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Tag Archives Sustainable agriculture

Dr. Alan Moulin takes tour attendees through the field.
Crops

Measuring tillage impact

There may be a middle path that gives the best results

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Conventional wisdom says less tillage is better when it comes to soil structure, but the issue is more complex when comparing organic soil health to zero till, according to Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada researcher Dr. Alan Moulin. Moulin’s team looked at “soil aggregates,” or how soil particles bind together into larger groups, under high-input conventional
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.
Crops

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?

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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,
Mitchell Timmmerman, agri-ecosystems specialist with Manitoba Agriculture, highlights root difference between crops during the Manitoba Beef and Forage Initiatives Brookdale tour August 30.
Crops, Local news

Soils are not made equally when it comes to soaking up moisture

Mitchell Timmerman’s rainfall simulation emphasized the role of 
perennial forages in increasing infiltration during the August 30 
Manitoba Beef and Forage Initiatives Brookdale site tour

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Which one will soak it up first? That was the question a recent demonstration at the Manitoba Beef and Forage Initiatives (MBFI) Brookdale site tried to answer. It was a head-to-head comparison of the ability of fields to soak up surface moisture by Mitchell Timmerman, the province’s agri-ecosystems specialist, using a rainfall simulator that made
soil
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
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
Delegates discuss soil health issues, solutions and what should be included in a hypothetical soil health kit during a breakout session of the Global 4-H Summit.
Crops

4-H’ers dig into soil health policy and education

Soil health was a repeat topic as 4-H members from around the world turned their attention to sustainable agriculture and food security

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It’s time to think about what lies below our feet. That was the message delegates from 35 countries received from multiple speakers at the recent Global 4-H Summit in Ottawa. Soil health emerged from several workshops during the third day of the July 11-14 conference, themed around sustainable agriculture and food security. Syngenta Canada, also
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

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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
Editorial: New opportunities
Columns, Editorial, Opinion

Editorial: New opportunities

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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
Manitoba Agriculture land management specialist Marla Riekman (l), and farmer Doug Wilton and his son Andrew discuss the ‘soilyourundies’ demonstration in one of Doug’s zero-till fields near Roland, Man. April 18.
Crops, Local news

What’s in your field?

Planting a pair of tighty whities can help you find out

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Doug Wilton is curious about how much soil “wildlife” is in his fields. That’s why the Roland-area farmer is participating in the “soilyourundies” demonstration launched during Soil Conservation Week in April. “The Soil Conservation Council (of Canada) decided this would be something kind of fun and exciting and different to do in order to bring
Disc tillage not the only answer to corn residue
Crops

Disc tillage not the only answer to corn residue

Recent research on the effect of corn on subsequent soybean crops suggests there may be other alternatives

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Producers may want to look beyond disc tillage to deal with corn residue, according to research co-funded by the Manitoba Corn Growers Association. In a two-year comparison of four residue treatments and their effect on soybeans, Patrick Walther and Yvonne Lawley of the University of Manitoba found that low-tillage treatments yielded the same soybean crop

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