REGINA — Big-ticket equipment and high-tech imaging shouldn’t be the only tools in a producer’s arsenal, says the president of a leading agronomy company.
During a recent training session held near Regina, Elston Solberg showcased easy-to-use and inexpensive diagnostic tools, including penetrometers for measuring soil compaction, a portable pH meter for measuring soil acidity and an EC meter for measuring soil salinity.
All had price tags well under $500.
“We get excited about satellite imagery and stuff like that,” said Solberg, president of Agri-Trend Agrology.
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“They’re all great, they’re all awesome tools, but they’re kind of out of the reach of most folks. These things, they’re small, hand-held, portable, electronic, simple-to-use, simple-to-understand tools that anybody can employ, and virtually no one in the industry is doing it.”
Solberg said data from these devices allows for quick identification of problem areas in a field. Producers and agronomists can then make informed choices on what inputs to use and what to plant to achieve the best yields possible.
He particularly recommended moisture probes and penetrometers because of drought and compaction problems in Western Canada.
A moisture probe measures the available water in a field, while compaction, which a penetrometer measures, is a major determinant of how much of that water can be absorbed by plants.
“We’re in dryland agriculture so it’s good to know how much water your crop potentially can access, and most of us don’t know that,” Solberg said.
“And secondly, just about all of us are affected to some degree on most of our fields by compaction, and we really don’t have a good read on that at all.”
A moisture probe can be purchased for $40 to $100, but producers can also make their own using instructions from the Saskatchewan agriculture ministry’s website at www.agriculture. gov.sk.ca.
Solberg said fancier penetrometers with GPS mapping capabilities can cost more than $1,000, but basic models cost $150.
He said these tools cost fractions of a cent per acre for most producers and can be used for years, while the benefits in yield increases and saved inputs are staggering.
Richard Limoges, an agronomist from Smoky River, Alta., who attended the event, said these diagnostic tools are also potential time-savers.
“They’re simple, cheap things that’ll let you make quick decisions, a lot faster than waiting on a lab,” he said.
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