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Join our host Scott Beaton in conversation with organic grain expert Joanne Thiessen Martens to talk about taking soil samples and plant tissue samples. Learn when to take sample, how to take the sample, where to send your samples and how to interpret the results. Sampling and testing can help you understand what's happening on your farm and make management decisions or interventions if required. In organic systems, mainstream soil tests might not capture everything that you need to know to make management decisions and by adding plant tissue samples it can give you a better picture of what's happening in your fields.

Bio: Joanne Thiessen Martens grew up on a small mixed farm at Austin, Manitoba. She earned a B. Sc. In Agroecology at the University of Manitoba in 1999 and has since been working in the area of sustainable and ecological agriculture. For much of this time, Joanne has been a part of Dr. Martin Entz’s research team in the Department of Plant Science at the University of Manitoba. Her recent areas of focus include cover cropping, integrated crop-livestock systems, and farming systems design.

Resources discussed in this episode:

• Green manure tool kit
• Crop rotation fact sheet
• Soil fertility resources on Pivot and Grow

Credits:

Host: Scott Beaton

Producers: Dana Penrice, Iris Vaisman, Cari Hartt, and Tierra Stokes

Grain on the Brain is a podcast of the Prairie Organic Grain Initiative