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
The American Meat Science Association (AMSA) has announced Dr. Phyllis Shand as the 2021 AMSA Industry & Organizational Leadership Award recipient. Shand is a professor of meat and food science in the department of food and bioproduct sciences at the University of Saskatchewan whose research program focuses on physicochemical, biochemical, and functional aspects of muscle… Read More
In the uncertainty of a national carbon strategy and how a carbon offset system will work, farmers’ contributions to sequestration and carbon emission mitigation efforts are frequently minimized. It seems the more knowledge there is about the exact amount of carbon sequestered in agricultural land, the more power farmers may have in lobbying for exemptions… Read More
Saskatchewan’s push towards developing value-added processing industries has been accelerating in recent years. Just this year, three canola crush plants have either been announced as new builds or expansions. But canola isn’t the only agri-processing moving ahead, as Red Leaf Pulp recently announced its plans to build a wheat straw-based pulp mill at Regina, Sask…. Read More
The recently announced Bill C-290, the Soil Conservation Act, has many steps to pass through before becoming an act. The premise of the bill — supporting efforts to create a national soil health strategy, that soil is the foundation for sustainable food production, enhanced biodiversity, cleaner air and water, and are at the root of… Read More
One concern this spring is whether or not there’s enough moisture to get a crop going, but another common springtime concern is that of compaction. Compaction is a risk every time you drive on a field, but the severity of compaction depends on where soil moisture is in the soil profile. “You can’t compact a… Read More
Member of Parliament and NDP ag critic Alistair MacGregor has introduced Bill C-290, a Private Member’s bill titled the Soil Conservation Act. Citing the importance of soil as an essential resource to society and that healthy soils are the foundation of sustainable food production, MacGregor proposes the bill support the establishment of a national soil… Read More
If you’ve grown peas, lentils, or any other pulse crop for a while, there may be background levels of rhizobia in your fields. However, it’s still important to use a “fresh” inoculant when you seed. “Inoculants are the rhizobial products that provide the right species of rhizobia for the right crop,” says Sherrilyn Phelps, agronomy… Read More
Croptimistic Technology, based at Naicam, Sask., has been awarded a U.S. patent for their proprietary SWAT Box technology. The SWAT Box is an autonomous soil electrical conductivity and elevation mapping hardware system. It collects the data used to create SWAT maps, a variable rate zone management system. “Our team was successful in developing an easy-to-use… Read More
The federal government announced its draft regulations for a national carbon offset framework, and while the kinks still need to be worked out, the first protocol that is intended to proceed is for soil organic carbon. As such, I’ve been working to lay out what this may entail and why carbon sequestration may not be… Read More