Soil testing window closing with winter temperatures

Apr 13, 2018

With extended winter conditions across the prairies, the window for spring soil testing may become even shorter.

Soil testing is recommended to determine what nutrient levels are in the ground for the crop.

Most farmers do their soil tests in the fall, but some take samples again to double-check those results before seeding.

Allie Noble, an Agricultural Extension Spokesperson for the Ministry of Agriculture, says those doing spring soil tests should get out right when the ground has started to thaw out.

"For spring seeded fields it's best to do your testing just once the soil has thawed," she said. "It's not entirely based on how warm the soils are."

Noble says even though there may not be a lot of time to get a soil test done this spring, it’s still something to consider.

"Because it was a dry year last year there is potential that there was some nutrients that were not used or lost," she said. "A spring soil test should be helpful to determine what was left behind from last year's crop and the only way to know for sure is doing a soil test."

Source : Discoverestevan

Video: A chain harrow is a game changer

Utilizing a rotational grazing method on our farmstead with our sheep helps to let the pasture/paddocks rest. We also just invested in a chain harrow to allow us to drag the paddocks our sheep just left to break up and spread their manure around, dethatch thicker grass areas, and to rough up bare dirt areas to all for a better seed to soil contact if we overseed that paddock. This was our first time really using the chain harrow besides initially testing it out. We are very impressed with the work it did and how and area that was majority dirt, could be roughed up before reseeding.

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