Latest Newsletter

Tag Archives soil health — page 11

File photo of Ontario cropland from the air. (IMNATURE/iStock/Getty Images)
Crops

Federal NDP introduces soil health bill

Proposal calls for a National Soil Health Advocate

By
The federal New Democrats propose to set up a plan they say could help build up Canadian agriculture from the ground down. The NDP’s agriculture critic, British Columbia MP Alistair MacGregor, on Monday introduced a private member’s bill in the Commons to create a national soil health strategy for Canada. The strategy as proposed in […] Read more
Soil sampling data are the foundation of FarmLab’s carbon sequestration ambitions.
News

Data needed to cash in on carbon credits

An Australian company wants to digitize soil test results for farmer use and monitoring

By
Glacier FarmMedia – To monetize carbon sequestration, farmers must prove they are doing it. That means data, tracked over time. From a soil science perspective, the benefits of carbon in terms of fertility and microbiology are well known, said Sam Duncan, chief executive officer of FarmLab in Armidale, Australia. It’s the reason soil carbon levels […] Read more
There are consistent yield benefits for following crops when wheat is in a rotation.
Crops

Finding the tools to build soil

Intensifying wheat production can help make the soil-building crop more profitable

By
Wheat and cover crops may not be the most profitable of cash cows, but the indirect benefits to grain growers’ bottom lines are significant.  Keeping winter wheat in the rotation, that is, has been shown to consistently boost both corn and soybean yields in Ontario. Those numbers go even higher when red clover is also […] Read more
Cover crop systems can take five years to learn and establish.
Crops

Cash flow and cover crops

Adaptation and experience reduce upfront costs and improve returns

By
Cover crops are environmentally beneficial but to determine if they pay for themselves, growers need to provide detailed data on costs and revenue.  Aaron Breimer, general manager for Deveron’s Chatham-based Veritas Farm Management, says his experience with cover crops highlights the need to repeatedly verify a practice before concluding whether it’s profitable or not.  Why […] Read more
News

Cricket frass has bio-stimulant properties

By
A&L Biological Inc., a subsidiary of A&L Canada Laboratories Inc., is going to research and develop products from cricket frass. The Aspire Food Group is building a cricket production and processing facility in London.  Frass contains a wide range of nutrients in readily-available form that are necessary for plant development and soil health, in addition […] Read more
This graph from preliminary ONFARM program data, shows that organic matter varies across fields, often based on slope.
Crops

ONFARM project delivers baseline data

Farms that are part of the program are sharing data on their research

By
The On-Farm Applied Research and Monitoring (ONFARM) four-year research program has begun delivering results and data. ONFARM established 33 cooperator sites, eight edge of field (EOF) sites, 25 best management practice (BMP) sites, and a baseline data set in its first year.  “It really represents a great starting point to look ahead to the rest […] Read more
Crop and feed analysis can tell a soil health story
Crops

Crop and feed analysis can tell a soil health story

U.S. farmer puts focus on tissue testing

By
Long-time organic agriculture advocate Gary Zimmer believes he can come up with the perfect recipe for his Otter Creek Farm’s soil health. They look at plant tissue and feed tests. Feed tests should include a full mineral analysis, plus feed digestibility, said the founder of the Wisconsin-based Midwestern Bio-Ag crop and livestock input supplier at […] Read more
Cover crops were swathed at the South Dakota Lakes Research Farm and will be grazed over the winter.
Crops

Let nature direct ecosystem health

Researcher says agriculture needs to learn from how water, soil function in nature

By
I have learned more from observing Nature than by trying to change it,” said Dwayne Beck. Beck, the research manager at Dakota Lakes Research Farm (DLRF) in Pierre, South Dakota, spoke at the Canadian Forage and Grassland Association conference. Why it matters: Learning how to manage for better soil health is critical for future generations […] Read more
Sarah Hargreaves and her husband Drake Larsen use the landscape design to drive the movement of their small sheep flock and cattle herd on their 50-acre farm, Three Ridges Ecological Farm near Aylmer, Ont.
Livestock, News

Soil’s processes need to be understood to build organic matter

Increasing soil health is a highly complex process tied to chemical and biological cycles

By
To understand the paradigm shift in the production of soil organic matter you’re going to have to dig a little deeper. “Soil organic matter (SOM) is intimately linked to soil health, to ecosystem health, to planetary health and it has influences on the physical, chemical and biological properties of the soil,” Sarah Hargreaves, Ecological Farmers […] Read more
Mike Swidersky grazed weaned sheep on a clover cover crop which was underseeded in wheat.
Livestock, News

Relationships crucial for farm-to-farm cover crop grazing

Neighboring farmers find mutual benefit in livestock grazing, farming arrangement

By
There’s opportunity for the grazing of cover crops, whether it’s livestock farmers using their own cropland and animals, or offering services to cash-cropping neighbours. That was the overarching message delivered over three successive Tuesday evening Zoom meetings, hosted through November by the Cover Crop Grazing Committee — a collaboration between OMAFRA, Beef Farmers of Ontario, […] Read more

Cyber-Savvy Farmer

Glacier Farmmedia Podcast