Reading Time: 3 minutes Farmers are making some pretty big decisions off test strips — and that scares JP Pettyjohn. “We could flip a coin and pretty much come up with the same answer,” said Pettyjohn, a crop technology instructor at Lakeland College. “I don’t want an answer. I want the right answer.” Small-plot trials have been widely used […] Read more
Scaling up: How to take small-size research from plot to field
Many farmers are skeptical of small-plot research results, but proper protocols are needed to scale up to a field level
There are many ways to view — and treat — soil
Healthy soil is a precious resource and we need to think more about that as we plan for our future
Reading Time: 3 minutes It is hard to imagine there is so little soil when we stand and look out at our vast landscapes where the ground lays in wait for the warmth of spring and the touch of the farmer’s hand. The shrinking global land base that is arable seems a country mile away and another farmer’s problem. […] Read more
You might soon be seeding in February or March
Researchers successfully grow ‘spring-type winter wheats’ in Alberta and say it could be an option by 2020
Reading Time: 4 minutes What kind of wheat crop might you get if you seeded in February or March? One that’s not half bad, if the preliminary results of a recent federal research study are any indication. “How can you get a little more yield? Well, you can put it in the ground a little bit earlier,” said University […] Read more
The automated future has arrived, says robotic farming expert
British researcher showcases the ‘Hands-Free Hectare’ project at Farming Smarter conference
Reading Time: 3 minutes Farming using only robots may sound like something out of the year 2050 — but the producers of a barley crop in the United Kingdom argue it’s here now. Researchers at Harper Adams University in Shropshire, England, along with a U.K. precision ag company successfully grew a crop using only automated machines as their farmhands. […] Read more
Listen to your crops — the plants are talking to each other
They’re also ‘foraging’ for nutrients, deciding where to put their roots, and calling for help when under attack
Reading Time: 3 minutes You might think it’s crazy — but plants talk to each other and act in ways that are similar to animals and humans. “Step away from the idea of plants as factories and start to think of plants as individuals,” biological sciences professor JC Cahill told attendees at the Western Canadian Soil Health and Grazing […] Read more
Adding an agronomist to your farm team
As farming gets more complicated a growing number of companies are offering to help out. Some farmers get advice from their local independent retailer, or an agronomist employed by a company like CPS. But more and more farmers are choosing to pay for agronomic advice. Based on the logo-covered trucks parked at farm shows, the[...]
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Harvest better than expected in most — but not all — areas
Expectations were low in many areas of the province, but yield and quality have generally been decent
Reading Time: 3 minutes This year’s crop quality and yields are better than expected, which comes as a major surprise to both farmers and agronomists across the province. “Even as late as seeding was done, the yield seems to be average or better than expected, which is surprising, when some canola was planted on the 7th or 8th of[...]
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Steady harvest progression, but yields, crop quality suffers
Alberta crop conditions as of August 22
Reading Time: < 1 minute A week of warm and relatively dry weather throughout the province benefited crop development in the northern regions and allowed harvest to progress rapidly in the South. Crop Conditions have stabilized at 54 per cent rated good or excellent, down less than 2 points on the week. Provincial harvest progress has advanced to 6 per[...]
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There are (giga) tonnes of benefits from properly grazed grasslands
Light to moderate grazing can enhance soil carbon levels by as much as 40 per cent — if the land is managed properly
Reading Time: 3 minutes Even with no-till, grain farming depletes soil carbon levels, says a University of Alberta researcher. “If you increase crop production above ground, you decrease carbon production below ground,” said Barry Irving, manager of the university’s ag research stations. “When you take production from below ground and move it above ground, that’s great for agriculture —[...]
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The world has an eating problem — and farming is the solution
Whether it’s obesity or malnutrition, Canadian farmers have an amazing opportunity to be agents of change
Reading Time: 3 minutes “As a farming community we should be the epitome of health.” That was the closing remark of one of the speakers at the Nuffield Triennial Farming Conference in southern England earlier this summer. The speaker had been talking about obesity and food-related health issues, and how farmers could be a solution to this serious problem.[...]
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