Digging into Research
In this study, foliar phosphorus (P) application was unable to substitute for seed-placed P. Overall, foliar P had a marginal effect on grain yield, P uptake and seed nutritional value. Generally, little research has been conducted in western Canada to assess the potential of foliar-applied phosphorus...
A sprayable micronized elemental sulphur fertilizer applied prior to seeding showed potential for correcting nutrient deficiencies in canola compared to application of ammonium sulphate fertilizer. However, not even ammonium sulphate resulted in a significant difference in yield due to constraints of dry or excessively wet...
Vegetative filter strips, or buffers, were effective at retaining phosphorus after a runoff event during the growing season but not in the spring or fall outside the growing season. The findings of this study suggest that vegetative filter strips are inconsistent and not likely to...
Starter nitrogen (N) up to 75 lbs. N/ac broadcast and incorporated before planting a Maturity Group 00 soybean cultivar found no differences in biomass, grain protein, or oil content. There was no yield response for treatments receiving starter N fertilizer relative to the unfertilized control...
After seven years of pre-seed glyphosate application in a wheat-wheat or wheat-pea rotation, in min-till or no-till, there were few effects on the wheat rhizobacterial communities. Due to widespread adoption of no-till management and use of glyphosate-resistant transgenic crops, glyphosate is the most widely used herbicide...
[Editorial Note: This 26-site research study was conducted across the Prairies 20 years ago, but results and lessons learned are still applicable today.] In-crop application of 14 lbs. N/ac of broadcast ammonium nitrate or foliar-applied UAN were generally equally effective at increasing grain protein content in...
Research was conducted in southern Alberta to look at the effects of long term feedlot manure application on irrigated barley yield, macronutrient supply, earthworm abundance, and water extractable carbon in a clay loam soil. Two to 3 years after manure application was stopped, barley silage...
Placing phosphate fertilizer in the seed row has its challenges because seed damage can occur at fairly low rates. Rather than short the crop with a low seed-placed rate, this study found that the full recommended rate placed outside the seed row is the better...
This one-year study supports previous recommendations that in-soil banding of nitrogen fertilizers during seeding or near to the time of seeding is a best management practice to enhance nitrogen use efficiency (NUE). Increasing farm size in western Canada has led many farmers to move back to...
Heavy tillage can increase soil compaction, reduce soil strength and reduce canola yields, especially when carried out under higher moisture conditions and in the spring, prior to planting. Excessive precipitation and limited drying weather around the time of various field operations (ex. seeding, input application and...
