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Tag Archives Agricultural soil science — page 3

Don Lobb testifying at the Senate committee on Agriculture and Forestry in 2019.
News

Senate committee hears that soils need new priority

Soil experts testify that the federal government should take a greater role in soil research and data management

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The Senate committee on Agriculture and Forestry recently heard that agricultural soil is declining, and the issue needs more attention from the federal government. Five presenters, including several from Ontario, told the committee that trends to less tillage have declined as crop prices have generally been strong and farms have grown larger. Why it matters: […] Read more
This image shows how AAFC is using machine learning to design sampling locations, based on predictive soil maps. This is on the Upper Medway Watershed within the Thames River basin.
Crops

Information from above

The quest is on to obtain more detailed soil type and topography data on Ontario croplands from satellites

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If farm agencies in Ontario were to make an information wish list, it would likely include detailed and up-to-date soil and topographical data. This information would, among other things, help farmers to achieve higher yields through better crop management, says Ontario Federation of Agriculture President Keith Currie. Why it matters: Ontario’s soil maps are many […] Read more
Cover crops can help keep soil from getting too hot and too cool too quickly in the fall.
Crops

Keeping cool under cover a benefit of cover crops

American farmers use cover crops to moderate soil temperature

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Cover crops can positively affect a wide range of soil health characteristics. According to some American farmers, the ability of cover crops to moderate soil temperature is also important but less visually noticeable. Why it matters: Extreme soil temperatures limit biological activity. Keeping the ground covered helps moderate those swings, benefitting crops. According to Adam […] Read more
A rye crop is roller crimped before organic soybean planting.
Crops

Riding the learning curve on organic no-till

Farmers are pushing the boundaries of roller-crimping winter rye and direct seeding soybeans behind

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Planting soybeans into a just-terminated cover crop of winter rye is gaining popularity among Ontario’s organic community, as farmers strive to introduce minimum-till strategies into their rotations. No-till planting has so far not become common in any other crops under organic production — in which farmers typically rely upon tillage instead of chemical inputs to […] Read more
A juvenile gray garden slug munches on a soybean plant, from the presentation John Tooker gave at FarmSmart recently in Guelph.
Crops

Taking out slugs without more insecticides

Slugs can be a challenge in minimal and no-till fields, where greater tillage isn’t an option

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Most of the acreage in Pennsylvania is no-till and that means slugs can be a huge issue. This has become such an issue that growers are reverting to using more tillage, said John Tooker, of the department of entomology at Penn State University He spoke at the recent FarmSmart Conference at the University of Guelph. […] Read more
Lake Erie, the shallowest of the Great Lakes, is most at risk from phosphorus loading.
Crops

The importance of voluntary 4R nutrient management

Agriculture has a chance to manage phosphorus load in waterways, before regulations arrive

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As nutrient runoff into Lake Erie and other waterways continues to be a major public environmental issue, veteran agronomists say voluntarily adopting 4R Nutrient Stewardship is more important than ever. Why it matters: Veteran agronomists say Ontario farmers must voluntarily adopt industry-driven 4R Nutrient Stewardship before more stringent and costly government regulations on nutrient runoff […] Read more
Warren Schneckenburger finished up his strip tilling for 2018 in early December.
Crops, News

Eastern Ontario farmer named 2019 Innovative Farmer of the Year

Warren Schneckenburger places emphasis on minimizing tillage and compaction on his farm

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Warren Schneckenburger’s attention to soil health, environmental stewardship and progressive production has resulted in winning the 2019 Ontario Innovative Farmer of the Year award presented by the Innovative Farmer Association of Ontario (IFAO). The IFAO cited Schneckenburger’s commitment to soil health and environmental stewardship through his practice of no-till soybeans and wheat, strip-tilled corn and […] Read more
Maurice Chauvin and the a Salford RTS machine that he uses on his farm.
Crops

Curiosity and care guide farm’s principles

The Chauvin farm takes a long-term view on measures like soil organic matter

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The Essex Soil and Crop Improvement Association recently bestowed its 2018 Conservation Farm of the Year award to Maurice (Moe) Chauvin, a sixth-generation grain farmer from Pointe-aux-Roches (known as Stoney Point to Anglophones). The award is granted annually to a farm within Essex County that displays conservation-minded management practices. For Chauvin, adopting such practices starts […] Read more
Ann Vermeersch and her family use variable rate technology especially for lime application on their farm.
Crops

Measuring savings from variable rate

Farmers suggest finding areas on the farm where precision technology makes sense

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Sometimes new tech is employed for what some farmers dub “the cool factor.” For most, though, the adoption of precision farming strategies largely relies on a rather dogged question – namely, does it pay? In many cases the answer remains elusive. This reality has been cited as a major contributing factor to slow rate of […] Read more
Burying sensors in the soil and running machines over top, like this demonstration at Canada’s Outdoor Farm Show, 
helps engineers establish tire inflation pressure guidelines to minimize soil compaction problems.
Machinery

Looking for machinery compaction data

Ontario team working to establish tire inflation guidelines

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Preventing soil compaction is something farmers should keep in mind, particularly with the scale of modern farm equipment. At Canada’s Outdoor Farm Show in Woodstock, Ont., Alex Barrie, engineer in training with the Ontario Environmental Management Branch, demonstrated his group’s efforts to study the impact equipment can have on the soil. They have been conducting […] Read more

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