AgRobotics’ AutoProbe was a dream come true for Scott McKee. The chief executive officer of A&L Soil Labs in Memphis, Tennessee, had been talking with his staff about how they might develop a GPS-driven robotic automatic soil sampling machine to make sampling easier. “Then all of a sudden these guys from Arkansas showed up here […] Read more
Production
Soil sampler says probe will save on fertilizer
Don’t press panic button
Mark Akins of Avonlea, Sask., has 450 acres of winter wheat to worry about this spring if he wants – but he has learned not to. Now into their fifth winter wheat crop, Akins and his family generally aim to put 15 to 20 percent of their 2,600 acre farm into the fall-seeded crop. Akins, […] Read more
Know when enough is enough
Craig Shaw knew he needed to get the most from every dollar he spent on inputs, but in some cases, the more he spent, the more trouble he bought. An emphasis on maximum fertilizer use was helping the grain farmer from Lacombe, Alta., achieve bin-busting yields, but the parts of his farm that had higher […] Read more
Additional fertilizer application will reap returns
Fertilizer is expensive, but cutting rates might prove more costly. Rigas Karamanos of Westco Fertilizers in Calgary says it was only two years ago that 50 cent per pound nitrogen costs and $6 per bushel canola made cutting nitrogen rates the right thing to do. However, with canola now selling for $12 per bu., he […] Read more
New malting barley varieties on track
A record number of new malting barley varieties have been recommended for registration at a time when research funding for the crop remains uncertain. Some of the varieties have characteristics that are bound to attract the attention of producers when they become commercially available over the next two to four years, including low protein and […] Read more
New Products
Harmony tank mix DuPont Harmony K herbicide tank-mix has received registration for use on durum to control kochia (including Group 2-resistant biotypes) and 20 other hard-to-kill broadleaf weeds along with wild oats and green foxtail. Dupont will also begin distributing Harmony K with new Solumax soluble granule (SG) technology this year. By 2009, all Harmony […] Read more
Bad seeds can damage canola exports
Canola producers are being urged not to plant unregistered varieties this spring. Varieties that have lost their registration are ineligible for export. The Canola Council of Canada says if even small amounts of deregistered varieties are found in imported batches, entire shiploads will be rejected and Canada’s reputation jeopardized. “It’s hard to believe that even […] Read more
Cost/value of saving western waterways
MOOSE JAW – Calculating the cost of implementing rotational grazing in riparian areas is one thing. Calculating the benefits is another. Etienne Soulodre, rangeland agrologist with the Saskatchewan Watershed Authority, said there are few hard numbers on the benefits. “Environmental valuation is a pretty green science,” he told the recent Moose Jaw River Watershed Stewards […] Read more
Company eyes flax straw for fuel
Flax made its name as an industrial oil crop but less well known is the technology to produce oil from parts of the plant other than the seed. An Ontario company plans to make fuel type oil and other industrial compounds from the straw. Flax straw isn’t high in oil content, but it does contain […] Read more
Fertilizer placement, rates critical in dry conditions
Got drought? Then be careful about your seed row-placed nitrogen. Drought for many parts of the southern Prairies looks possible this spring. Lack of moisture last season led to poor yields in many areas south of the Trans-Canada Highway. Ross McKenzie of Alberta Agriculture and the University of Lethbridge is reminding producers who place their […] Read more
