Jump on the bus for the MSSS Summer Tour!
Every August, the Manitoba Soil Science Society hits the road for its Annual Summer Field Tour. It is a full-day bus trip that takes members into the field, visiting a different part of the province each year to look at soils in place.
Stops vary from year to year and have included working farms, research plots, peat operations, drainage and irrigation sites, and museums. Participants dig soil pits, get a pedology lesson or two, see management practices in action, and hear directly from producers, researchers, and industry staff. Lunch and refreshments are provided, and conversation carries on throughout the day with colleagues from across the province.
2026 Tour
The 2026 MSSS Annual Summer Tour, held on August 20th, was a huge success. Thank you to all of the volunteers, hosts, and attendees for making this day a fantastic experience.
The theme for the 2026 tour was building resilience against both excess moisture and drought. First stop was MacMillan Grain and Livestock near Meadow Lea, where Bryce and Kristen MacMillan described the management decisions behind a 6,000 acre grain, forage, beef and dairy operation that has been in the family since 1878. The group then moved to a soil pit in an alfalfa field for a pedology lesson, and saw the eddy flux tower used to measure soil water and crop evapotranspiration. After lunch at Fort La Reine Museum in Portage la Prairie, attendees took part in the unveiling of the museum’s first soil monolith display. At Twin Elm Farms near Elm Creek, two pits in close proximity showed the sharp transition from clay to sand along the margin of Glacial Lake Agassiz, along with a discussion of strip tillage on the farm. The day closed at the Joel Classen farm near Culross, with surface and tile drainage, water retention ponds, and irrigation methods. Graduate research on drainage and phosphorus movement in the Red River Valley rounded out the program.
Download the 2026 tour booklet for more details!
