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Still hard to predict precise fertilizer payback

Despite decades of precision agriculture advances, international research finds no clear way to predict where and when adding nutrient through fertilizer will fail to boost growth

Reading Time: 4 minutes Despite decades of precision agriculture advances, international research finds no clear way to predict where and when adding nutrient through fertilizer will fail to boost growth.


Corn at Blumenort, Man. in July 2022. Pic: Dave Bedard

Nutrien pays farmers for efficient nitrogen

Nutrien’s Sustainable Nitrogen Outcomes (SNO) program pays Prairie farmers to limit nitrogen loss and, therefore, fertilizer-related greenhouse gas emissions.

Reading Time: 5 minutes Nutrien’s Sustainable Nitrogen Outcomes (SNO) program pays Prairie farmers to limit nitrogen loss and, therefore, fertilizer-related greenhouse gas emissions.






Patrick Mooleki, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada research scientist, speaks about nitrogen research in front of barley plots in Melfort, Sask.

Soil moisture and fall fertilizer loss

Searching for insight to keep fall nitrogen fertilizer in place and available for the next crop

Reading Time: 3 minutes A federal research project is working to identify ways to minimize the loss from fall fertilizer applications.



Ward Middleton -- an organic farmer located north of Edmonton -- mixes a row of compost with manure. He says any additional feedstock for composting or fertilizing is welcome.

Digestate can now be stored and applied as an organic fertilizer

Offers a lower-cost nutrient feedstock for organic producers, says Alberta Agriculture

Reading Time: 3 minutes Amendments to Alberta’s Agricultural Operation Practices Act (AOPA) now permit digestate and “select organic material” from non-agricultural businesses to be stored or composted in manure storage facilities before being applied to land.

Spencer Harris , in the green shirt, speaks with attendees at the Nutrien Ag Solutions crop plots at Ag in Motion on July 16. Photo: Greg Berg

Interest in biological crop inputs continues to grow

Nutrien exec shares thoughts on uptake and profitability of biological crop inputs

It was only a few years ago that interest in alternative methods such as biologicals to boost a crop’s nutrient uptake seemed to spike in popularity. But according to Spencer Harris, senior vice-president of global ag retail for Nutrien Ag Solutions, biologicals are not all that new for Nutrien — the global ag retailer has been researching biological crop inputs for nearly two decades.