News and updates

Last week, we did some winter seeding, part of a new project! Mike Gretzinger, Farming Smarter's Research Coordinator, tests the soil's temperature before doing some winter seeding. This early seeding was done for an Ultra Early Canadian Western Amber Durum Seeding Systems trial for Dr. Brian Beres of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada.

I think even farmers expect work life to settle down when the winter winds blow, but it really doesn't!

Over at the Farming Smarter research farm, it seems to get busier and, with the growth of the organization in recent years, it was time to institute Monday morning check ins.

Just west of Enchant, AB, there is a thriving example of how crop farming and mature wildlife habitat can coexist and complement each other. Stamp Farms farm two sections of leased land under seven  pivots.

David Montgomery spoke at the Farming Smarter conference in 2015. His message is still valid today and this is still a good book recommendation!

The majority of the prairie soils are considered marginal to deficient in the plant-available phosphorus content required for crop production. Thus, farmers routinely apply phosphorus-containing fertilizers and manure to their fields to meet crop requirements.

Our glyphosate-resistant kochia project is out of the ground and getting ready for the next year!

This is a good year to talk about making your farm resilient and the role Farming Smarter can play in helping you make that happen! The good ol' Oxford Dictionary defines resilient as "able to withstand or recover quickly from difficult conditions."

Our Fusarium Head Blight crop rotation project wrapped for the winter, and we've been looking at the data!

Will Van Roessel became a Board Director in March 2021. Will and Jean, his wife, operate Specialty Seeds Ltd. in Bow Island.

Farming Smarter Office Manager Shelly Barclay manages the heck out of all things related to money and contracts. If you've had reason to deal with Shelly on that front, you know you received exactly what you needed.

Online sales; home delivery; drive-through farmers' markets; chef-curated ingredient boxes; pop-up mini-stores; restaurant prepared meal-kits; CSA boxes that include recipes, sauces, even wine or craft beer: consumers are turning to all sorts of new ways to shop and eat these days.

Our Cover Crops project is finishing its fourth year, the final of our scheduled timeline.

As winter looms ever closer, it's a good time to think about our soil health come spring. The biggest advantage of cover crops is the benefits they bring to soil nutrients & the general health of the soil.

As public pressure increased against the use of neonicotinoids in agriculture, we wanted to plan for the worst-case scenario. In 2020, we set out to evaluate potential losses and test the best available alternative management strategies to mitigate loss.

Nathan along with his brothers, Matthew, Greg, and father Richard, own and operate Stamp Farms and Stamp Seeds. They grow, clean and retail certified seed to customers across Canada. Nathan manages the farming operation and crop production side of the business.

Trevor Deering's direction when he started post-secondary education aimed him at a totally different career, but after his first semester, he found it was not what he wanted. So, he took time to investigate and study alternatives and landed on Agriculture Studies.

Farming Smarter has been researching the benefits of deep banding nutrients, as well as precision planting in canola and pulse crops. For the past two years, Dhillon has been one of the researchers leading this endeavour.

When we started this project, yield trends were improving with the adoption of better genetics and agronomic practices. The downside was that soils were turning up deficient of nutrients in critical periods. Our hypothesis was that immobile nutrients were accumulating near the surface of the soil.

Besides nitrogen, phosphorus is one of the most critical essential elements for adequate crop growth and productivity in agricultural ecosystems.

In this day and age, misinformation can be easier to find than information! It's important to build up a database of trusted sources for credible information. In our day-to-day lives, a lot of us encounter circumstances that require us to think critically.

The Hail Damage Simulation project results are published! Read it in the Canadian Journal of Plant Science!

No till, cover crops and wind breaks all play a role in mitigating wind soil erosion on The Prairies, but are they equally effective? Allowing soil to blow has negative effects, so it's important for producers to determine the best practices to ensure they are protecting this resource.

Rolling barley impact your yield and help your equipment! Our project is investigating the best time to roll your barley plots. Rolling barley pushes rocks into the soil, avoiding damage when it comes time to silage the field.

Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada has released the Guide to Pest Wireworms in Canadian Prairie Field Crop Production. With this field guide, you'll be able to easier identify wireworm damage in your fields, develop strategy plans to mitigate the damage, and better protect your field!