Reading Time: 2 minutes If you want to make your soil better, you need to start with earthworms. Healthy soils have strong earthworm populations and you can gauge their numbers by the presence of middens, little piles of residue, says Quebec researcher Odette Menard. “When I see a lot of middens, I know it’s a healthy field. If I […] Read more
Humble earthworms are a benefit to your soil
Earthworm activity can make your soil a better place
VIDEO: Down to earth jewelry made in Manitoba
Provincial soil turned trinkets travel the world
Reading Time: < 1 minute Manitoba Soil Sciences Society members have been using Newdale Clay Loam to make a series of pendants/keychains, bracelets, earrings and rings since Manitoba proclaimed it the provincial soil in 2010. MSSS members Marla Riekman and John Heard explain how the idea originated, how the jewelry is made, and the intent behind the ongoing initiative. All […] Read more
Say hello to the creatures that live in your soil
There are just four basic types of soil organisms, but the diversity and sheer numbers of them are breathtakingly large
Reading Time: 3 minutes When you’re standing on your land, you’re atop an ecosystem with a diversity rivalling that of a coral reef. “Soil organisms are abundant and varied — you can find anywhere from 100 to 100,000 individuals in a single square metre of soil,” soil ecologist Jeff Battigelli told attendees at the recent Western Canada Soil Health […] Read more
What happens above changes the world below
Tilling, spraying, fertilizing, and even grazing can have big impacts on the microbial world
Reading Time: 2 minutes Many conventional agricultural practices generate a homogenous soil habitat — and that’s not a good thing, says soil ecologist Jeff Battigelli. “Basically, you just keep knocking things down. It’s not allowed to get very complex; there is a simplified community structure, with very few species,” said Battigelli. Homogenous soils need constant human intervention and resources […] Read more
International Year of Soils ends with a bang in Alberta
Attendees at sold-out conference say it was a thrill to gather with people who ‘get’ soil health
Reading Time: 3 minutes If the International Year of Soils didn’t seem like a big deal — then you weren’t at the Western Canada Conference On Soil Health earlier this month. That is, if you could get in. “We originally planned for 250 people, and we had room for 300,” said conference co-chair Tom Fromme. “The facility was able […] Read more
We need to dig deep and better understand our soils
Healthy soil is our greatest asset, and farm practices focused on just the short term undermine our competitive advantage
Reading Time: 3 minutes I believe that at some point in history, we will fully appreciate and understand that healthy soil is our greatest competitive advantage and the most valuable asset on Earth. As agriculture is the foundation of all civilization, we cannot ignore the evolution of food production. We have gone from gathering food to industrialized agriculture and […] Read more
Boosting the bottom line through better pasture management
It’s about more sunlight, rain, and forage types — and never overgrazing
Reading Time: 3 minutes If farming these days is all about managing inputs, then grazing comes down to managing the land itself — the sunlight, water, minerals, and biodiversity that make pasture lands grow. “We can’t control the price of oil; we can’t control the cost of steel for making farming equipment; but we can manage and control these […] Read more
Soil moisture in Alberta improves after wet fall
Reading Time: < 1 minute Late-October rains caused harvest delays for many, but the three to five millimetres were near to below average. And in most areas south of Red Deer, conditions were quite dry over the first two months of fall. Most areas in the province experienced at least near-normal accumulations of precipitation during September and October, although some […] Read more
New canola variety a milestone in the battle against clubroot
Double resistance a big step forward, but clubroot strains are quickly multiplying
Reading Time: 3 minutes A new canola variety resistant to multiple strains of clubroot will hit the market in time for spring seeding. But the new variety from Crop Production Services will only be available in limited quantities and a clubroot expert says growers can’t expect it to be “a saviour.” CPS Canada says the variety, Proven Seed PV […] Read more
Crop 2015: Parched to soaked
From super dry to super wet — it’s been quite a year
Reading Time: 3 minutes It’s been anything but a normal year — and Justin Bell is just one of hundreds of Alberta farmers who can attest to that. The Rosebud producer was praying for rain in June and praying for it to stop in September. “We were ready to start on Sept. 7, but then we got two inches […] Read more
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