Irrigation Archives - Page 2 of 3

More growers are studying ways to justify the costs associated with fertigation, as used in this wheat field.

Helping irrigation finding its value

High commodity prices and dry weather prompt some growers to have a look

By Ralph Pearce January 10, 2023

Reading Time: 4 minutes Whether it’s in a wagon full of corn, a load of fertilizer, a jug of fungicide, a robotic milker or a new tractor, farmers always look at whether it will provide a return on investment. For those with the option, irrigation is another item to add to the ROI list. Until recently, irrigation was more […] Read more

Nate Horner, shown here speaking Oct. 4, 2022 at Southland Trailers at Lethbridge, was named Oct. 21 as Alberta’s minister of agriculture and irrigation. (Alberta government video screengrab via YouTube)

General

Alberta reorganizes ag portfolio for returning minister

Horner to handle agriculture and irrigation file

By Dave Bedard October 22, 2022

Reading Time: 2 minutes Both Alberta and Quebec have re-upped with their incumbent agriculture ministers in cabinet shuffles this week — but incoming Alberta Premier Danielle Smith’s shuffle will also streamline that province’s ag portfolio. Chosen by Alberta’s governing United Conservatives (UCP) on Oct. 6 to replace outgoing premier Jason Kenney, Smith on Friday announced Kenney’s incumbent minister of […] Read more

An aerial view of parched terrace fields at Chongqing’s Fuyuan village in east-central China on Aug. 19, 2022. (Photo: Reuters/Thomas Peter)

Crops, Reuters, Weather

China’s farmers struggle to save crops as heatwave, drought drag on

By Thomas Peter, Thomas Suen August 19, 2022

Reading Time: 2 minutes Chongqing | Reuters — As the tinder-dry countryside along China’s Yangtze river basin withers under a heatwave that has lasted more than two months, veteran farmer Chen Xiaohua recalled the last severe drought to hit his crops more than 60 years ago. “This year is drier than 1960,” said Chen, 68, from his plot of […] Read more

Crops, Machinery

AGI to buy into soil microbe breeding firm

Machinery maker to take minority stake in MyLand

By Dave Bedard June 15, 2021

Reading Time: 2 minutes A U.S. company ramping up a system to harvest, reproduce and restore beneficial microbes from a field’s own soils, as a way to restore peak fertility, expects to get backing soon from a Canadian farm equipment maker. Winnipeg-based Ag Growth International (AGI) said Monday it has signed a conditional letter of intent with Phoenix-based MyLand […] Read more

(Video screengrab from Alberta Agriculture and Forestry via YouTube)

Crops

Federal fund, Alberta government back irrigation upgrades

Infrastructure Bank lends cash for system improvements

By Dave Bedard October 10, 2020

Reading Time: 2 minutes Eight irrigation districts in Alberta are set to tap into the Canada Infrastructure Bank’s new $1.5 billion pool of funding earmarked for irrigation, to receive loans worth about $407.5 million. The Alberta and federal governments on Friday announced a total investment of $815 million — including repayable CIB funds, provincial support and irrigation district contributions […] Read more

File photo of Diefenbaker Lake in southern Saskatchewan. (IanChrisGraham/iStock/Getty Images)

Crops, Machinery

Federal irrigation pledge seen flowing mainly to Prairies

Infrastructure plan also includes promised broadband support

By D.C. Fraser October 2, 2020

Reading Time: 2 minutes Prairie provinces will receive the bulk of Ottawa’s $1.5 billion commitment to support irrigation projects, according to federal Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Thursday launched a three-year, $10 billion infrastructure plan aimed at five different sectors, including agriculture. The $1.5 billion is expected to result in 700,000 acres of irrigated land. […] Read more

Friedhelm Hoffmann has fertigated corn, soybeans and wheat, which he states yielded 140 bushels per acre.

Crops

Get there on time

Timely delivery is a big plus for “fertigation,” but can you afford the costs and the management demands?

By Ralph Pearce January 10, 2019

Reading Time: 7 minutes In precision agriculture, the focus is typically on the low-hanging fruit, i.e. the use of yield data to create variable-rate fertilizer scripts, investing in individual row units with automatic down-force, or using aerial imagery to pinpoint trouble spots in a field. Most such discussions are also confined to choices about soil, seed and fertility. Yet […] Read more

A coffee planter shows his coffee plantation in a farm in Sao Desiderio, Bahia state, Brazil on March 21. (Photo: Reuters/Roberto Samora)

Crops, Reuters, Soybeans

Coffee may profit more than soy in Brazil’s new farming frontier

By Roberto Samora March 27, 2018

Reading Time: 2 minutes Luis Eduardo Magalhaes, Brazil | Reuters –– Farmers tending vast, flat soy and cotton fields that spread as far as the eye can see in northeastern Brazil are finding that coffee crops might provide higher profits in the country’s agricultural frontier. More coffee farms are being developed in the western part of Bahia state, which […] Read more

(Lindsay Irrigation video screengrab via YouTube)

General, Machinery

Ontario power utilities offer farm water pump rebate

By Country Guide Staff March 25, 2018

Reading Time: 2 minutes Ontario farmers buying certain types of high-efficiency water pumping systems for irrigation, horticulture or stock watering could now be up for rebates. Hydro One and Niagara Peninsula Energy (NPEI) on Friday announced the AgriPump rebate program, which the two electricity utilities described as the first plan of its kind in the province. For farmer customers […] Read more

“We have identified several soybean varieties with a potential of producing more than 50 bu./ac. marketable seed yields.” – Manjula Bandara, CDCS.

Crops, Soybeans

Growing soybeans in southern Alberta

Farmers would like the rotation option, but heat units are marginal and soybeans must compete with high-value irrigation crops

By Jeff Melchior March 23, 2018

Reading Time: 7 minutes For some Prairie farmers, the question of whether to introduce soybeans into the rotation may seem like a no-brainer. They’re good nitrogen fixers and have proven a hit on rain-fed land in Manitoba and Saskatchewan, where soybean acreage has increased dramatically over the past decade. But if you’re a producer in Alberta, the answer is […] Read more

Daily Network News

Complexity of being a woman in farming can lead to mental, physical health risks

Federal gov. funds youth employment in agriculture, agri-food

Pulse Weekly: StatCan projects fewer pea and lentil acres

Tag Archives Irrigation