-off water forms small channels while running down bare soil.
Crops

More emphasis should be placed on soil health, MCDA speaker says

Cover crops, reduced tillage, crop and livestock diversity can all help reduce watershed challenges

By
We’ve all had those moments when we realize what we do most of the time matters more than what we attempt once in a while. One of those light bulbs snapped on for Ryan Canart while sitting at a soil health conference in Alberta awhile back. The district manager for the Upper Assiniboine River Conservation
Determining the broad strokes of soil quality could all boil down to 
doing the math.
Did you know?, News

Soil adds up

The way soil properties combine can be used to 
mathematically determine soil quality

By
To most people the quality of a soil is the sum of its physical properties — is it healthy and full of microbes? Does water infiltrate it readily or run off? How much air and water can it provide plant roots? Is it hard for roots or equipment to penetrate? Robson Armindo, a professor at
A multi-species cover crop can mimic how soil was initially created, with a collection of root exudates from each individual species.
Crops

Cover cropping improves land and bank balance

Ontario farmer Blake Vince has harnessed the power of cover crops on his operation

By
Despite not having cattle on his operation, Blake Vince says he is still a livestock farmer. “Where my livestock are is below my feet and sadly we forget that. The soil is alive, it is a collection of living organisms,” Vince, a Canadian Nuffield Scholar and fifth-generation Ontario farmer, said during a presentation at the
Blake Vince, fifth-generation Ontario farmer, offers up a homegrown suggestion on how to test the microbial activity in your soil.
Crops

What does your underwear say about your soils?

The underwear test can be a visual indicator of the activity 
that is taking place in your soil

By
A lot, providing you bury it in a field, according to Ontario farmer Blake Vince, a cover crop and soil health advocate and Nuffield Scholar. Doing so will help you understand what’s happening beneath your feet, he says. “We understand things we can see,” Vince said at the recent Canadian Forage and Grasslands conference in
Editorial, Opinion

Editorial: Hedge your risks: go underground

By
The dust is settling in the wake of last week’s U.S. election but it will be a while yet before we understand what the results mean for Canadians, including farmers. It’s an understatement to say Donald Trump’s election win came as a surprise, quite possibly even to him. The fact that his opponent received more
A flooded field in the Interlake in 2013.
Local news

North Interlake drainage issues to be addressed

Pilot program aims to improve water management in the RM of Bifrost-Riverton

By
A recent announcement is a watershed moment for a largely producer-led group seeking to reduce flooding and increase agricultural productivity in Manitoba’s Interlake region. The federal and provincial governments have announced $1 million in Growing Forward 2 funding for a pilot project in the Rural Municipality of Bifrost-Riverton, which aims to improve drainage and address
The soil created by adding charcoal and kitchen waste, at left, is visually superior to the usual red African earth on the right.
Did you know?, News

Centuries-old African soil technique could combat climate change

Adding kitchen waste and charcoal to nutrient-poor rainforest soils makes them capable of supporting intensive farming

By
A farming technique practised for centuries in West Africa, which transforms nutrient-poor rainforest soil into fertile farmland, could combat climate change and revolutionize farming across the continent, researchers say. Adding kitchen waste and charcoal to tropical soil can turn it into fertile, black soil which traps carbon and reduces emissions of greenhouse gases into the

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