Shelterbelts and hedgerows reduce emissions of greenhouse gas by an average of 89 per cent
Both dead and alive, trees are an essential ally for farmers in helping the environment, a new University of Alberta study shows. Preserving and planting shelterbelts and hedgerows – and keeping the deadwood they contain – next to cropland helps store carbon and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. “Retaining those live and dead trees, and planting…
If 200,000 truckers scared him into introducing the Emergencies Act, what will he do when 650,000 angry farmers descend on Ottawa?
Are Manitobans tired of suffering from high food prices at the grocery store? Well, the Trudeau government believes it is your God-given right to suffer even more as it imposes ever more onerous climate policies on farmers. The Trudeau government announced at a recent meeting with other levels of government that it has plans to…
Helping insects survive is more valuable than practically anything else we do to help nature
I recently wrote about haying and the delicate balance between harvesting a crop and protecting nesting birds. Today, I would like to offer some advice to help us protect the beauty and functionality of our properties while simultaneously protecting wildlife. Why should we care? Wildlife is more than just an attractive feature of the landscape;…
Chickpeas are nutritional powerhouses for consumers who don’t necessarily opt for animal proteins
Since the start of the pandemic, we have heard about shortages countless times. Most sections of the grocery store have been hit by tightening supplies for one reason or another. But the latest headlines we are seeing are about chickpeas. Many analysts are expecting chickpea inventories to drop significantly in months to come. For westerners,…
Increases phosphorus needed for plant growth and reproduction
A new study is the first to show on a global scale that conserving plant diversity boosts a nutrient crucial for healthy land, including productive croplands. An analysis of 180 studies done worldwide on farm fields, grasslands, forests and pot-grown experiments showed that overall, mixtures of diverse plant species increased the availability of phosphorus in…
The Trudeau government is out of touch with the issues and deficiencies of intercity transportation in Canada
The familiar sound of a passenger train can once again be heard in areas of Northern Ontario that are served by VIA Rail Canada. The Crown corporation officially restored passenger rail services to pre-pandemic levels after more than two years of on-again, off-again, limited or indefinitely suspended train schedules. Life appears to have returned to…
Knowing birds' behaviour and nesting habits allows nesting and mowing to coexist
Every year about his time I feel sadness for the many birds and small mammals killed by haying. I know there are many and varied reasons why fields are cut, and I respect that, so please don’t think I am criticizing farmers. Mowing hay fields is a necessary and important part of agriculture. We forget…
Digging into decades’ worth of data to gauge soil health across the province
A new project is, for the first time, harnessing information from thousands of soil samples into one big database to get an idea of how healthy the province’s agricultural soils are. The two-year initiative brings together decades of data collection on soil samples from 44 benchmark sites across the province so that they can be…
There’s currently only one genetic defence to protect from wheat midge – but researchers want to change that
Agricultural scientists in Western Canada are teaming up to give wheat a boost of built-in resistance to a destructive pest. “Wheat midge is the number one insect pest threatening wheat crops across Western Canada,” says James Harynuk, a professor in the University of Alberta’s Faculty of Science. Harynuk notes that wheat midge can cause about $60…
The large-scale study adds to the understanding of how different grazing practices affect the land
The way ranchers graze their cattle doesn’t make much difference in plant diversity on the land, according to a U of A study. That’s important because plant diversity is a useful metric to gauge the resilience of a landscape, including rangeland used by cattle producers, says Jessica Grenke, first author of the study. Researchers compared adaptive…