Fertilizer recommendations seldom account for agro-climatic conditions, which are important factors that determine the response to fertilizer and the optimal rate of fertilizer. The nitrogen fertilizer response to open pollinated and hybrid canola types will also impact optimal nitrogen rates....

Agriculture can potentially contribute to Canada meeting its commitment to reduce net greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions under the Kyoto protocol. A representative crop - livestock feeding farm on the Canadian prairies is used to estimate the cost of net GHG abatement, taking into account CO2...

This study evaluates profitability and risk associated with eighteen different management decisions for canola production in Alberta. Expected payoff from cultivar selection outweighs the payoff from time of seeding and from time of weed control. Expected payoff was higher from hybrid compared...

This study analyses short and long term safety first business risk associated with twenty six no-till transition strategies across four types of farms in eastern Washington. Risk of transition failure generated from risk averse criteria are also contrasted with a risk neutral criterion. Results...

This study analyses three key conservation practices adoption behavior for 266 farmers in eastern Washington. Results revealed (1) that multiple practice adopters contrast more sharply with non-adopters than do adopters of a single practice, and (2) single practice adopters differ more from zero...

Cropping diversity along the United States - Canada border of the Great Plains has not been dominated by either country. U.S. wheat policies impacted diversity in both countries through price and in the U.S. by acreage reduction programs. In the 1990s, cropping diversity increased in Canada and...

We develop a dynamic optimal cropping systems model for the northern Great Plains, taking into account the impact of the system on soil quality attributes organic and inorganic carbon. Continuous wheat and direct planting is the most profitable system under most economic conditions. This system...

We develop a dynamic soil quality model to evaluate optimal cropping systems in the northern Great Plains. Modeling soil quality attributes is feasible, and attribute model results apply to a wide range of soils. A crop production system with continuous spring wheat and direct planting is the...

Invasive weeds are a large problem on large tracts of rangeland in North America. Biological methods of control have been instituted, but many information gaps remain. An investment model approach is used to demonstrate some of the potentially key pieces of biological data that are required for...

Water is one of many economic drivers for southern Alberta. Industries such as intensive livestock operations and food processing depend on irrigation infrastructure for water. Lethbridge is the location most often associated with irrigation, though much of the irrigation is actually located...