This past summer, a diligent agronomist in southern Alberta was suspicious of downy brome that was not being controlled by glyphosate. The population in question was widespread in a glyphosate-tolerant canola field in Taber County, Alberta, and was not controlled following multiple applications of glyphosate, says Charles Geddes, weed scientist at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada,… Read More
Author: Lara de Moissac
Soil sensors can provide a multitude of information, but not all soil sensors are created equal. As part of Olds College’s Smart Farm applied research programs, the accuracy and functionality of five different soil sensors and their capability to measure soil properties were evaluated. Daniel Stefner, Smart Ag Research project lead and farm liaison at Olds… Read More
Raymond and Tracey Bredenhof, of R&T Poultry and Bredenhof Hops at Abbotsford, B.C. are one of the two winners chosen as Canada’s Outstanding Young Farmers for 2021. The Bredenhofs operate a 40,000 broiler per cycle chicken operation in the Fraser Valley. Poultry farms are quite common for their area, but what’s less common is growing… Read More
There is very limited ability for producers to control canola oil content though management practices, largely because the final oil content is highly dependent on environmental conditions. Drought can affect a canola crop at any given stage during its growth, but it’s heat that’s the real culprit for a decrease in oil content this year…. Read More
Wild pigs pose ecological and agricultural problems across Canada and into the United States. Every year, this rapidly reproducing, non-native species expands its territory, most recently being discovered in Alberta’s Elk Island National Park. Originally brought into the country to help diversification efforts in agriculture in the late 80s and early 90s, the invasive species, cross-bred… Read More
Good science communication tells a clear story. Taking a science communications class was a requirement of my MSc program at the University of Saskatchewan, and it has turned out to be a skill that I use every day. One of the most important things I learned in that class is that communicating science can be… Read More
Drought this year has not only hindered yields on the Prairies, but it could also directly affect next year’s crop by not allowing for pesticide breakdown in soil. There are several different ways pesticides can break down in the soil: by volatilization after application; through photodegradation on the soil surface (sunlight); through hydrolysis in soil;… Read More
Three nominees have been acclaimed to the Saskatchewan Pulse Growers’ (SPG) board of directors following the close of nominations in early September. SPG had called for nominations for three positions on the board of directors and received three nominations. As such, the candidates will be acclaimed. Mario Gaudet, of Melville, will join the board of… Read More
Interest in building soil resiliency or measuring soil health is growing. But before jumping to complicated soil health tests, we first need to understand how the basic physical, chemical, and biological properties of a soil in combination with management practices will affect soil microbial populations. “You can’t take the genetic base, essentially, like the DNA… Read More
Long-term field research, conducted by the University of Guelph, has confirmed Solvita Soil Tests as valuable testing tools for evaluating soil health. Research results show that Solvita tests enabled a high level of certainty in “useful” cropping comparisons and correlated with soil carbon levels and total soil nitrogen. Solvita tests have the ability to capture… Read More