This collection houses assets (or resources) from Saskatchewan Distance Learning Centre's Agriculture Production (Field Crop) A20 course.
Solving food shortages caused by droughts is a big challenge that may benefit from a tiny ally. Turns out that the microbes living in the soil around plants can give them a boost when water's scarce, which means more food for us, which is a big win!
In agriculture, it is important to have healthy soils. Learn how the laboratory at Dairy One analyzes soils and why the information they gather is vital to growers.
As climate chaos increases around the world, Michelle Week, a farmer outside of Portland Oregon is drawing on her Sinixt indigenous knowledge to adapt her farm to the changing seasons. By practicing techniques like seed saving and dry farming, Michelle is combating the increasing food security crisis while continuing to provide fresh food to her local community.
Women of the Earth is a new show on PBS Terra, produced by Summer Moon Productions, featuring stories of women across America who are leading a new movement to restore and protect the land. By focusing on women in land stewardship roles like farmers and shepherds, the series will explore women’s unique relationship to the earth and their innovative undertakings to heal the earth from climate change.
"The modern combine harvester, or simply combine, is a versatile machine designed to efficiently harvest a variety of grain crops. The name derives from its combining three separate harvesting operations—reaping, threshing, and winnowing—into a single process. Among the crops harvested with a combine are wheat, oats, rye, barley, corn (maize), sorghum, soybeans, flax (linseed), sunflowers, and canola. The separated straw, left lying on the field, comprises the stems and any remaining leaves of the crop with limited nutrients left in it: the straw is then either chopped, spread on the field and plowed back in or baled for bedding and limited feed for livestock.
Combine harvesters are one of the most economically important labour-saving inventions, significantly reducing the fraction of the population engaged in agriculture."
Short animation showing the grain drying process of MECMAR mobile grain dryers. Such dryers are flexible, reliable, and easy-to-use machines suitable for drying grain, corn, wheat, rice, sorghum, and oilseed rape.
University of Illinois Energy and Environmental Stewardship Educator Duane Friend talks about how to read soil test results and use them to monitor your soil nutrient levels.
Grain farmer Jeff Frey has used no-till on his 700-acre farm in Willow Street, Penn., since the 1980s. Despite these efforts, Frey knew he needed to do more to protect his soil from erosion. Recently, he worked with Sjoerd Duiker, associate professor of soil management at Penn State University, on a SARE grant designed to promote cover crops on grain and vegetable farms in their state. His story demonstrates that SARE grants encourage farmers and researchers to partner with each other to advance the adoption of sustainable agriculture practices.
This video goes through the basic rights that all Saskatchewan workers have.
SnapAG is a series of resources that invite students to explore the hot topics affecting the agriculture industry today. Topics range from organics, biotechnology, GMOs, livestock, careers and more.
This video outlines how Precision Agriculture is being used to increase agricultural production. It includes some examples and the benefits they have.
Scientists at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill are studying how microbes in the soil, like bacteria and fungi, interact with a plant in ways that make the plant grow better. Someday, this knowledge may be used to increase crop production for an expanding population.
Did you know that McDonald's World Famous Fries® are made with 100% Canadian potatoes? This video features the Levesque Family, just one of the many Canadian potato farmers working to provide McDonald's with potatoes. Check out our interview to learn more about their story, life on the farm, and which qualities to look for in the perfect potato.
The Saskatchewan Safety Council's short video about the hazards caused by moving machinery parts.
Learn about the Nitrogen Cycle in this short and informative video. The video transcript is also included in the description helping it to be more accessible for students.
In this animation, you'll learn about Nutrient Cycling and the interactions that happen between soil microorganisms and plants!
When the Soil Food Web is balanced, plants can harness the power of soil microbes to get all of the nutrients that they need from the soil. During photosynthesis, plants produce simple sugars and carbohydrates. The plants invest some of this sugar and carb energy into the soil by way of their roots to feed bacteria and fungi. These organisms extract nutrients from organic matter and from the soil particles - think grains of sand. However, it’s not until nematodes and protozoa arrive in the root zone to eat the bacteria and fungi that the nutrients are released in a plant-accessible form. The results are well-nourished, resilient plants that continue this nutrient cycle without the need for chemical inputs.
Nutrient Management is managing the use of nutrients to reduce environmental impacts. This video explores how Guy Choiniere in Highgate Center, VT, is using this practice to create a dry manure system to feed the soil on his certified organic farm.
Major benefits of this practice include soil improvement, salinity reduction, improvement of water quality, input cost reduction, and overall plant health increase.
Where do plants get their food from? Remember they are autotrophic, plants make their own food through the process of photosynthesis. In order to make all of the macromolecules, the plant needs to obtain some other elements from the soil. For example, Nitrogen is needed to make protein. As you know Nitrogen is needed to make protein, so without this element the plant will have stunted growth.
Agricultural producers face risks from sun up to sun down (and sometimes beyond). Injuries can seriously impact their livelihood. It is important to think proactively and reduce risk before accidents happen. Four of the leading categories of farm accidents are:
- transportation
- farm equipment
- work environment
- chemical handling incidents.
This video weighs the pros and cons of organic farming. It fits well with the Fuse School video "What is organic farming?".
This video covers different machinery hazards workers may encounter on the farm and provides information on how to control them.