Test soil as soon as possible
Because of good soil moisture this spring, many farmers might be thinking of seeding to stubble, but soil tests carried out across Saskatchewan last fall show fairly low nitrogen levels.
“Last fall, average nitrogen levels to the 12-inch depth in stubble ranged from 15 to 27 pounds per acre, depending on the soil climatic zone,” said Brandon Green, Saskatchewan Agriculture soil specialist.
“Farmers often fertilize wheat crops on stubble with 30 to 40 pounds of actual nitrogen per acre. While this application can produce an increase in yield, it can also cause a drop in protein content if the moisture is good. A soil test is the only way to know how to fertilize for optimum yield and protein quality of wheat on stubble.”
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Last fall’s late, wet harvest and November’s early freeze-up conflicted with soil testing and fall fertilizing.
“But there is time to soil test now. There is a three-day turnaround, with results faxed if desired,” he said.
Average nitrogen levels in fallow fields last fall were 32-85 lb. per acre, depending on the soil climatic zone. But fallow fields should also be soil sampled because some fields tested as low as only one pound of nitrogen per acre.
Ken Panchuk, Saskatchewan Agriculture crop development specialist, said the protein content in Saskatchewan’s 1996 wheat crop was below 10 percent in some fields, and 15 percent in others.
“The market prefers bread wheat with more than 13 percent protein, which is only possible with good nitrogen-fertilizer management. The market is also asking for more durum with over 13 percent protein,” he said.
– Saskatchewan Agriculture
Flushing bar saves wildlife
The first day Tom Nicholson used a flushing device on his haying equipment, he flushed three ducks from the nest. He averaged at least one duck a day after that, plus one fawn and a lot of small songbirds.
The flushing bar, developed in central Alberta by Ducks Unlimited, is a light weight aluminum bar that attaches to the front of a tractor. Chains attached every foot along the bar move through the hay and flush wildlife away from the cutting surface. Killing wildlife while haying has been a harsh reality for farmers since the beginning of mechanized agriculture. Hayland is habitat for such animals as waterfowl, upland game birds, grassland nesting songbirds and deer.
Ducks Unlimited Canada supplies and installs the bars at no cost to farmers who hay 100 or more acres each year on land that falls within the Alberta Prairie Care program delivery area.
About 40 farmers use the bars. Ducks Unlimited hopes to install another 40 by June in the pilot project area. Barry Bishop, of Ducks Unlimited in Camrose, Alta., said the bar helps farmers and wildlife.
“It’s a way that meets farmers needs. They don’t like killing wildlife. One farmer was actually thinking about giving up a field because haying was killing so many ducks.”
The bars are easy to attach and don’t inconvenience equipment operation.
It can be folded up for transport.
The bar has limitations. While it can chase duck hens from the path of farm equipment so they live to lay more eggs, it can’t save a nest or eggs.
Nicholson, who also participates in a Ducks Unlimited delayed haying program, says he saw two ducks return to their nests after being flushed by the equipment. They both went on to hatch successful broods.
For more information about the flushing bar project, contact Bishop or Herman Rea in Camrose at 403-672-6786.
– Alberta Agriculture
