February 5, 2015
The CCC agronomy team asked Mario Tenuta, the University of Manitoba’s Canada research chair in applied soil ecology, if preserving soil health really matters, or can soil degradation be corrected simply by adding more fertilizer. His answer: “If growers ignore soil health, input costs will go up. Increased inputs can compensate and keep up with soil degradation for quite a…
February 5, 2015
The CCC agronomy team asked Mario Tenuta, the University of Manitoba’s Canada research chair in applied soil ecology, if continuous canola can actually create a canola-friendly soil environment. His answer: “There are several examples where continuous cropping of other crops have created a soil microbial population that can keep down soil-borne diseases. Can the same happen with canola? Likely. However,…
December 10, 2014
Whether you applied some fertilizer in the fall or apply it all in the spring, winter is a good time to assess your crop nutrition situation and make field plans and purchase decisions for the upcoming year. Here are some considerations the CCC team discussed in preparation for this month’s Canola Watch…
November 5, 2014
Nitrogen is quite mobile in the soil, and amounts can fluctuate year to year and depth to depth. Although some growers have success by using removal rates and target yields when making N decisions, a soil sample can be a great indicator and a good way to ensure intended rates aren’t too high or too low. When determining how much…
November 5, 2014
Microbial processes in the soil slow down as temperatures cool. Therefore, sampling late in the fall will provide a close representation of nutrient levels at seeding next spring. Fall soil tests give growers time to process samples and get results and recommendations. That information can be used to develop a fertilizer program for this fall or next spring…
November 5, 2014
A risk with fall application of nitrogen fertilizer is that denitrification and leaching will remove a large percentage of the applied fertilizer before seeding starts in the spring. This is a legitimate risk, as losses compared to a time-of-seeding application can be 30-40% in moist and warm conditions. To reduce this risk…
October 8, 2014
Green blues. By October, getting crop off becomes the priority. Green seed is unlikely to turn anymore unless a lot of moisture (snow?) comes, in which case harvest may be delayed until spring. Cool days, but hot bins. Canola binned hot will retain that heat for weeks and likely months, with the risk of storage losses rising with each passing…
October 8, 2014
The key strategy of fall fertilization is to store nitrogen over the winter in the ammonium form – which is held on clay and organic matter – and is referred……
October 8, 2014
Take fall samples when soil temperatures drop below 10°C, or cooler. Because microbial processes in the soil slow down as temperatures cool, sampling late in the fall will provide a close representation of nutrient levels at seeding next spring. The cooler the better when sampling, but you want to make sure you can still get the probe down 24”. Submit…
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