young boy with science project

Young scientists on the rise

The province’s young minds demonstrate their insights 
into some of today’s most pressing issues in science

Students from across southwestern Manitoba put their scientific talents and innovative thoughts on display at the recent Western Manitoba Science Fair at the Westman Communications Place in Brandon. The regional fair has been in operation since 1969 and hosts students from Grades 1 through 12 who earned the top recognition at their school’s science fair.

soil

Editorial: They brought in plows?

When a consortium of Canadian non-government organizations funded by the Canadian government arrived in the Benishangul-Gumuz state in Western Ethiopia five years ago, their primary goal was to help smallholder farmers boost productivity and food security. They came in with “modern” farming methods. In this context, that meant oxen and plows, showing farmers how to


snake-oil salesman

The statistics prove it — higher yields with Manitoba maple syrup

It’s now easier than ever to sell snake oil, says University of Manitoba 
soil scientist Don Flaten

It’s easier than ever to sell snake oil as a fertilizer, supplement or replacement, so for farmers it’s “buyer beware,” warns Don Flaten, a professor of soil science at the University of Manitoba. “It’s what I’d call the Wild West,” Flaten told agronomists attending an Agvise Laboratories meeting here March 18. “With the Wild West

Don Flaten

VIDEO: The difference between ‘snake oil’ and crop products that work

Don Flaten, University of Manitoba professor and soil scientist says, "Does the product have a reliable track record of making farmers money?"

Since 2013 new fertilizers and plant products can be sold in Canada without first having to prove they work. University of Manitoba professor and soil scientist Don Flaten speaks to Manitoba Co-operator reporter Allan Dawson about distinguishing between an efficacious product and snake oil. Stay tuned for Allan Dawson’s companion article in the upcoming April 2,


The Manitoba Canola Growers Association hosted the third annual CanoLAB at Brandon Assiniboine Community College last week. Area producers and agronomists worked through a number of hands-on workshops to sharpen their canola production proficiencies.  
photo:

Exploring canola diagnostics, diseases and deficiencies

CanoLAB participants get a hands-on demonstration 
of the most recent production practices

Canola and crop production experts provided area producers and agronomists with a one-day, hands-on workshop last week, providing an opportunity to sharpen their production practices for the coming growing season. “We hope that workshops like this will assist the province’s producers and agronomists as they look for ways to innovate and meet market demands. A

Zambian farmer Wilfred Hamakumba and his wife Irene, have embraced herbicides as part of their conservation agriculture management. Over the past several years, the farm’s yields have more than doubled, their crops are more diversified and their farm has expanded in size. Irene is particularly pleased with their spraying program, saying it takes a lot less labour than weeding.

Can conservation agriculture save Africa’s soils?

Adoption rates are 
slow, but it may be the continent’s best — 
and last — hope

It was the end of a very long day. We had travelled to remote areas on bad roads, walked barefoot across a flooding creek and hiked nearly an hour both ways to reach one of the three farmers we were scheduled to visit. We were on the trail of conservation agriculture (CA) success stories, and


man in corn field

Grow less maize and produce more food

Boosting yield allows seeding less maize as ‘insurance,’ and adding more profitable and nutritious crops to the rotation

Christian Thierfelder strides into a plot of maize, reaches down, and scratches through the mulch with his fingers to grab a clump of soil. Holding it up, the senior agronomist with CIMMYT’s Harare field station lets it crumble through his fingers — it is moist but not muddy, and the decaying plant material gives it

NASA rocket launch

Blast off to better soil moisture measures

A NASA satellite to measure water in Earth’s soil has gone into orbit

An unmanned Delta 2 rocket lifted off from the Vandenberg Air Force Base in California Jan. 31 carrying a NASA satellite to measure moisture in the top layer of the Earth’s soil, data to be used in weather forecasting and tracking of global climate change. Soil moisture is a variable that binds together all of


Jeff Penner

VIDEO: V-Wing ditcher has multiple uses

Manitoba Ag Days Inventor's Showcase: Hi-Tec Ag invention designed to help reduce soil erosion

Described as a “landscaping machine,” the V-Wing can profile your land to help improve water flow. By making a wider channel that is less deep than conventional methods, it promotes a slower water flow rate to help reduce soil erosion. The V-Wing can also be used to move snow and for rural road maintenance. Hi-Tec Ag is located

Mario Tenuta speaks at the Manitoba Forage Seed Association’s annual conference in Winnipeg.

There’s life in that there dirt

Farmers need to be aware of the vast world beneath their feet — healthy plants depend on it

It just might be that the most important living beings on any farm aren’t found in the barn — but in the soil. Bacteria, mycorrhiza, fungi, nematodes and even earthworms are key to understanding and promoting plant growth, University of Manitoba soil scientist Mario Tenuta told the Manitoba Forage Seed Association’s annual conference in Winnipeg