A call for connection
December 5, 2021
When I started in my role with SOILS AT GUELPH, someone gave me Simon Sinek’s book Start With Why. Sinek’s whole thesis is that “people don’t buy WHAT you do,
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News
Recipes for success with cover crops
December 3, 2021
In collaboration with the Midwest Cover Crops Council, SOILS AT GUELPH has launched the first installment of a 3-part miniseries called Cooking With Covers. The series explores three keys to success with cover crops, the first being: KEEP IT SIMPLE.
Past management impacts phosphorus availability
November 24, 2021
The corn-soybean rotation is the dominant cropping system on farmland throughout central Canada and the midwestern United States. However, long-term research shows that this rotation has lower crop yields, soil quality, resilience to climate change, and profitability.
Diversify crop rotations to improve yield and soil health
September 24, 2021
The corn-soybean rotation is the dominant cropping system on farmland throughout central Canada and the midwestern United States. However, long-term research shows that this rotation has lower crop yields, soil quality, resilience to climate change, and profitability.
What matters more
September 13, 2021
It’s been eighteen months. Eighteen months since students stepped foot here on the Guelph campus, eighteen months since I had a London Fog in the Summerlee Science Complex, eighteen months
Split nitrogen applications are an economic and environmental win-win in dry years
August 18, 2021
Nitrogen fertilizer use in agriculture has been increasing; unfortunately, the same is true for nitrogen losses to the environment. Weather, as well as the frequency and timing of nitrogen applications, can affect how efficiently nitrogen is used by the crop to produce yield and how much is lost. One way to improve nitrogen fertilizer use in corn is to split the application so that some is applied at planting and the rest is applied in the growing crop. Farmers can then adjust the rate and timing of the second application depending on the weather.
Hold your P! Measuring phosphorus loss from cover crops
July 19, 2021
Phosphorus is an essential nutrient for plant growth – including the algae that grow in rivers and lakes. When phosphorus is lost from agricultural soils into waterways, it can allow algae to grow rapidly, which causes problems for fish and humans.
Regrouping
June 7, 2021
You can’t stay on the mountaintop forever. After an incredible start to 2021 with the Midwest Cover Crops Council Conference in February, we’ve been taking time to review, recoup, and
Estimating soil’s ability to hold water by combining field sensor measurements
June 4, 2021
Plants can’t access all of the water that’s stored in the soil. Some water is held tightly in very small pores, some water freely drains through large pores, and some is held loosely by the soil so that it isn’t lost but plants can still use it.
Nitrogen inhibitors reduced N2O emissions without permanently changing soil microbial communities
April 13, 2021
Using fertilizer efficiently is vital for managing agroecosystems sustainably. It makes the most of crop productivity while protecting the environment. As agriculture has intensified, the use of synthetic nitrogen (N) fertilizers has increased.
