Strip-till has been called the fence-sitter’s favourite form of farming, perfectly suited for those who can’t decide between an all-out conventional black seed bed preparation and total zero-till trash cover. It might be an accurate description. In strip-till, the narrow alleys where seeds are planted are worked with radical tillage tools designed to create what […] Read more
Tag Archives Agronomy
New research proposes salty take on rye
Prairie ground is prone to salinity, but scientists are looking for crops that will offer new options
The western Canadian prairie has one thing in common with the well-groomed golf courses surrounding New Jersey’s Rutgers University: the need for stronger saline tolerant grass varieties. On the Prairies, new grass varieties with greater saline tolerance could access and remove salty water locked within the soil. Grain growers would have better salinity control around […] Read more
Pioneer plans for prairie producers’ production
More crops — more beans, more corn and new wheat will be the future for western Canadian farmers because the region is being targeted for growth. The president of the world’s second largest agricultural genetics company, Paul Schickler of DuPont Pioneer, puts Western Canada in a basket of nations and regions that have significant room […] Read more
Ont. aims to double sugar beet acres
SARNIA, Ont. — The creation of an organization representing all of Canada’s sugar beet growers isn’t a top priority for the chair of the Ontario Sugarbeet Growers’ Association. Mark Lumley said that’s because of the major differences between the Alberta and Ontario industries. “We’d need to find some synergies there to make it work,” he […] Read more
VIDEO: CWB tour aims to assess size, quality
High variability from field to field and region to region makes it tough to properly gauge the 2015 western Canadian crop
Market research experts at CWB will be dusting off their boots and sharpening their pencils next week in an effort to estimate the size and quality of this year’s grain and oilseed harvest. CWB’s second annual western Canadian crop tour begins July 21 with groups departing from Winnipeg, Saskatoon and Calgary. Each group will follow […] Read moreVideo: Website offers independent spraying advice
REGINA —Your intelligence is limited by where you get your information. It may be an old expression, but it’s still important to keep in mind, especially when considering the increasing number of advertorial article-based websites. Sprayers101.com is a free website managed by Tom Wolf and Jason Deveau that provides a one-stop resource for specialists in […] Read more
Oil patch borrows precision technology from agriculture
The same technology that manages overlap and application rates in agriculture has found a home in the oil and gas sector. The industry has long dealt with its non-toxic drilling waste by spreading it on farmland, but that often resulted in material pooling near field headlands or at the edges of pastures. As well, application […] Read more
Using variable rates on the farm
Major changes in farming practices always take time, and precision agriculture is no exception. Zero till first caught producers’ attention in the late 1970s, but it took more than 20 years to become mainstream. Despite the obvious benefits of satellite guidance and autosteer, it took a decade for that technology to become mainstream. Farmers began […] Read more
Saskatchewan’s canola kings will seek crown again
Scott Effa is shooting for a hat trick after back-to-back wins in the King of Canola contest. Effa-Toffan Farms near Norquay, Sask., was recently crowned Hudye Soil Services’ Canola King Challenge winner from last year. Brother-in-laws Scott Effa and Justin Toffan achieved the winning yield of 71.57 bushels per acre, which is more than 2.3 […] Read more
Canola-soybean rotation researched
U.S. grower trials show yield bump of about 10 percent following canola versus winter wheat
Canola competes with soybeans for acres in many parts of North Dakota, but a new study could turn the crops from adversaries to pals. Researchers with North Dakota State University are evaluating anecdotal evidence that soybean yields increase when the crop is planted following canola. Brian Jenks, who leads the university’s North Central Canola Research […] Read more
