Applied Agricultural Research & Demonstration
for Soil Health & Water Conservation
Souris Plains Soil & Water Management is a collaborative, field-based applied research and demonstration project to evaluate, demonstrate and communicate agricultural beneficial management practices for soil health and water conservation. The research site is located in southwestern Manitoba in the Rural Municipality of Grasslands. The site occupies a half section of land at N½-12-6-23W1, just over three kilometres east of the Town of Hartney, and falls within the Souris River Watershed District.
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The research project was established in 2020 to explore beneficial management practices to deal with excess soil moisture, drought and soil health in the cold climate conditions and undulating landscapes in this region of Manitoba, which is representative of a broad region across the Canadian Prairies. Ongoing research, demonstration and communication will assist industry and producers in making on-farm soil and water management decisions.
A core focus of the project is to evaluate the performance of tile drainage in the variable soil landscapes of the study field. Some of the key issues being evaluated include:
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Performance of tile drainage across various landscape positions (lower slope, mid slope, upper slope)
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Impact of tile drainage on surface and tile runoff volumes leaving the field
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Water quality in surface and tile water runoff (nitrogen, phosphorus, salinity)
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Impact of tile drainage on soil quality and health (soil moisture, soil salinity) and crop productivity
