Soil acidity is an issue that’s gaining attention in the Northern Plains, especially in areas where no-till practices have been paired with high surface-applied nitrogen rates. “They’re seeing this advancing a lot faster in parts of North Dakota and Montana, under traditional zero till conditions where they broadcast urea fertilizer. They find they’re acidifying the… Read More
Tag: Marla Riekman
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
There are plenty of buzzwords in farming and agriculture. More than just a word, however, is soil resiliency: what does it mean to have “resilient” soil? For this episode of The Agronomists, host Lyndsey Smith is joined by Anne Verhallen and Marla Riekman to discuss what makes a healthy soil, what makes up soil quality… 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
Her twitter handle is @MBsoilsleuth for a reason. Our guest for today’s RealAg LIVE! is a soil management specialist with Manitoba Agriculture and Resource Development. Marla Riekman joins our host Kara Oosterhuis to talk about all things soil compaction, what happens if a downpour arrives at a super dry soil, fertility in a dry year,… Read More
For many, December is a time to reflect, to really sit back and look at what the previous months looked like. What were the highs? What were the lows? Despite 2020 being the year it was — and one I certainly won’t forget in my lifetime — it was also a whole lot of fun… Read More
This Monday edition of RealAg Radio features a lot of agronomic info. We appreciate you tuning in! On the show you’ll hear: Don Flaten, professor emeritus of soil science at University of Manitoba, featured in an episode of Agronomy Geeks with Lyndsey Smith; Nate Ort of the Canola Council of Canada, on how to select… Read More
It’s time for our premiere episode of The Agronomists! This hour long, prime-time live show will run every Monday evening and be full of commentary, insight, and likely a few laughs. For this first episode, we kick things off with Peter “Wheat Pete” Johnson, RealAgriculture agronomist, and Marla Riekman, soil specialist with Manitoba Agriculture and… Read More
Soil moisture extremes over the last few years have caused soil salinity patches to expand in many fields. “Salinity is a water problem, not a salt problem,” stresses Marla Riekman, soil management specialist with Manitoba Agriculture and Rural Development, in the video below. While kochia, foxtail barley, and other saline-tolerant weeds are often the symptoms,… Read More
Spring is coming, and it always seems to creep up a little quicker than anticipated. After the year that was 2019, many producers are wondering how they are going to best deal with their soils moving into the season. Many across the Prairies that traditionally put down fall fertilizer or do tillage operations in the… Read More
It’s Agronomy Monday, which means we’re talking crops and soils. In this episode, recorded by a jet-setting host Shaun Haney, you’ll hear: Deb Campbell, Agronomy Advantage, on spring cereals and their management in Ontario; Soil nutrient levels after a wet fall, with Cristie Preston, senior agronomist with Nutrien; Soil health and nutrient planning decisions coming… Read More
Unless you’re someone who has a soil pit dug on the farm, it’s rare to see more than the top few inches of soil. But what exists below has a significant impact on what happens above, and the better we understand the characteristics of our soil, the better we can manage its potential and limitations…. Read More
Did you know tillage erosion is the most significant erosive effect that’s seen on the Canadian prairies? Marla Riekman, soil management specialist with Manitoba Agriculture, says that often the focus is around wind and water erosion when really, it should be tillage erosion. However, it’s not just how much you are tilling your land —… Read More
For anyone that’s ever done an agriculture diploma or degree, there’s likely a course that elicited groans when you’d see it on the schedule. For some it’s likely communications, for others maybe statistics, but for many it’s soil science. That was the case for Marla Riekman, which is ironic, given that she now serves as… Read More
Landscape restoration: do you do it? You might want to think about doing it, because chances are you’re losing yield if you don’t, according to Marla Riekman, land management specialist with Manitoba Agriculture. In the simplest terms, landscape restoration is moving soil back from where it came from. When growers use tillage year after year,… Read More