Canola School: When is the Right Time to Soil Sample in the Fall - Ross Mckenzie

As harvest comes to an end over the next couple weeks it is incredibly important to start laying the groundwork for next years canola crop. The first step is soil sampling and with the warmer temperatures that we are supposed to get the next two weeks this is not the right time. As Ross Mckenzie… Read More

Precision Planting is changing the process of testing soil with a new Radical Agronomics program that relies on an  automated soil analysis laboratory. Mike Easter, Precision Planting’s commercial lead for Radical Agronomics, says the program is designed to address some challenges with current laboratory systems and soil testing’s manual process. “What we’ve done is we’ve… Read More

Soil testing is a critical component of nutrient management. A comprehensive soil testing protocol can be a significant investment of time and cash, however the pay off in managing the fertilizer bill, maximizing yield potential, and possibly decreasing environmental impacts makes it very worth it for many farms. Still, soil testing is not universal, and… Read More

In 2020, 44 per cent of soils tested in North American showed potassium levels below the critical level. What does that mean in terms of impact on crop production? On this episode of the RealAgriculture Soil School, Bernard Tobin and Plant Nutrition Canada chief scientist Tom Bruulsema dig into how K is available in the soil;… Read More

How can farmers diagnose soil fertility issues? What tools can identify nutrient deficiencies and best manage variability across fields and farms? On this episode of RealAgriculture’s Soil School, Bernard Tobin visits Southwest Crop Diagnostic Days at the Ridgetown College campus, University of Guelph, to report on three soil testing and mapping technologies — GroundWork, SoilOptix… Read More

New soil testing technology that goes beyond chemistry to analyzing soil biology will be available in Canada as the result of a new partnership between Taurus Agricultural Marketing and Iowa-based Trace Genomics. The two companies announced the partnership on Thursday (August 24). Trace’s metagenomics technology analyzes DNA in a soil sample, providing data on over… Read More

A new online tool has been launched to help farmers and agronomists in Western Canada understand nutrient removal rates to make more informed fertilizer decisions. The Prairie Nutrient Removal Calculator provides updated estimates of nutrient removal for 12 different crops, based on samples collected from farmers’ fields in Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba in 2020 through… Read More

Conventional soil testing provides growers with a look at the concentration of minerals present in soil. Western Ag soil analysis takes soil testing one step further by providing growers with a look at what minerals are available for root uptake. Edgar Hammermeister is one of the lead agronomists for Western Agriculture, and he spoke with… Read More

Lucent Bio and Federated Co-operatives Limited (FCL) have teamed up to distribute Soileos Zinc, a new crop nutrition product, to western Canadian producers. According to the North American Soil Test Summary, zinc is deficient in 30 per cent of soil samples taken in Alberta, 66 per cent of those in Saskatchewan, and 61 per cent… Read More

Ahh, the wonders of healthy soil. From water-holding capacity, pest and disease regulation, to nutrient cycling and physical stability, a robust and resilient soil gives farmers a huge advantage in crop production. But what makes a healthy soil? How can we measure its fitness and whether it’s in top farming shape? That’s a question soil… Read More

Soil sensing is a precision agriculture method used to improve agronomy by identifying opportunities to manage variability. Dr. Athyna Cambouris is a soil scientist and researcher with Agriculture and Agri-food Canada (AAFC) at the Quebec Research and Development Centre, focused on precision agriculture and using soil sensing to improve agronomy. Cambouris says that grid soil… Read More

Syngenta has announced a new soil health mapping service called Interra Scan. The service, which offers precision soil analysis to help growers and agronomists with crop nutrition and soil health decisions, will be initially available to continental and Eastern European growers. Interra Scan has a key Canadian connection — the soil scan begins with Tavistock,… Read More

Whether you’re talking to financial advisors or agronomists, having knowledge and data about your farming operation is key. Digging a soil pit is a great way to see what exactly you’re dealing with below the surface. On this episode of the Soil School, we are joined by Ken Wall, a grow team advisor with Federated Co-operatives… Read More

 

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