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Manitoba village wants everyone to know its dirt

Manitoba village wants everyone to know its dirt

Even its biggest booster can't resist getting down and dirty when it comes to the local soil.

"It's a bit of a dry subject," said Bruce Dalgarno, a farmer in Newdale, Man.

Signs throughout rural Manitoba trumpet just about everything — from Dauphin as the city of sunshine to Melita claiming to be the grassland bird capital of Manitoba to Ste. Rose due Lac, Manitoba's cattle capital.

Even Rennie, in eastern Manitoba, celebrates itself for lacking a focal point. The welcome sign says, "Home of something or somebody famous … someday … maybe."

Now, the village of Newdale, about 225 kilometres northwest of Winnipeg along Highway 16, wants you to know it's home to Manitoba's provincial soil.

Next month, new highway signs and a plaque along the village's main street will be pounded into the ground to pay homage to Newdale clay loam, the type of soil named after the village.

Dalgarno is also an area councillor and one of the people behind the effort.

"Here we have a soil in Manitoba that was named after our village," he said. "I think it's something that [as] people in rural Manitoba, that we should celebrate."

Newdale clay loam has been Manitoba's official soil since 2010. Dalgarno said a committee was formed a few years ago with the aim of coming up with a way to recognize the proclamation and to give those who may not have the nitty-gritty an idea about how it differs from soil found elsewhere.

But even Dalgarno is not above some honest mud-slinging.

"It's a good average of soil across the province," he said. "It's got good drainage both above the soil ... as well as water draining through the soil.

"It's not necessarily the best soil in Manitoba."

Soil covers a lot of ground

Dalgarno said Newdale clay loam covers some 1.3 million acres in western Manitoba. According to the Manitoba Soil Science Society, it's a very productive soil for crops such as wheat, canola, barley and flax.

He said Manitoba Agriculture officials have been helping with the design and information for the new signs. Locals, he said, have become increasingly eager.

"There's quite a few people that are quite excited about it," Dalgarno said.

"People are quite excited about ... the fact that it was named after a small town and that's a good thing."

Newdale will unveil its new signs on June 17, Dalgarno said.