Saskatchewan farmers and agronomists can tap into Saskatchewan soil records online at mapper.sksis.ca to create predictive field maps and pinpoint soil test locations.

Use SKSIS Mapper to make predictive field maps

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KEY RESULT:

Saskatchewan farmers and agronomists can tap into Saskatchewan soil records online at mapper.sksis.ca to create predictive field maps and pinpoint soil test locations.

PROJECT NAME, PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR:

“SKSIS-3: Synergies and Sustainability for the Saskatchewan Soil Information System” Angela Bedard-Haughn, University of Saskatchewan

FUNDING:

SaskOilseeds, SaskWheat, Saskatchewan’s Agriculture Development Fund, Western Grains Research Foundation

Saskatchewan farmers can access detailed soil mapping through SKSIS Mapper at mapper.sksis.ca.

The Saskatchewan Soil Information System Working Group launched the platform, which allows users to understand how the soil varies across a field and use that to generate detailed predictive soil maps and identify soil sampling locations.

The platform also helps support the Saskatchewan Soil Information System (SKSIS) by creating a means to collect soil and environmental data that would not otherwise be accessible. It also generates funding to keep the project operational.

Please contact Jay Whetter for an accessible version of this SKSIS sample point map.
The tool to generate sampling locations provides coordinates as well as a simple map (shown) of the point locations across the site. The algorithm breaks the site down into terrain-derived slope position zones then uses a statistical method called the conditioned Latin hypercube sampling method to determine where to place the sample points within each slope position based on remote-sensing data

Through focus group interactions with agronomists and farmers, the SKSIS working group learned that farmers are willing to share their soil and environmental data so long as that data was not publicly available, and the purpose of that data collection was made clear. In working with the University of Saskatchewan Legal Counsel, the SKSIS working group defined a Terms of Service agreement that reflects those requirements.

SKSIS Mapper is currently free to use, but will transition to a paid service in 2025. A price of $0.10 per acre enables agronomy firms to offer predictive soil mapping through use of SKSIS Mapper, while keeping their fees affordable. The main map at sksis.ca will always remain free to use.

The SKSIS Offline desktop application further enhances the usefulness of SKSIS for informing field work in Saskatchewan. It does so by allowing users to download the soil survey information for a specified region so that it can be accessed and utilized in the field even when they are in regions of the province without network access.