Canada has a global reputation of having abundant, clean water, and water is essential for life and for food security. A new report from the Canadian Agriculture Policy Institute (CAPI) takes a look at Canada’s water resource and whether or not it’s being managed to the full benefit of Canadians. Tyler McCann, managing director of… Read More
Category: Irrigation
There are so many things that can’t be controlled on the farm, including when Mother Nature decides to provide some moisture. Irrigation provides more control over the moisture situation — however, the water is not limitless. Maximizing the water allowance not only makes growers happy, because it allows them to become more profitable, but it… Read More
For the past two years, there have been issues with the delivery of water early in the growing season across the Lethbridge Northern Irrigation District (LNID). In 2022, there were different reasons for the inability to access water early on, but this year, water challenges were linked to breakages and leaks in the canals. As… Read More
Update: As of May 5, 2023, there is still no definite timeline on the status of the repairs required for the Alberta Agriculture and Irrigation main canal leaks. In the interim, the board has approved for irrigation to flow from the Keho Reservoir, one inch of water for each irrigation acre, “on the basis that… Read More
In 2018, Zach Fleishman interviewed 200 irrigation farmers trying to figure out their pain points when it comes to center pivot tires. At the time, the number one issue farmers wanted to eliminate was the pivot track rutting in their fields. The second issue was dealing with flat tires. Flash forward to 2023 and Fleishman… Read More
Cattle coming north, a tax credit for processing development, and trucking e-logs are all top of mind for Alberta’s Minister of Agriculture and Irrigation, Nate Horner. Speaking at this week’s Alberta Beef Industry Conference, Horner says the announced Agri-Processing Investment Tax Credit won’t be in place until the current government passes its budget, but the credit… Read More
Bacterial leaf streak is not a particularly new disease to Canada but there are ongoing projects to increase identification and prevention of the disease. Dr. Constanza Fleitas, with the cereal and flax pathology group at the University of Saskatchewan, says that bacterial leaf streak is a growing issue in the U.S., and there are increasing… Read More
For anyone that has tackled variable rate irrigation (VRI) before, they know there can be a lot of challenges. There’s a lot of decision making — we need to know what’s happening, and what’s going to happen. Lewis Baarda, research program manager at Farming Smarter, based at Lethbridge, Alta., says this is why the non-for-profit… Read More
Lethbridge College has been busy digging in to new research initiatives, including work into irrigation. The Mueller Irrigation Research Group at the college, headed up by Dr. Willemijn Appels, has been focusing on three main areas of precision irrigation as of late: canal systems, subsurface drip irrigation, and variable rate irrigation. Appels spoke recently at… Read More
The Successors is a RealAgriculture podcast series hosted by Kara Oosterhuis focusing on agriculture from the perspective of the up-and-coming generation. If you sit down and talk to many of our parents and grandparents, they will remember harvesting potatoes from the garden growing up, and getting rid of the small, undersized potatoes. Flash forward to… Read More
Building organic matter, soil health, 4R nutrient management, and profitability are all part of the crop production puzzle Bill Ungar and the team at Sandy Shore Farms is piecing together on the sandy north shore of Lake Erie. On this episode of RealAgriculture’s Soil School, Ungar, Sandy Shore’s agronomy manager, shares how the family-owned farm and vegetable… Read More
Saskatchewan producers are now able to apply for up to $500,000 in funding under the Irrigation Development Program for irrigation expansion projects, an increase from $300,000 in funding in 2021. The Irrigation Development Program supports the installation of irrigation infrastructure, such as pumps and pipelines, to create a secure water supply to the edge of… Read More
Update, as of late April 26: The Lethbridge Northern Irrigation District says it has been advised a deal has been reached between the Alberta government and the Peigan Nation that will allow water to begin flowing to the district. Read more here. There are conflicting accounts on what is happening, and the reason why, but… Read More
Editors note: This story has been updated as of April 25, 2022. Farmers are all well aware of what happens when mother nature turns off the water tap, but what happens when human-engineered access to water is suddenly blocked? Water users in the Lethbridge Northern Irrigation District (LNID) in southern Alberta are currently facing this… Read More
When it comes to growing crops, every drop of water counts. Irrigation researchers at Lethbridge College have long been working on optimizing the amount off water needed to grow crops in a variety of fields, but new funding will allow the team to get a more accurate view of how much moisture is present below… Read More