By John McGregor, extension support for Manitoba Forage and Grasslands Association Supply shortages have become almost the norm for most of us. From the infamous toilet paper shortage back in 2020 to hay shortages presently, living with and planning for supply disruptions are becoming all too common. On the agricultural side, we read about supply... Read More
Category: Cover crops
How can you build soil organic matter? How long does it take and what's the impact on yield? University of Guelph researcher Laura Van Eerd and Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA) soil management specialist Anne Verhallen tackle these questions in this 2021 Ontario Diagnostic Days video report. The researchers visit Van... Read More
The science supporting what we know and don't know about soil health, nutrient cycling, and soil microbes builds every year. Not long ago, much of the soil management narrative focused on keeping soil covered (don't farm naked!) to minimize erosion risk and build soil. Now we know that while preventing or at least decreasing erosion... Read More
Two Manitoba groups have launched an initiative to connect livestock producers and grain producers through the Manitoba Grazing Exchange (MGE). The Manitoba Organic Alliance (MOA) and Manitoba Forage and Grassland Association (MFGA) says the grazing exchange website is designed to make it easier for livestock producers to connect with grain producers who have available grazing... Read More
What's in that snoil? That's snow and soil, in case you're wondering (AKA snirt). That's that "little" skiff of brown or black snow in ditches and in fact, there's a heck of a lot of good stuff in that snoil. From nutrients to organic matter, top soil moved by wind erosion is some of the... Read More
Cover crops deliver significant soil health and ground cover benefits, but they can often cause spring headaches when growers fail to kill them off in advance of corn and soybean planting. In this video report from Ontario Diagnostic Days 2021, Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs soil management specialists Anne Verhallen and Jake... Read More
How do you measure soil heath? On this episode of RealAgriculture's Soil School, OMAFRA soil scientist and land use specialist Dan Saurette joins Bernard Tobin to look at some of the assessment tools available to farmers and the type of insights they provide. One of the most well known soil health tests is Cornell’s Comprehensive... Read More
A comprehensive survey of farmers in Ontario suggests that once farmers incorporate cover crops in to the cropping strategy, they tend to stay in the rotation. That's according to the Ontario Cover Crop Feedback Survey, completed by graduate student Callum Morrison and advisor Yvonne Lawley with the University of Manitoba. They collaborated with the Ontario... Read More
Phosphorus is a key nutrient for crop production, and requires careful management to ensure there's enough P to feed a growing crop, but not so much that the nutrient moves off the field in run-off or soil movement. For what makes phosphorus management different versus say, nitrogen, we go to experts Dr. Merrin Macrae, professor... Read More
Whether or not you're farming healthy soils depends on many things, says Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food, and Rural Affairs soil specialist Anne Verhallen. When asked what makes a healthy soil, Verhallen says that growers need to think first about the qualities of their soil, including properties such as soil texture — are you farming... Read More