Extremely dry conditions in 2021 at our Saskatoon, Canada incubator farm were looking grim for the research we were conducting.  15% of the average rainfall resulted in poor crop growth on the canola and wheat crops.  But looking at some of the data, we found that the Yara complete nutritional treatments showed that the plants were actually able to use more of the water they did receive resulting in earlier root development and access to the stored water in soil deeper then the grower standard. Delaine Mandziak, Yara Crop Manager, and Markus Braaten, Market Development Manager, join us to talk about the preliminary results. Click HERE to see the initial report.  You can get updates on the incubator field and other activities in Canada by subscribing the the Western Canada newsletter. 

Yara's Crop Nutrition podcast

What Can We Learn About Crop Nutrition in a Drought?

Dr. Rob Mikkelsen, Yara's Director of Agronomic Services, helps us understand the interdependence of water, soil and nutrients.  Can a better management of these three components improve water use efficiency in a time of drought? We refer to an article he wrote in September 2012 for the International Plant Nutrition Institute called, "What about Water?" Dr. Mikkelsen explains that an important step towards improving water use efficiency is to encourage healthy plant roots.  Maintaining proper soil conditions will allow a larger 'home' for the roots to grow and be healthy.  Likewise, a balanced nutrition program can improve how the roots and plants use the available water.

Reduced Water? How to Improve your Water Use Efficiency

Nitrogen is a very important nutrient for growing crops and can be one of the most expensive inputs.  Using this valuable input efficiently can help with overall crop health and environmental sustainability.   Dr. Rob Mikkelsen, Yara North America's Director of Agronomic Services, helps us understand The concept of nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) The difference between maximizing and optimizing NUE How to measure NUE Some practical measures that can be done to monitor NUE How an individual grower can improve their NUE The consequences of failing to improve NUE 

Nitrogen Use Efficiency - Why Should We Care?

There is a connection between microbiomes, soil health/structure, and drought resilience.  Dr. Karl Wyant, VP of Ag Science at Heliae Agriculture helps us understand how to build healthier soils that can mitigate drought stress improve water holding capacity improve erosion resistance improve nutrient use sequester carbon reduce externalities  improve profits Find out more about soil health at the Soil Health Institute Article on drought-resilient crop production   Dr. Wyant's previous episodes on soils:  “Don’t Treat Your Soil Like Dirt” delt with the physical and chemical components of soil "Don't Treat Your Soil Like Dirt Part 2" delt with the biological components of soil To learn more from Karl, email him at info@heliae.com or visit Phycoterra's web site

Ep 5 on Drought Tools: Reducing Drought Stress with Healthier Soils with Dr. Karl Wyant

Everywhere you turn, you bump into talk about carbon market, carbon footprint, carbon credits, etc.  What does all this mean and why is it important to us in agriculture? Carbon footprint is the total greenhouse gas emissions caused by an individual, event, organization, service, place or product, expressed as carbon dioxide equivalent.  Agriculture is responsible for 10% of the greenhouse gas emissions  Yara recently created the Agoro Carbon Alliance to take action on a global scale to reverse the effects of climate change by decarbonizing farming and restoring carbon to the world's soil. In this episode, Anastasia Povlovic, Managing Director of the Agoro Carbon Alliance, explains what their group is doing, why it should matter and how you can learn more and participate as a grower and retailer. 

What is this Carbon Marketplace We Keep Hearing About?

The Pacific Northwest and many other areas are experiencing record high temperatures.  How does heat stress and water stress affect plants?  What can we do to manage these plants through these stressful times? Jimmy Ridgeway and Kacey Kiehn, Regional Sales Managers, help us grow our knowledge. Learn more from this recent article, "Heat Stress: Let Calcium Help" Download and use Yara's Farm Water Advisor FREE!  In less than 1 minute you can have your first field set up and calculating an optimal irrigation schedule for the next seven days based on hyperlocal weather and over 100 years of agronomic modeling.  And it's FREE!  Download it here

Helping Our Plants During Heat Stress

The days of limitless water are far behind us. Dr. Sebastian Braum joins Yara's Dr. Rob Mikkelsen to discuss how water is the number one driver of growth and yield.  Dr. Braum talks about the improvement in the irrigation equipment being installed and that we now need to improve how we use this equipment.  He also looks into his crystal ball of what farming might look like in 15-20 years. Dr. Braum is the Director of Agronomy at Farm(x) and a soil scientist.  He is experienced in nutrient management, irrigation and soil management. Check out the Irrigation Association's resources and certifications. Download and use Yara's Farm Water Advisor FREE!  In less than 1 minute you can have your first field set up and calculating an optimal irrigation schedule for the next seven days based on hyperlocal weather and over 100 years of agronomic modeling.  And it's FREE!  Download it here

EP 4 Drought Tools - Sebastian Braum

Dr. Tim Ellsworth is a professor at West Hills College in California.  He has many years experience working as a soil scientist with the USDA and over 30 years of teaching experience in agriculture.  He has expertise in soil science, geology and irrigation.  Tim joins us to talk about how irrigation can improve plant health and yield, what effects the drought might have on crops and some golden nuggets that might be implemented if you are dealing with a deficit of water. You can reach Tim at timothyellsworth@whccd.edu or by phone 559-934-2711. If you are looking to learn more visit Cal Poly's ITRC - Short Courses and Classes Fresno State Center for Irrigation Technology UCANR's California Institute of Water Resources UCANR's Pistachio Short Course & Almond Short Course Irrigation Association's publications including, Irrigation- 6th ed. Download and use Yara's Farm Water Advisor FREE!  In less than 1 minute you can have your first field set up and calculating an optimal irrigation schedule for the next seven days based on hyperlocal weather and over 100 years of agronomic modeling.  And it's FREE!  Download it here

EP 3 Drought Tools - with Dr. Tim Ellsworth

Soil structure and health is critical growers to improve crop productivity and sustainability.  Dr. Karl Wyant, VP of Ag Science at Heliae Agriculture helps us understand the importance of soil health and quality in a two part series: Our first episode from Feb 23, 2021, “Don’t Treat Your Soil Like Dirt” delt with the physical and chemical components of soil This episode we talk about biological components Karl shares five strategies that you may implement to improve your soil health which will lead to sustainable profitability. We refer to Karl's articles in the Progressive Crop Consultant magazine,  Part 1: "Managing Soil and Structure Quality"published in the January/February 2021 Part 2: “Managing Soil and Structure Quality” published in May 2021 To learn more from Karl, email him at info@heliae.com or visit Phycoterra's web site Download the FREE Farm Water Advisor to help improve your irrigation efficiency.  Download it here

Don’t Treat Your Soil Like Dirt Part 2

Richard Kreps and Robert Smith, UltraGro, both consult with growers in California but are also growers themselves.  They help uncover some great strategies for the areas that are most affected by the drought and shortage of surface water delivered and ground water. How are you creating your irrigation schedules this year?  Yara's Farm Water Advisor calculates your field specific plant water use for the next week and then advises you how long and frequent to irrigate.  And it's FREE!  Download it here Article on irrigation maintenance

EP 2 Drought Tools - Strategies for Management

2021 looks like it might be a continuation of one of the worst geographical droughts in the last 20 years. 80% of the Western U.S. in drought and nearly 1/2 in "extreme" or Exceptional" drought. This series of episodes will be focused on the drought, the challenges and some strategies that might help advisors and grower manage through the drought.  In this episode, William Bourdeau joins us to help us understand the severity of the drought in California.  William is a grower (EVP at Harris Farms), director of Westlands Water District, and Chairman of the California Water Alliance. How are you creating your irrigation schedules this year?  Yara's Farm Water Advisor calculates your field specific plant water use for the next week and then advises you how long and frequent to irrigate.  And it's FREE!  Download it here Links we mentioned: Film, "Pray For Rain" Film, "Beyond the Brink" California Water Alliance California Sun Newsletter 

EP 1 Drought Tools - How Bad is the Drought in the Western US in 2021?

Climate change and weather are dynamic.  How can we adjust our inputs, specifically irrigation and nutrition, to be more successful with these changes? Our guest, Matt Yost develops land management practices that promote resiliency to weather variations and changing climate.  Precise management of the 4 R practices and relationships with irrigation to improve soil health, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and maintain profitability.  Matt discusses the grant that he received from the 4R Research Fund and what they are trying to understand. Matt Yost is an Assistant Professor and Agroclimate Extension Specialist at Utah State University.

How Do Deal With Impacts of Weather Variations and Climate Change with Dr. Matt Yost

What is the difference in total calcium, soluble calcium, and exchangeable calcium?  All calcium sources need to be considered and know how it is behaving in the soil in order to get the plants to use it.   Dr. Jim Walworth, Professor of Soil Science Extension Specialist st the University of Arizona, joins Dr. Rob Mikkelsen, Yara Director of Agronomic Services to discuss these topics with a bonus conversation on pecans!

Calcium: Do I Need to Apply More?

Spring flush for citrus is a critical growth stage.  John Martzen, agronomist with GAR Bennett, joins Vanessa Dominguez (Vicencio) to talk about some of the nutritional concerns and strategies.  Zinc and Manganese are important to maximize growth  and fruit development during this time. Read Vanessa's article we mentioned and sign up for the Citrus Newsletter HERE To find out more go to Yara.us or YaraCanada.ca

Citrus: Transitioning from Spring Flush to Flowering

Wouldn't it be nice if we could see how the roots of a plant respond to treatments?  Dr. Isaac Madsen, Extension Agronomist at Washington State University, teaches us about the innovative work he as been doing with scanner technology and root observation. What is the advantage of looking at roots instead of at the shoots? What crops can we do this with? What do we learn from these observations? Are there other forms of nitrate-based fertilizers that eliminate the NH4-induced root damage? What is the interest in oil seed crops in the Pacific Northwest? Check out Dr. Madsen's Youtube channel to see some of the scans! 

Dr. Isaac Madsen Has X-Ray Vision

Yara is the world's crop nutrition leader with over 100 years of experience. In collaboration with customers and partners, Yara grows knowledge to responsibly feed the world and protect the planet, to fulfill its vision of a collaborative society, a world without hunger and a planet respected. Our crop nutrition solutions and precision farming offerings allow farmers to increase yields and improve product quality while reducing environmental impact.

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Yara's Crop Nutrition podcast

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