Healthy soils are the foundation for productive pulse crops, and understanding what’s happening beneath the surface is just as important as what’s happening above ground. Once the crop is in the bin, it’s time to look ahead to next year’s pulse crop plans, and that planning starts with an accurate soil test. Fall soil sampling,... Read More
Category: Soil
At AgSmart in Olds, Alberta, RealAgriculture caught up with Dr. Karthi Narayanan, technical director at Cropland Analytics, to talk about Soil Chek, a comprehensive soil analysis tool. Unlike traditional tests that focus mainly on chemistry, Soil Chek integrates physical, chemical, and biological properties to give farmers a clearer picture of soil function, he says. Narayanan... Read More
When the nights turn crisp and the drill is parked, is it still worth chasing green? This Ruminating with RealAg episode tackles the late-fall question: what to do when it feels “too late” to seed cover crops, and whether a few leaves before snowfall can still pay back in soil health or livestock feed. Host... Read More
Understanding soil starts with getting your hands dirty, and that’s exactly what Alberta Grains’ Lara de Moissac encourages growers to do. In this Soil School episode, de Moissac joins RealAgriculture from Lacombe, Alta., to demonstrate how farmers can assess soil texture on their own farms. While it’s easy to focus on what’s happening above ground,... Read More
On this episode of The Agronomists, host Lyndsey Smith is joined by Drs. Amelie Gaudin of University of California-Davis and Jordon Wade of Syngenta to discuss the complex, integrated world of soil and how organic matter is formed, broken down, utilized, and leveraged. They'll touch on livestock grazing and manure implications, rotation, the role of... Read More
When should you soil test? How many cores do you need? How does the nutrient you're testing for impact the sampling protocol? We get answers to these questions and more from Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Agribusiness corn specialist Ben Rosser and University of Guelph assistant professor Adrian Correndo on the latest episode of... Read More
"You're growing soil, that's your crop, and your plants and animals are tools to do that." In this episode of Ruminating with RealAg, Dr. Kris Nichols, founder and principal scientist of KRIS Systems, joins host Amber Bell to discuss the world beneath our boots. While the two discuss a lot of the finer details of... Read More
Dr. Don Flaten has been named the 2025 recipient of the Les Henry Award, a recognition established in 2024 to honour excellence in soil and water science across Western Canada. The award, named after the late Les Henry, celebrates individuals who demonstrate outstanding dedication to both research and its practical application in agriculture. Flaten, professor... Read More
In this episode of Ruminating with RealAg, host Amber Bell sits down with Jaime (Jim) Elizondo of Real Wealth Ranching to unpack the principles of “total grazing.” With decades of experience in dairy nutrition, agronomy, and accounting, Elizondo shares his global perspective on livestock productivity, soil regeneration, and adapting grazing systems to work with—not against—nature.... Read More
Findings of a new study suggests that Canadian prairie oat growers have got a good story to tell when it comes to the sustainability rating of the crops they grow. The Prairie Oat Growers Association (POGA) points to research from the Global Institute for Food Security (GIFS) at the University of Saskatchewan, which confirms that... Read More