Project: Establishment of perennial forage crops in saline soil
Located at the Livestock and Forage Centre of Excellence at Clavet, SK, this project began with seeding in May of 2022 and will continue for two years. The study objective is to evaluate the effectiveness of companion crops to improve the establishment of perennial forages in saline areas.
Project updates and results are being posted to this page as the study progresses. View the PowerPoint presentation below to learn more about the project and to see site photos and results!
Watch our project videos
Learn about the establishment of perennial forage crops in saline soil project and see the latest project updates in videos by M.Sc. Candidate Alex Waldner.
Watch video updates:
Project introduction: Watch Video 1 here
Forage establishment and weed control in saline areas: Watch Video 2 here
The use of companion crops: Watch Video 3 here
Set up of trial and treatments explained: Watch Video 4 here
2022 Post-harvest project recap: Watch Video 5 here
2023 The role of soil testing: Watch video 6 here
The use of drones in the project research: Watch video 7 here
How did the botanical composition of the plots compare in those with companion crops versus those without? Watch this video to learn more
Pollinator mixture plots were seeded at each site to see how well flowering legumes would survive under saline conditions. Learn the results in this video
2023 Project update: Alex explains how plots with companion crops compared to those without.
Weather Data
Livestock and Forage Centre for Excellence Forage Station: The weather station installed in the Forage field 4 km south of the main feedlot at the LFCE (25km SE of Saskatoon) observes basic meteorological and soil variables.
A summary of data retrieved from August 5-15, 2022 is shown, reporting total rainfall, cumulative rainfall, mean temperature, max temperature and min temperature. Further information is available the weather station portal.
Note: This information will be updated for 2023 once data is available.
Data
Soil characteristic data is available for this project. The data sample date is April 29, 2022.
Soil sampling is being continued in 2023. Watch the latest project video to learn more about plans for soil sampling for biological activity.
Click the button below to view updated soil characteristics and climatic conditions for 2022 and 2023, and all three sites (excel):
