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Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada is conducting new research to find the best forage mixtures to plant to improve a variety of factors for producers.
Forages, News

Polycultures: A cocktail forage mix for semiarid prairies

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Producers rely on grazing native, tame perennial pastures or stockpiled forages to typically feed their cattle. Annual diverse forage mixtures give producers an opportunity to provide high quality feed while also gaining additional benefits for the soil and ecosystem. Polycultures could even be integrated into a crop rotation or used as green manure (working it […] Read more
Leaving crop residue and building soil through root growth ensures that rain won’t immediately hit exposed soil.
Features, Livestock

Water is our most important nutrient

From the Ground Up with Steve Kenyon

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Is it just me or has anyone else noticed the increased flooding around the globe? Am I the only one who notices the increasing number of droughts? My local area, according to government data, has had seven droughts in the last 11 years. We also had people kayaking in the grocery store parking lot a […] Read more
A teaspoon of productive soil generally contains anywhere from 100 million to one billion bacteria, says Dr. Elaine Ingham, microbiologist and founder of Soil Food Web Inc.
Crops, Features, Forages

Building healthy soil for forages

Research group targets five basic principles to improve soil health

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Feed the soil and everything gets better, says Brian Harper, Manitoba beef producer and 2018 Environmental Stewardship Award (TESA) winner. Harper’s focus has moved from the livestock, down to the plants and now to the soil and the below-ground activity. “I have realized the cattle are just a tool.” Many ranchers are starting to acknowledge […] Read more
The study tracks the performance of pregnant beef cows swath grazing a polycrop mixture versus straight barley.

Forages, News, News Roundup

Polycrop grazing goes under the microscope

Research: News Roundup from the November 2018 issue of Canadian Cattlemen

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Those wondering about polycrop potential to sequester carbon, improve soil health and benefit animal performance will have some answers by the fall of 2019 thanks to research underway at the University of Saskatchewan. Jacqueline Toews, a graduate student in the College of Agriculture and Bioresources, is halfway through a two-year study comparing the costs and […] Read more
Crop rejuvenation from livestock is highly important to building healthy soil.
Features, Livestock

A monoculture is ugly!

Grazing with Steve Kenyon

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Yes, I said it. I know, this goes against every fibre in your body. It goes against everything you learned in college. It goes against what your agrologist tells you. It goes against what your neighbours say and it definitely goes against what your salesman tells you. If that offends you, I am sorry but […] Read more
Crops

Four ways to increase your organic matter

A question that I hear a lot is, “How do cover crops fit into a grain operation?” Lots of grain farmers have no desire to get into the livestock business and no interest in producing hay. But many have some soil issues that need to be addressed. This can be done by buying more iron[...]
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Crops

Six factors to consider if your soil moisture level is low

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To date, all indications are pointing to a dry spring, given the below-average precipitation received in many areas of the Prairies this winter. There are exceptions to every rule of course, but a lot of farmers had relatively dry soils going into winter, so we asked some agronomists and provincial crop experts what factors could[...]
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Crops, Forages

Grass guys developing a forage carbon offset protocol

Forages: News Roundup from the February 2018 issue of Canadian Cattlemen

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Cedric MacLeod considers carbon sequestration through forages and grasslands and the soils they grow in as a long overdue, up-until-now-grossly-underplayed chit that Canada’s grass and forage producers can finally throw down and claim proper ownership on. “Our members grow forage, many run livestock and most plant annual crops too,” says MacLeod, executive director of the[...]
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I like to see mushrooms in my pastures as that is a sign to me that my mycorrhiza is also functioning. 
Crops, Features

Dealing with the mob

Grazing with Steve Kenyon

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A healthy soil is an incredibly complex ecosystem that we know very little about. There are millions and millions of interactions that occur within our soils. It is more complex and busier than a bookie in Vegas on fight night. I call this My Secret Underground Black Market and it is controlled by the plants.[...]
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Crops

Winners of Canada’s Outstanding Young Farmers for 2017 celebrated

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National winners for Canada’s Outstanding Young Farmer for 2017 were awarded on Dec. 1 to Derek & Tannis Axten of Axten Farms in Minton, Sask., and Véronique Bouchard & François Handfield of Ferme aux petits oignons at Mont-Tremblant, Que. “Once again, the seven regional finalists exceeded our expectations as innovative, forward thinking, young agricultural leaders. [...]
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AGCanadaTV: In Case You Missed It – Your National Ag News Recap for the week ending July 12, 2019

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