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Right to left, foreground: Katie Stammler, ERCA’s water quality scientist and source water protection project manager, Michael Dick, agricultural technician for ERCA and secretary-treasurer for Essex Soil and Crop, and Chris Snip, certified crop advisor with Agris Cooperative’s Cottam location, discussing observations gathered from an 
early-seeded oat-radish cover crop mix.
News

Extension program shuttered amid Conservation Act changes

Essex Region Conservation Authority forced to close Amherstburg demonstration farm

By
A last hurrah for the Essex Region Conservation Authority’s demonstration farm took place Aug. 1, where visitors could explore the use of cover crops and the intricacies of managing them on heavy clay soils. The shuttering of the farm, located in Amherstburg and in operation since 1996, is in part due to changes implemented by […] Read more
Under rainy skies on July 18, 2023 at Ag in Motion, Justine Cornelsen of Brett Young Seeds discusses soybeans’ evolving Canadian acreage base. (Glacier FarmMedia video screengrab)
Crops

At Ag in Motion: Soybean proponents still eye western expansion

Crop seen as a good add to rotations -- if conditions are right

By
While canola is king of the Canadian oilseed market, the same can be said of soybeans in the United States. However, the big pulse crop south of the border has made inroads in the western provinces. Manitoba has seen the biggest growth in soybean acres with well over a million planted annually in recent years, […] Read more
(Okea/iStock/Getty Images)

At Ag in Motion: New ‘Soil Champions’ team to promote soil health

'Societies live and die by soil'

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A new group of “Soil Champions” has been formed to promote the benefits of soil health. This new committee — announced Wednesday at the Ag in Motion farm show at Langham, Sask. — will work to ensure the care and protection of Canada’s agricultural soil through education, knowledge transfer, forums for collaboration and other activities. […] Read more
Images of root chemicals offer new insights on plant growth
Crops, News

Images of root chemicals offer new insights on plant growth

Science Notes: “Roadmap” lays out where key molecules are distributed along stem cells of corn plant roots

By
Applying an advanced imaging technology used in cancer treatment to plant roots, researchers at the University of California San Diego and Stanford University have developed a new understanding of essential root chemicals responsible for plant growth. Using a type of mass spectrometer, a study led by UC San Diego Biological Sciences postdoctoral scholar Tao Zhang […] Read more
A handful of soil health projects have secured funding for the next five years in the hope of kick starting soil health practices in the field. (Assiniboine Community College photo)
Crops

Multi-million-dollar fund greenlights soil health projects

Eight projects to push soil health practices will get funding for the next five years

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Eight soil health projects across Canada will be getting a multi-million-dollar boost in private funding over the next five years. The Weston Family Foundation — the philanthropic arm of the Weston business empire — has slated $10 million for those eight projects through the organization’s soil health initiative, it was announced Feb. 13. The initiative […] Read more
John Poel, left, provincial director to OSCIA's Heartland region, accepts a cheque from Trillium Insurance representatives Mike Brine and Angela De Groot. The donation was made Aug. 5 during a Compaction Day event at Rostock.
News

Mobile Soil Technology Suite hits the road to farm events

OSCIA offers use of unit and technicians to organizations

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A pair of trailers packed with state-of-the-art soil science and audio-visual equipment had what was referred to by Ontario Soil and Crop Improvement Association (OSCIA) officials as a “kick-off” on July 13 in Bothwell. Based on the rave reviews received there and at later events in Elora and Rostock, they’re confident the Mobile Soil Technology […] Read more
A grain storage bin lay on a gravel road near Litchfield, Nebraska, about 230 km west of Lincoln, after high winds swept across the U.S. Great Plains and upper Midwest, in this still image from a social media video. (Kevin Fulton image via Reuters)
Crops

Dust storm, hurricane-force winds tear across U.S. upper Midwest

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Chicago | Reuters — Hurricane-force winds tore across the U.S. upper Midwest Thursday evening, sending walls of dust across cities and rural towns, causing widespread property damage and killing at least two people. Straight-line winds up to 170 km/h reached from Kansas to Wisconsin, pushing waves of farmland topsoil across the horizon and plunging communities […] Read more
Corn seedlings.
Crops

Looking for carbon sequestration answers

U.S. farmers could soon be paid for sequestering carbon, which could put Canadian farmers at another subsidy disadvantage

By
Canadian farmers are worried their American neighbours are on the cusp of getting yet another competitive advantage, this time over carbon management. Farmers in this country are not only paying carbon taxes on many of their farm inputs, they are not receiving any credits for the carbon sequestered in their soils. Meanwhile, American legislators are […] Read more

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