Reading Time: 5 minutes As the life-science companies begin to deliver on their promise of shorter-season corn for the Prairies, another challenge arises. Typically corn is grown in rotation with soybeans in a far wetter climate in a corn-soybean rotation. How will it fit in a drier landscape, and in rotation with wheat, pulses and canola? There aren’t many […] Read more
Corn isn’t just about crop heat units
New shorter-season hybrids are just part of the Prairie corn picture. Just as important will be the local research to fine-tune how they’ll fit into the production system
Do your homework before jumping into growing soybeans head first
Soybean Guide: Soybean varieties and the business case for growing them have been improving, but Saskatchewan isn’t Iowa yet. Even seed salesmen recommend going slowly at first
Reading Time: 5 minutes Soybeans have expanded well beyond their traditional base in Manitoba’s Red River Valley, so growers even farther west into Saskatchewan are giving them a close look. But they might want to wade through the hype before making any big decisions, says one agronomist who’s been working with new growers. Dieter Schwarz, a market development agronomist […] Read more
Going underground for soil ecology
Soil is far more than just dirt. Are you nurturing the organisms that help it grow great crops?
Reading Time: 5 minutes A warm, early-July breeze blew through a wheat field in northeastern Saskatchewan, not far from Nipawin. The heads had just emerged and were still green, but the field was taking on that fuzzy look that you typically get with a fresh, bearded cereal. This field was unusual, however, because even though you couldn’t see it, […] Read more
To sample, or not to sample (soil). Who’s right?
Some of your neighbours have stopped soil sampling. Others are sampling more than ever.
Reading Time: 5 minutes In any year, at most 10 per cent of the fields are soil sampled,” says Tom Jensen, a director in the North American program of the International Plant Nutrition Institute. “Some people say 20 per cent of farmers do some soil testing, but they may only do it every couple to three years.” Farm consolidation […] Read more
The crop production wheel
Reading Time: 2 minutes Two years ago in the September edition of Country Guide, we ran a sidebar about a “complete systems” approach to production agriculture, including the depiction of a “production wheel.” The image comes from Don Lobb, an advocate for improving soil health and tile drainage. He created the guideline in a circular or wheel configuration, and […] Read more
Win the right battle – for the sake of food
Not only is the food we eat bad for us, but the practices that produced it are unsound too. Or so goes the message that too many consumers get too often from our mainstream media
Reading Time: 5 minutes The science is clear. “If you look at Western Canada and you look at a four-year crop rotation that starts anchored by a pulse crop at the front end, I believe that’s one of the most sustainable farming systems in the world,” says John Oliver, president of Maple Leaf Bio-Concepts. Many of the loudest, harshest […] Read more
Organic weed control, precision weed tillage via the ‘Robocrop’
Frustrated with lack of weed control, one organic farmer from Manitoba is impressed by a U.K.-made in-row cultivator
Reading Time: 3 minutes Jeremiah Evans has a new high-tech hand helping him control weeds on his organic farm. Last fall the Somerset-area farmer took delivery of a custom-built U.K.-manufactured Garford Robocrop in-row cultivator, which uses special software to identify and target weeds, leaving the crop behind. After seeing what it could do to his wild oats, thistle and […] Read more
Deciding if you should spray canola for blackleg
Longer canola rotations and switching varieties can reduce the need and cost of a fungicide
Reading Time: 2 minutes The best time to spray canola with a fungicide to control blackleg is at the two- to four-leaf stage, but there are things farmers can do to avoid having to spray at all. “Blackleg becomes a greater risk when you have seen blackleg in your field in the past and you’ve seen yield loss,” said […] Read more
Mycorrhizal fungi a potential yield booster in potatoes
Potato Guide: A relative newcomer to the fields, the benefits are hard to ignore
Reading Time: 4 minutes An intensively farmed crop such as potatoes always demands diligence in production. In addition to irrigation and finding suitable rotation crops, growers are constantly looking for an upper hand in dealing with nutrient issues and measures aimed at improving soil health and overall production. That might be where there’s an intriguing fit for a relatively […] Read more
Exploring the soybean nutrient cycle
New research aims to end the guessing on fertilizing soybean rotations
Reading Time: 4 minutes If you had asked Saskatchewan farmers 25 years ago if they thought they could grow soybean, they would likely have laughed out loud at the very idea. Fast-forward to today, however, and StatsCan says 300,000 acres of soybeans were planted in Saskatchewan last year, up from 170,000 acres in 2013, and the province’s soy acreage […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
