Drought in Alberta is stretching into its fourth year and farmers and oil companies are planning for water restrictions that threaten production of wheat, beef and crude.
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Tag Archives water
Farmers, oil drillers in parched Alberta brace for water shortage
Drought could cause double-digit declines in Alberta's wheat yields, data suggests
Recycling livestock manure into clean water and nutrients
A technology that separates the liquid and solid components of manure allows farmers to benefit from its value
An Alberta company used its expertise in contaminated soil cleanup to create an innovative solution to recycle livestock manure into clean water and high value nutrients. At approximately 75 per cent water, managing liquid manure is complex and expensive, so much of its potential is unused. Growing regulatory pressure regarding manure limits farm expansion in […] Read more
Opinion: For want of fresh water
Fresh water is a hidden challenge and opportunity for global supply chains
Reports of lengthy shipping delays for vessels traveling through the Panama Canal this year have highlighted the critical but often overlooked role that fresh water plays across global supply chains. Abnormally dry conditions in Panama, brought on by El Niño, left the region drought-stricken and sent water levels in the locks that feed the canal […] Read more
How microplastics are making their way into our farmland
Across nine provinces and 22 wastewater treatment plants, the problem was universal
Microplastic pollution is a global environmental problem that is ubiquitous in all environments, including air, water and soil. Microplastics are readily found in treated wastewater sludge, also known as municipal biosolids, that eventually make their way to our agricultural soils. Our recent investigation of microplastic levels in Canadian municipal biosolids found that a single gram […] Read more
Monitoring dairy cows’ water use has benefits
Maximizing water use efficiency should be a priority, says AAFC researcher
Small changes can pay big dividends in water use on dairy farms, both financially and in preserving water quality and supply. Determining where to make those changes often takes careful monitoring and investigation. That was one of the messages delivered during the Southwestern Ontario Dairy Symposium earlier this year by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada researcher […] Read more
NASA to conduct first global water survey from space
Data would bolster weather and climate forecasts
Los Angeles | Reuters — A NASA-led international satellite mission was set for blastoff from southern California early on Thursday on a major Earth science project to conduct a comprehensive survey of the world’s oceans, lakes and rivers for the first time. Dubbed SWOT, short for Surface Water and Ocean Topography, the advanced radar satellite […] Read more
Soil moisture more critical than rainfall to estimate climate impact
Science Notes: Evaporation, infiltration and runoff can result in dramatic differences
You don’t need a PhD in agriculture to know that water is critical to crop production. But for years, people like Jonathan Proctor, who has a PhD in Agriculture and Resource Economics from the University of California Berkeley, have been trying to explain why the importance of water isn’t showing up in statistical models of […] Read more
American drainage studies show broad scale of returns on investments
Long-term data collection shows yield benefits and more effective soil conservation
Glacier FarmMedia – Two long-term research studies show a significant return on investment of tile drainage in American cropping conditions in the Midwest. Eileen Kladivko of Purdue University published an update on a 35-year study on a 15-acre plot of poorly drained silt loam soil in Indiana where tile drainage was installed. When the study […] Read more
Managing to get the most from available water
Tips for keeping it in the ground to make it accessible to crop roots
Water is the most important limiting input for crop production. In more than a couple of the past years, producers across the province have been forced to watch while their crops suffer from dry conditions in the heat of summer. Other than irrigation (which is rare for field crops in Ontario), there’s really nothing we […] Read more
Wastewater regulation eased for Nova Scotia on-farm processing
Nova Scotia has introduced regulatory changes that allow on-farm processing operations to better manage wastewater on their smaller scale. The changes, which took effect May 11, come at the request of the Nova Scotia Federation of Agriculture (NSFA) — which has said that owners of small farm-level processing facilities shouldn’t be treated the same as […] Read more
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