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Soil health is getting better, but there is still plenty of work to do.
Crops

Soil Conservation Week highlights land stewardship, public education

Soil conservation makes land more productive, but the benefits go well beyond that

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There are few things more important than the soil beneath our feet and this week — National Soil Conservation Week — highlights just how critical it is. Running Apr. 17 to 23, this year the focus is the importance of land stewardship for soil and other resources under the care of the agriculture industry, Paul
Most fields may have dried out from floods in 2010 and 2011, but there’s a lingering effect from compaction and poor aeration.
Crops, Weather

A wet cycle has caused some farmers to rethink zero till

Seeding & Tillage Focus: As the province’s wet cycle appears poised to break, soil compaction is a lingering after-effect

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The past few years have been a bit hard on zero till in Manitoba. Faced with a flood followed by a long wet cycle, more and more farmers in the southwest part of the province were forced to do something they thought they’d left in the past — pull out their tillage implements. Their aim,
The state of Minnesota has made buffer zones mandatory as a way of protecting streams from nutrient run-off. But a Manitoba researcher says they may not be as effective as first believed.
Crops

New research raises red flag over buffer strips

A University of Manitoba researcher says riparian buffer 
strips may not be the answer to preventing nutrient run-off

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New research from the Univer­­sity of Manitoba raises questions over the effectiveness of buffer strips often used around cropland to filter out nutrients before they reach waterways in run-off. David Lobb, senior research chair for the Watershed Systems Research Program and a University of Manitoba soil science professor, says riparian buffer strips are “highly inefficient”
Pratisara Bajracharya, field crop pathologist with Manitoba Agriculture, Food and Rural Development spoke on clubroot at the Dauphin Agriculture Society’s Farm Outlook 2016 held on March 10.
Crops, Oilseeds

Careful management key to keeping clubroot level low in province

Experts call for soil testing, scouting and diligent rotations to keep clubroot at low levels

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Manitoba canola growers aren’t facing the full mischievousness of clubroot — yet. The soil-borne disease is a major issue for farmers in other locales, where it limits cropping options, stunts plants and hampers yield. Provincial specialists say they hope it remains a mild problem here, and scouting and diligent crop rotation will be the key
Phosphorus-laden solids separated from hog manure in a storage shed on Lauren Wiebe’s farm near St. Malo.
Hogs, Livestock

Manure separation could be key to P accumulation issue

Removing phosphorus-rich solids from nitrogen-rich liquid allows both 
local use and economical transportation to other farms

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A unique method of separating nutrients in hog manure, based on European technology, may give livestock producers another way to deal with excess soil phosphorus in southeastern Manitoba’s livestock alley. The method involves separating out the solids in manure from the liquid, using an automated conveyor belt system. Solids in hog manure are high in
Michael Thiele (r), grazing club co-ordinator with the Manitoba Forage and Grasslands Association spoke on the importance of organic matter in pasture soil at a recent grazing workshop.
Livestock

Tired pasture? The solution is in the soil

To create a healthy pasture, grazing expert says to start with ground cover, 
plant a diverse mix and avoid disturbing the soil

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To get more pasture growth above ground, start by looking below the surface, says Michael Thiele, grazing club co-ordinator for the Manitoba Forage and Grassland Association (MFGA). “Nutrient levels in the soils across Canada have been greatly depleted since conventional agriculture began and the same nutrient depletion can be seen in the foods we are
Reducing agriculture’s carbon footprint by focusing on soil
Crops, Local news

Reducing agriculture’s carbon footprint by focusing on soil

Storing water where it falls is another area where agriculture should do a better job

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“Has shown great improvement, but needs to do better.” That’s David Rourke’s report card on progress to improve soil health on the Prairies. “We will need to look at minimizing soil disturbance, more plant diversity and keeping something growing on our land from snow to snow,” the Minto-area producer told the Manitoba Sustainable Energy Association
harvesting silhouette
Crops

Mix it up for phosphorus’s sake

Some producers have found innovative ways to balance phosphorus levels, including land swapping

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It’s time for producers to mix things up. Speaking at the annual Crop Connect conference in Winnipeg last week, Don Flaten said that mixed farming can help balance phosphorus levels in the province. “But I’m not saying everyone should have some cows, some pigs, a few chickens, forage and crops,” he said. “What I mean
Skaters make their way to river trails near the historic site of The Forks, the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers in Winnipeg.
Local news

Cities have nutrient recycling role too, soil scientist says

Winnipeg continues to be the province's largest generator of nutrients such as phosphorous

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It’s time to begin recycling nutrients from the province’s largest confined feeding operation — Winnipeg, a University of Manitoba soil scientist says. “If you look at Manitoba’s largest confined feeding operation, it is Winnipeg,” said Don Flaten, speaking at Crop Connect in Winnipeg last week. “And to just be putting the waste water nutrients into
"I think there has to be a whole new generation of tillage equipment developed in the next five years." – David Lobb.
Crops

High-disturbance seeding can be as erosive as a plow

Conservation tillage isn’t conserving as much soil as you thought. That’s why 
University of Manitoba soil scientist David Lobb says new tillage equipment is needed

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The era of black summerfallow is over, and direct seeding and zero tillage have pretty much solved problems of soil erosion on the Prairies. Or so goes conventional wisdom. Not so, says David Lobb, a professor in the University of Manitoba’s department of soil science and senior research chair for the Watershed Systems Research Program

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