The 2024 planting season started out very wet in most of Ontario. It was often difficult to know whether poor-looking crops or soil conditions were caused by compaction or by rain that just kept coming. When two weeks of generally dry weather allowed most of the water to get away, widespread areas showed unmistakable signs […] Read more
Tag Archives Soil — page 2
Compaction almost unavoidable during wet 2024 spring
It’s too early to fix most affected areas, best to wait until harvest
Senate report calls for soil strategy, national soil advocate
The two-year study recognizes conservation efforts over recent decades but finds there is more to be done
A recently released Senate committee report says Canada requires a long-term soil conservation and protection strategy. Ontario Senator Rob Black said the strategy is a priority among the report’s 25 recommendations and should contain concrete targets, regularly reviewed timelines and provisions, a government-appointed national soils advocate, and designation of soil as a strategic national asset. […] Read more
Prairie soil scientist and author Les Henry, 83
Henry's outreach to farmers spanned more than half a century
Glacier FarmMedia — Saskatchewan soil scientist Les Henry, well known for his work on improving Prairie farmland and his outreach to Prairie farmers in the pages of Grainews, has died. Ending a long fight with congestive heart failure, Henry died Friday in Saskatoon at age 83, having continued to write until very shortly before his […] Read more
Temperatures are rising, but soil is getting wetter. Why?
Science Notes: Research finds precipitation, rather than temperature, explains soil moisture trends
Soil moisture can determine how quickly a wildfire spreads, how fast a hill turns into a mudslide and, perhaps most importantly, how productive our food systems are. As temperatures rise due to human-caused climate change, some researchers are concerned that soils will dry. However, between 2011 and 2020, soil moisture increased across 57 per cent of the United […] Read more
Ruth Butt was a soil health champion
Proceeds from farm sale donated to Soil Conservation Council of Canada
A recent donation by Woodstock’s Rev. Ruth Butt led to the creation of a Canada-wide committee dubbed “Soil Champions.” The Ontario agriculture community certainly lost a soil health “champion” with her passing on Dec. 15, 2023. She was 96. “It wasn’t necessarily planned out this way, but when you look back on her life, there […] Read more
Perspectives on farming in the Great Clay Belt
There are issues with infrastructure and soils as well as location
It’s often said that farming is not for the faint of heart, and that goes double for working land in the Great Clay Belt. In an area three to four hours north of Ontario’s “near north,” the Cochrane-to-Kapuskasing region has the attention of many involved in agriculture, but the stark realities can quickly change peoples’ […] Read more
The prospect of farming in the Great Clay Belt
It may be too daunting for some, but the potential is there
It’s an area larger than the total acreage now farmed in Ontario, yet the prospect of clearing, tiling and bringing the 16 million acres of the Great Clay Belt to productivity is questionable, if not daunting. It has taken producers in Ontario’s ‘Near North’ region of Temiskaming Shores, Earlton and Englehart more than 50 years […] Read more
Expanding knowledge about cover cropping effects
Tour hosted by Soils@Guelph puts current research efforts on display
Cover crops’ effects on water runoff and greenhouse gas emissions were among projects seen by visitors to the University of Guelph’s Soils@Guelph research plots. Why it matters: Soils@Guelph has been building its profile and works with innovative farmers interested in hosting on-farm trials or providing feedback about research priorities. In late September, the Soils@Guelph team […] Read more
Genetic engineering of microbes lower fertilizer dependence
Science Notes: Nitrogen-fixing microbes could help crops pull nitrogen from the air
Helping crops acquire nitrogen from the air could be a sustainable solution to meeting crop nutrient requirements with less synthetic fertilizer. A team of bacteriologists and plant scientists from the University of Wisconsin-Madison have written a paper that discusses the possibility of using genetic engineering to facilitate mutualistic relationships between plants and nitrogen-fixing microbes called […] Read more
Assessing strength, building on foundation key to soil health
Crop advisor says soil health options will vary by farm and by economics
Lee Briese’s soil health principles build upon five pillars: soil armour, minimizing disturbance, diversity, continuous living roots, and livestock integration. “I don’t find these to be laws, commandments or requirements for soil health management,” he said. “These are nice guidelines to help guide some of the practices.” During a July webinar, the North Dakota crop […] Read more
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