Farming smarter

FALL 2016 Edition

Auxins Offer Cooling Effect »5 The Rise of the Agronomist »18 Farming Smarter Walks Miles »22

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Contents

FALL 2016 EDITION

GM’s Message: No Complaints. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Farmers Know Change Happens. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Auxins Give Mixed But Promising Results. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Farming Smarter: Growing Along With Its Knowledge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Western Grain Research Foundation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

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Do Hail Recovery Products Really Work?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 It’s Family, What Did You Expect?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Agriculture Drives Southern Alberta. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Creative Crop Control to Battle Weeds. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 The International Year of Pulses: Creating a Legacy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Grassroots or Corporate Workforce?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Ping! It’s Your Field Calling. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Walking Miles in Field Trials. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

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What Lies Beneath May Revolutionize Crop Production. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Wheat Streak Not Gone From Southern Alberta. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 Malt Barley Success Path . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 Oh! The Places a Drone Can Go!. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 Engaging OHV Recreationists in the Oldman River Watershed. . . . . . . . . . . 28 Grazing Mountainview Sainfoin. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

Pg. 32 Visit us online for innovative agronomic . and technical research information:

www.farmingsmarter.com

Canadian Canola Still Thriving. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 Book Review: Rain — A Natural and Cultural History. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 Farming Smarter is published bi-annually by . Farm Business Communications for Farming Smarter, . #100, 5401 – 1st Ave. S., . Lethbridge, AB T1J 4P4 . with the support from the Agriculture . Opportunities Fund

Cover photo:

Monosem precision planter at work in our canola trials. Photo: farming smarter

Editorial Board: Ken Coles, Jamie Puchinger. Editor: C. Lacombe

Farming Smarter / FALL 2016

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General Manager Message

No Complaints, This Was a Great Year for Farming Smarter!!! by Ken Coles

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sually around this time, I’m feeling burnt out and spouting the usual: there’s always next year! I’m happy to say I feel really good about this year. Spring time drought stress was real, but later rains saved what could have been a rather disastrous year for growing crops. We had almost 100 projects going in our fields in Lethbridge, Medicine Hat and around southern Alberta. We hit the ground running in April and didn’t even glance over our shoulders until September. We did hail damage to peas, beans, wheat and then tried to fix it with fungicides and nutrients. We got very precise when planting canola using a monosem vacuum planter. We grew a lot of dryland grain corn and took another stab at

hemp agronomy. Data is all in and we’re busy trying to make sense of it all. We also invited all of you to see what’s what at our Plot Hops. We checked out some winter grazed crops by Medicine Hat. We spent a day touring wheat trials. We checked out sainfoin, irrigated potatoes, peas with bad roots, drones overhead and flea beetles. Then we did the field school and covered too much to mention here. In all, we figure we had over 1,000 people come see what we were up to this year. Thanks for coming, it was a lot of fun and learning. Just when we might have taken a wee break, we moved. We ordered ourselves a double-wide with nine offices and kitchen and moved out to where all our action

takes place. You can check out our new and improved Farming Smarter homestead at our AGM March 1. There’s a good chance Farming Smarter is more than you know. We just keep growing and getting better with more to offer you, our valued partners and guests. If you want to keep up with us, you can come to our Medicine Hat conference in December, our AGM in March or drop by our new digs any time. My thanks to an amazing staff and supportive Board of Directors for an absolutely amazing year. Hope you had one too! h Ken Coles General Manager Farming Smarter

Message from the Chair

Farmers Know Change Happens by Ken Coles

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wise person once said, “the one constant in life is change.” I am not sure who said it first, but nearly every day proves it right in our lives. In my life, this year had some major changes. Our oldest daughter graduated, moved to Calgary and is in university. Dad decided to retire and turn his farm over to me. While neither of these events were unexpected, until they happened I wasn’t quite sure how I would handle them. Luckily, I found some good employees for the farm and Dad stayed to help. In fact, he may be a little too willing. My daughter finds her courses interesting and enjoyble and is doing very well. Over at Farming Smarter, there are also some big changes. We have a new office that gives us our own unique identity and makes it a little easier to access the staff. Stop in and say “hi” by looking for a double-wide mobile at the field site across from the jail. The Board has an initiative to define our membership. It will help us to define how we go forward. The Board set some lofty goals in a five-year strategic plan and, to make them

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Farming Smarter / fall 2016

Over at Farming Smarter, there are also some big changes. We have a new office that gives us our own unique identity and makes it a little easier access to the staff. Stop in and say “hi” by looking for a double-wide mobile. Farming Smarter Board Chair Craig Walsh

happen, we will need help from a committed membership. You can contribute through ideas and input on the direction of our organization and/or financial contributions to our registered charity. I personally want to thank my fellow Board

members for their involvement and commitment to the organization; Ken and his staff for their hard work and dedication and our partners, sponsors and participants for taking the time to support our efforts. Thank you and be safe as we finish up harvest and whatever fall work you may be doing. h

GROWING NEW IDEAS / GROWING KNOWLEDGE / GROWING STEWARDSHIP

Agronomy

Auxins Give Mixed But Promising Results by Helen McMenamim

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lanning to get the canola in early and avoid the hot weather that can really take a bite out of your yields is easy, but actually dodging the heat during bloom can be much harder — especially as our weather gets warmer. New research could boost yields and help you avoid the damage from high temperatures during flowering of canola and other crops. University of Alberta plant scientist, Dr. Jocelyn Ozga and her graduate student, Abeysingha Ganegama, applied plant growth regulators called auxins to wheat, canola and peas in a greenhouse with controlled temperatures and in the field. They saw some big yield increases, especially when heat stress cut into the yields of untreated plants — up to 76 per cent more peas, 33 per cent more wheat and 51 per cent more canola, but these were under controlled conditions in a greenhouse. Hard red spring wheat yielded 20 per cent more in a controlled temperature greenhouse if it was sprayed with auxin at the late boot stage or when the head was fully emerged. The

Wheat research plots on the prairie.

yield advantage increased to 33 per cent when plants were heat stressed (33 C for six hours on each of six days) 12 hours after spraying. The yield boost dropped to six and eight per cent at field sites. And not all wheat varieties had such a big response to auxins. Alberta Agriculture researcher, Sherri Strydhorst saw a similar situation in her advanced agronomy trials. Some varieties grown with high fertility and commercial PGR (a plant growth regulator, such as Manipulator) do not appear to respond to the PGR at all. Others stand better and yield more. An open-pollinated canola grown in the greenhouse sprayed at the green bud stage — when you can just see flower buds at the center of rosettes — had 46 per cent more seed and under heat stress, 51 per cent more seed. At one field site, a hybrid canola stressed by high temperatures and low moisture conditions yielded 36 per cent more when sprayed with auxin than in untreated plots. But other hybrids at other sites were not affected by auxins.

Carneval peas yielded 38 per cent more seed at controlled temperatures and 56 per cent more with heat stress if the plants were sprayed with one of the auxins at first flowering. The other auxin applied at the start of flowering increased yield by 61-79 per cent but had no effect if the plants were heat-stressed. That auxin was even more effective when the floral buds were tightly clustered inside the stipule leaves at the tip of the main stem. Ozga sees a lot of potential for the use of auxins in field crops, but she has a lot of research ahead of her, finding the crop varieties that respond to auxins, the concentrations needed and the best developmental stage for spraying. Plant hormones have different effects at different points in a plant’s development. In a seedling, auxins produced at the shoot tip can keep the shoot growing towards the light, even correct stem direction if the plant is tipped over. Once a bud forms at the top, auxins prevent growth of lateral buds and support flower development and seed set. h

Photo: C. Lacombe

GROWING NEW IDEAS / GROWING KNOWLEDGE / GROWING STEWARDSHIP

Farming Smarter / FALL 2016

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Farming Smarter

Farming Smarter:

Growing Along with its Knowledge by Madeleine Baerg Outside arch: Ken Coles, Dawne Hobbes-Weibe, Cam deWolf, Lewis Baarda, Ben Fox, Chelsea Hubble, Jazz Pedersen. Inside arch: Mike Gretzinger, Jamie Puchinger, Matt Graham, Toby Mandel, Claudette Lacombe. Photo: Morton Molyneux

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nce upon a time, not so long ago, the parent organizations that turned into Farming Smarter were small and quiet. They did good work that supported agricultural advances, but they simply didn’t have the capacity to be research leaders or industry shapers. What a difference a decade makes. Today, Farming Smarter is vibrant, innovative, ambitious and progressive; a trusted authority and highly respected trailblazer in agricultural research. “What has made Farming Smarter into what it is today? It all comes down to the fact that we respect farmers. We emulate their work ethic — we bust our butts off the way they do — to do a huge amount of really practical, farmapplicable work that farmers see as valuable. That’s been our single-minded focus,” says Ken Coles, Farming Smarter’s General Manager. “A lot has changed over the years. We’ve got equipment now and it doesn’t break down in the middle of the field all the time. We’ve got more permanent staff, more shop space, a new office. But the vibrancy hasn’t changed. We’re all very passionate and dedicated. We’re all okay with testing the boundaries of our capacity and then taking a little more on anyway,” says Jamie Puchinger, Farming Smarter’s Assistant Manager.

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Farming Smarter / fall 2016

Eight years ago, the Southern Applied Research Association (SARA) and Southern Alberta Conservation Association (SACA), Farming Smarter’s parent organizations, had a combined operating budget of $120,000. This year, Farming Smarter’s operating budget is 15 times that. Five years from now, Coles projects, Farming Smarter’s budget will nearly double again to a whopping $3 million. It’s not just the dollars and cents of the organization that have grown by leaps and bounds in a short number of years. Back five or six years ago, Farming Smarter’s parent organizations operated two or three field-scale projects and no small plot projects at all. The field-scale projects were collaborations lead by researchers from other organizations, in which SARA and/or SACA’s plot would be one location on a larger project. Just around the time SARA and SACA amalgamated and became Farming Smarter in 2012, the organization evolved to the point of actually developing its own research priorities and seeking out its own funding. “It was a big leap forward when we started putting in funding proposals where we’d lead and others would do plots for us. That was a real moment of pride for me,” says Coles. “And then, work started falling into our lap. People

would phone us up and ask us to carry projects. That was a defining moment too, because it was a way of saying that what we are doing matters.” Today, Farming Smarter runs in the range of 90 small plot and field-scale projects per year. Its staff has grown to 10 full- time people and a large contingent of summer help. And, it now boasts world-class scientists including Dr. Bob Blackshaw (who recently retired from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada) on its payroll. In addition to the project work, Farming Smarter now also manages enormous communication and extension efforts too: a biannual magazine, a large conference, a summer field school, frequent field tours, and an expansive website that includes an online crop cam, multiple educational videos, and findings from a long list of its recent research studies. “We’re proud to put on great events and bring in great speakers. We’re now reaching a lot of farmers through our extension efforts,” says Coles. “What’s been really interesting, though, was that we started noticing on field school and event evaluations that the highest ranked topics and speakers were starting to be us. People were actually coming to see us and hear us speak. That was humbling, but also a huge reinforcement that we’re hitting on things that farmers care about.”

GROWING NEW IDEAS / GROWING KNOWLEDGE / GROWING STEWARDSHIP

A huge part of what’s helped Farming Smarter grow into what it is today is collaboration and partnerships with innovative farmers, highly skilled researchers and scientists, and other leading agricultural organizations. Recently, Farming Smarter has taken its commitment to partnerships to a whole new level. “We’ve got some big partnerships that are now coming to fruition. Everyone’s excited. We’re just about to sign a 10-year collaborative agreement with Lethbridge College. That’s a big, big deal. And we’re talking about investing in an agronomy scientist through the University of Lethbridge; which is still in the works,” says Coles. In March last year, Farming Smarter received its status as a registered Canadian charity, which could also have big implications for the future. “We have a grand vision of establishing our own endowment fund,” says Puchinger. “Right now, it can be hard for us to get funding because funding bodies often want research to suit grower research priorities over the entire province or even country. A Farming Smarter endowment fund would allow us to do region-

Farming Smarter staff watched the new offices arrive with great glee. From left: Jamie Puchinger, Ben Fox, Chelsea Hubble, Ken Coles, Toby Mandel & Lewis Baarda. Photo: C. Lacombe

ally important work.” She explained that southern Alberta farmer-directed research requires its own pot of money. For instance, Farming Smarter applied for two or three years for a hemp research project. It wasn’t until farmers in other regions of Alberta started asking about it that funding organizations viewed the project as worthwhile. Farming Smarter has much passion and innovation driving it, with its own funding to focus on emerging southern Alberta issues, it could accomplish even bigger things.

Coles knows that, “We’ve built a brand and a reputation. We’re on a great momentum growth path that attracts people to us. I want to toot Farming Smarter’s horn. I’m really, really proud of the direction this organization keeps growing,” he says. “I haven’t been here that long and I’m not that old, but I feel like I could retire now and have accomplished something that I feel really good about. Maybe that’s a weird thing to say when you have 20 years of working still ahead of you, but I’m excited about where Farming Smarter can go next.” h

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Partner Profile

Western Grain Research Foundation by Kristi Cox

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he Western Grain Research Foundation (WGRF) puts power in producers’ hands when it comes to directing research in Western Canada. They manage an Endowment Fund and the variety development portion of the wheat and barley checkoff funds. Last year they funded $19.7 million in field crop and breeding research making them Canada’s largest producer funder of research in Canada. The sole focus of WGRF is farmer-funded, farmer-directed crop research. “That’s all we do, we don’t do any type of policy or market development work,” said Mike Espeseth, Communication Manager of WGRF. “This is what we’re here for, to fund research that benefits western Canadian producers.” The Board of Directors for WGRF is made up of producers from each of its 18 member organizations. This gives all producers from across the diverse commodity groups in Western Canada a voice in agricultural research funding decisions. WGRF celebrates its 35th anniversary in 2016. Since 1981, this organization funded research to the tune of about $130 million. Two main sources of funding support WGRF; an endowment fund and the wheat and barley check-off funds. “In 2000, the Federal Government named WGRF under the Canada Transportation Act as the organization that would receive funds that were deemed to be in excess of the set revenue cap that governs each of the Canadian railways,” Espeseth explained. “Typically

it had been about a couple hundred thousand, maybe a few million and then in 2008 there was $68 million transferred into the endowment fund.” It took a couple of years for the WGRF to understand the impact of this sizable boost. “Ever since then we’ve really been ramping up the research investments,” Espeseth said. The endowment fund can be used for any research related to western Canadian farming, while the check-off funds are used for wheat and barley variety development. “Out of the endowment fund, we are able to fund research on all crops, so there’s weed management, genomics, disease management — the pest monitoring network is really a great example of some of the research we’re funding that impacts all of Western Canada,” Espeseth said. Change is afoot with respect to the wheat and barley check-off funds. As of August 31, 2017, WGRF will no longer manage these funds. These check-offs will be transferred to the wheat and barley provincial groups. Espeseth explained that WGRF has assisted in ensuring a smooth transition of the checkoff funds. WGRF partnered with Farming Smarter on a few projects, including a study on night spraying fungicide and one on seed treatment and fusarium head blight in winter wheat. WGRF focuses on a western Canadian approach to agriculture, and that is a primary reason why the partnership with Farming Smarter is so successful.

“Farming Smarter has the capacity to lead a lot of unique research projects and has good value on managing sites; which adds to our western Canadian approach,” Espeseth said. In response to its members’ request, the WGRF commissioned two studies to examine the agronomic research capacity of Western Canada. In one, they provided a human resource and capital inventory of current agronomic research capacity. This provided a snapshot of what exists today in terms of University, government and private sector. The next step was to look to the future. “Following that we brought together 110 representatives from producer groups, institutions, public and private industry and facilitated a discussion on shaping the future,” Espeseth said. Farming Smarter’s manager, Ken Coles participated in this session. Participants in the second study answered three broad questions: 1) W hat future changes in agricultural production and practices will occur? 2) W hat are the agronomic research implications that emerge in response to these anticipated changes? 3) W hat capacity requirements are needed to address future agronomic research needs? WGRF put together a working group to look at the results of these studies, and will be coming out with some recommendations within the next year. The results of both these studies are available at WGRF’s website. www.westerngrains.com. h Dr. Rob Graf speaks to Alberta Wheat Day participants among his winter wheat breeding plots. Photo: Farming Smarter

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Farming Smarter / fall 2016

GROWING NEW IDEAS / GROWING KNOWLEDGE / GROWING STEWARDSHIP

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Farming Smarter Research

Do Hail Recovery Products Really Work? by Lee Hart

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lberta crop researchers expect the next two seasons of field trials will answer key questions about whether so-called “rescue products” actually help hail damaged crops to recover. With data from the 2016 plot research trials still to be crunched, Ken Coles, general manager of Farming Smarter, and project lead, says it always takes more than one season of measurements to reach a conclusion in any research story. The three-year project, launched in 2016, will evaluate grain, oilseed, and pulse crop plots in three areas of the province that were all deliberately treated with simulated hail damage. After degrees of damage were inflicted by mechanical means, researchers later applied rescue products — including crop nutrients as well as fungicides — to determine if there was measureable improvement in recovery over untreated damaged crops and even crops with no damage. The Alberta Wheat Commission and Alberta Pulse Growers are funding trials involving wheat, and peas and dry beans, while in a separate but related project the Alberta Canola Commission is funding work involving the oilseed crop. “There is plenty of anecdotal information out there, but we wanted to see if these products really do work in a research setting,” says Coles. “We are using three commonly grown crops, applying various degrees of simulated hail damage, at different stages of crop growth, and then randomly selecting to apply products that carry a label claim to help crops recover from hail damage. This isn’t an evaluation of any particular product, but more generally we’re looking to see if any products with a hail recovery claim actually work.” TECHNOLOGY BEHIND ARTIFICAL HAIL

Farming Smarter inflicts simulated hail damage on research plots with a tool developed in collaboration with Alberta Innovates Technology Futures (AITF) in 2015. The hail simulator involves a hydraulically driven bar or drum, mounted on the front of a tractor front-end loader. A series of 18-inch-long sections of chain are mounted in four rows around the drum. Depending on the speed of the drum rotation and/or the number of passes over a target crop, the hail simulator can apply crop damage ranging from very light to a 100 per cent wipe out. Alberta Financial Services corporation crop inspectors evaluated various hail simulator treatments and found the damage as close as you can get to natural hail storm damage of varying severity. The hail simulator opens the door to study a number of research questions concerning the affect of hail on crops. The effectiveness of crop rescue products is the first. The Alberta project will look at the effectiveness of crop recovery products on damaged crops near Lethbridge in southern Alberta, near Vegreville in east central Alberta and in the Falher-area of the Alberta Peace River region. Farming Smarter leads the research project with assistance from Dr. Ralph Lange, a plant pathologist at Alberta Innovates research centre in Vegreville and Vance Yaremko with Smoky Applied Research Association based in Falher, about 430 km north of Edmonton. All three research sites evaluate treatments on wheat and peas. In southern Alberta, the project includes dry beans; which are commonly grown in the Lethbridge/Medicine Hat area. At Vegreville, Lange coordinates a separate project evaluating the impact of hail damage on canola.

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Farming Smarter / fall 2016

Damage levels on canola June 15, 2016.

Photo: Farming Smarter

The project is designed to evaluate as many variables as possible. The crop plots are exposed to three levels of simulated hail damage — 0 to 25 percent or light, about 50 per cent or moderate; and 75 per cent or severe damage. The damage is applied at different growth stages ranging from rosette stage and tillering through to early maturity or flowering. All treatments are replicated. About two days after inflicting damage, they treat crops with fungicides and nutrient products with hail recovery claims. “We just looked for products that had that claim on the label, and there are several,” says Coles. “And then we just randomly selected products for this research.” Wheat for example, was treated with the fungicide Prosaro and a recovery nutrient product Alpine G22. They used Headline fungicide on peas and treated the dry beans with a copper hydroxide fungicide such as Parasol and a nutrient recovery product, Omex P3. With the canola project, crop damage was inflicted on research plots, but by design no rescue products were applied. Evaluation of the damage and treatment includes field observations, yield data and a complete quality analysis of yield samples from both treated and untreated crops. As well, the damaged crops are photographed by camera-equipped drones to collect aerial imagery. Near infra-red images and vegetative index imagery may prove a useful tool in determining the severity of crop damage and any treatment options, if applicable. “It is really too early to tell if the treatments made any difference,” says Coles. “That will come when we can analyze yield and crop quality data. There were no obvious or dramatic visual differences in the various treatments versus the untreated in our ground observations. “One thing we did note with differing degrees of hail damage is it did result in a significant weed response,” says Coles. “And of course that leads to another question — if hail damage is going to result in a new flush of weeds, do you want to be applying any type of fertility that might further encourage weed growth? So that’s another question.” Lange says while there are some specific questions this research project addresses, access to a realistic hail simulation tool “opens up a new era in hail research opportunities.” Combine that with information captured by aerial imagery and researchers have valuable tools for tackling many more research questions. h GROWING NEW IDEAS / GROWING KNOWLEDGE / GROWING STEWARDSHIP

It’s Family. What Did You Expect? OPINION By C. Lacombe

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uman relationships are hard! I’ve had some great relationships with cats and even one with a dog once, but people invariably tick me off at some point and cause me to roll my eyes so hard it hurts. Understanding human behaviour is a hobby for me. Different books, experiences and academic lectures caused me to notice my own interactions and reactions when dealing with people. Sometimes, I totally see textbook reactions in myself and sometimes in others. The hardest human relationships also seem to be the most important — family. I come from a family of seven kids — Crazy, Bashful, Hippy, Bossy, Heebie-Jeebie, Smart-Alex and Sleepy. We sometimes marvel at how two people could produce such a variety of offspring. I mean, we were all raised with the same values AND genetics. Why is it that if we spend too much time in each other’s faces, we start thinking “Surely I’m not related to these kooks?” I love those kooks, more than any other humans with the possible exception of my insane children. Sometimes, the kids are the best argument EVER for abstinence. Even though I say all that, I know that many people struggle much more with family relationships and I keep hearing that succession planning can be hard for farm families. I get that. My family is more of an urban, globe-trotting gang, but still there was some rancor when the senior generation passed the reins to us kids. And trust me, they were more the reins to a sorry old mule than the reins of a royal coach. Still, the trouble seemed to come from what people expected. In some cases, people got exactly what they expected from our parents or from each other; which was good or not so much. Being a sounding board made me very aware that at least part of the problem, when a problem arose, was lack of communication around what a person expects or people seeing behaviour they expected to see or making assumptions based on life-long attitudes.

GROWING NEW IDEAS / GROWING KNOWLEDGE / GROWING STEWARDSHIP

Dad was masterful at keeping his brood in line with his sergeant major voice. My dad had some pretty clear expectations for us around polite dinning behaviour, how to behave in social interactions and taking care of the people we love. A lot of our relationship expectations come from our parents who taught us our values and morals. They teach us how to treat others and, whether on purpose or not, how to treat our siblings and where we belong in the family pecking order. I’m still daddy’s baby girl and I’m pushing 60 for crying out loud! Being the baby girl though creates an expectation among my siblings that I will behave the way I behaved when we all lived in my parent’s house. Parents, such as myself, also get stuck thinking of their off-spring as teenagers. That sets up what they expect of their children or how capable they expect children to be. I’m guilty of this and my kids are both floating around 30. I’d be lying through my teeth if I told you I think of them as full-fledged adults. I keep trying, but I just can’t. They’re my babies and they will never know as much as I do. Of course, what they do know better than me is what it’s like to be 30-ish in 2016. So, I see it. It can be easier to get along with a complete stranger than your own family at times. Our whole gang expects certain things from each other. We can be just like that dinner table circus from the 1960s, but we don’t have the King of the Castle around to say, “Ladies, ladies act like gentlemen.” (we are not all girls and, dare I say even the ones that are, not all ladies). Dad was masterful at keeping his brood in line with his sergeant major voice. My dad had some pretty clear expectations for us around polite dinning behaviour, how to behave in social interactions and taking care of the people we love. My siblings and I carry those lessons with us still. But we are all much older now and ways I expect my siblings to think and act are as out of date as my belief that my off-spring are still teenagers. People grow up and, more importantly, just plain grow — hopefully wiser. We need to park our old expectations when we take on serious matters. Take heart though because, you know what? I had a thing a few years back. I needed some pretty concentrated, dedicated help for months. Who do you think stepped up to that task? Yup, that same circus of imperfect human beings I call family. They all globe trotted to Calgary in an amazing display of family solidarity, behaved in predictable pecking order ways and delivered an exceptional dose of care and love. I know it can take patience and compassion just to get through a family dinner never mind the serious task of succession planning. But struggle you must. Because, flawed as we all are, family is where connection, belonging and love exist — right there in those frustrating and funny relationships. h Farming Smarter / fall 2016

11

Economics

Agriculture Drives Southern Alberta By Trevor Lewington, CEO Economic Development Lethbridge

Farming Smarter’s Wall of Fame highlights some of the many agriculture businesses that strengthen southern Alberta.

A

griculture continues to be a key driver behind southern Alberta’s economy with almost 20 per cent ($1 billion) of our Gross Domestic Product (GDP) coming from this sector. According to the Conference Board of Canada Mid-Sized Cities report, traditional industries like agriculture and construction experienced modest GDP growth in 2015 despite a downturn in the provincial economy. As well, the emerging Information and Cultural industry experienced the highest sector growth at 3.4 per cent and was highlighted as a ‘bright spot’ locally, as industry output has grown an average of four per cent annually during the last decade. In this region, Agriculture is always a dynamic and changing industry and the possibilities are maximized when we apply innovative new technology. Industry expertise and a reputation of collaboration continue to add to our economic stability and industry diversity in a region that is far less dependent on oil and gas than the rest of the province. Lethbridge recently ranked fourth among Canada’s Best Places for Business and second as most Business Friendly by Canadian Business and PROFIT. This list aims to identify those communities that strike an optimal balance between prosperous markets, reasonable costs and business-friendly taxation and regulation. According to the results, Lethbridge “boasts an entrepreneurial, integrated science and engineering environment and plenty of food expertise.” At Economic Development Lethbridge (EDL), we continue to focus on the development and growth of the existing agri-food cluster in our region. There are over twenty agrifood processors in Lethbridge with a number of others outside the city. Not only do these plants acquire many raw agricultural inputs and crops

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Farming Smarter / FALL 2016

from local producers, but also they contribute to the broader economy through the purchase of various services, goods and products needed to support operations. Lethbridge also has significant education and research capacity in agriculture-related areas. A joint announcement between the University of Lethbridge and Lethbridge College to establish the Cor Van Raay Southern Alberta Agribusiness Program is a great example of

In this region, Agriculture is always a dynamic and changing industry and the possibilities are maximized when we apply innovative new technology. this. Leveraging a significant $5 million donation from Cor Van Raay, founder of Cor Van Raay Farms and a leading Canadian cattle producer, in conjunction with matching funds from the province will create new opportunities in research and teaching at both institutions. Private sector leadership and public sector support will continue to strengthen the key economic pillar of agriculture in our region. With this focus, the University recently added a Research Chair in Potato Science and the College announced an Applied Research Chair in Irrigation Science to further the capacity in this region. From a market perspective, most commod-

ity prices maintained higher than usual price points compared to historical averages. Recent developments in negotiations with China provide a few additional reasons for continued optimism including the September 2016 deal reached in Ottawa that means Canadian canola exports will continue through 2020 while both countries conduct research to resolve a shipment quality dispute that could have been a significant hit to our region. That negotiation also opened up the opportunity for exports of bonein beef from Canadian cattle under 30 months of age to resume following a long-standing BSErelated ban. At the same time, the recent announcement from Western Feedlots about the shutting of its operations in High River, Strathmore and near Mossleigh provide pause for thought. Many producers and growers face similar challenges with increasing labour costs from changes to provincial farm safety and worker compensation rules and some uncertainty created by a forthcoming carbon levy. From EDL’s perspective, it is important to target opportunities for value added production. That is to say that we can no longer just be suppliers of top quality commodities to the world only to import finished products back. We must aggressively seek new opportunities to process those higher value foods and ingredients right here. We have the technical knowledge, crop capacity and infrastructure to develop value-added products as the demand for plant protein increases around the world. Combined with our work educating international investors about the opportunities in southern Alberta, we believe the continued development of an agri-food cluster in Lethbridge will pay long-term dividends and support the further diversification of our economy. h

GROWING NEW IDEAS / GROWING KNOWLEDGE / GROWING STEWARDSHIP

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Farming Smarter

Creative Crop Control to Battle Weeds by Dr. Bob Blackshaw

Kochia trails across a fall field in southern Alberta. Photo: Dr. Bob Blackshaw

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eed resistance is an ever increasing problem. There are currently 238 weed species (138 dicots, 100 grasses) resistant to herbicides globally (www.weedscience.org). In Canada, we have 61 resistant weed species and estimates put resistant weed affected prairie cropland at 66 per cent. Weed resistance occurs in 22 of 25 herbicide modes of action. Obviously, weed resistance is not a rare phenomenon. New mode of action fungicides and insecticides were commercialized in recent years, but it has been over 25 years since the last new mode of action herbicide was released and it could be another decade before we see one. The cost of introducing a new mode of action herbicide is $250 million to $300 million; restricting development to only large multi-national companies. What can be done now? Herbicides cause weed resistance so we could stop using herbicides! A crazy idea you say and I realize that it would be highly problematic in our present-day large, mechanized farms. But could we be more discriminating in how and when we use herbicides? Numerous studies have shown that diverse crop rotations that include different crops (cereals, oilseeds, pulses, forages) as well as different life cycles (winter annuals, perennials) are the basis of keeping all pests in check, including weeds. Additionally, higher crop seeding rates, strategic fertilizer application, and cover crops suppress weeds if you can fit these practices into your farming system. Weed resistance development is a numbers game; fewer weeds reduce the odds of selecting a resistant biotype. Thus, we want as few weeds as possible to protect crop yield and reduce resistance development but the key point is not to only use herbicides to achieve this goal. How can we use herbicides more effectively? We have learned the hard way that we can’t use the same herbicide (or herbicide group) over

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Farming Smarter / fall 2016

and over again. You have all heard about the importance of rotating herbicides over years but now it is time to go to the next level when planning your upcoming herbicide programs. This means using herbicide mixtures or herbicide combinations whenever possible. Glyphosateresistant kochia only developed when we stopped adding dicamba or 2,4-D to the tank in chemfallow treatments. Glyphosate is such a key herbicide in conservation agriculture that it should be used with a tankmix partner whenever possible. Fortunately, there are several to choose from for preseed, chemfallow, and postharvest applications. The other important concept that deserves consideration has been coined ‘herbicide layering’. It essentially means using a preplant or preemergence herbicide followed by a postemergence in-crop herbicide with a different mode of action. This is now common practice in the U.S. Corn Belt to control glyphosate-resistant weeds. While important in managing current resistant weed problems, herbicide layering may be even more important in terms of delaying/preventing further resistance development. Soil-applied herbicides such as Avadex (Group 8), Edge (Group 3), and trifluralin products (Group 3) became out of favour with adoption of no-till practices in the Canadian prairies because there was the perception that to be effective they had to be soil-incorporated. In cultivated soils, these herbicides were incorporated to prevent atmospheric losses (especially with liquid formulations) but more importantly because they needed to be placed in the 0-4-inch soil zone where weed seeds were distributed and germinating. However, in no-till systems where weed seed remains at or near the soil surface it is now sufficient to have the herbicide present in the top inch of soil. This can be accomplished by harrowing or just relying on rainfall to move the herbicide into the shallow soil zone. I suggest that you use granular rather than liquid GROWING NEW IDEAS / GROWING KNOWLEDGE / GROWING STEWARDSHIP

formulations of these herbicides in reduced or no-till systems. I’ve had consistent results in my research program with granular Avadex and Edge applied in late October without any incorporation. But you might want to consider a heavy-harrow operation before application to disperse chaff rows or straw clumps (my preference) or after application to distribute stubble more evenly. Snow melt and rainfall in the spring will move the herbicide off the granule into the soil. Higher surface soil moisture levels in no-till systems improve weed control consistency with all soil-applied herbicides compared with the variable soil moisture conditions often experienced in cultivated soils. There have been several other soil-active herbicides introduced into western Canada in recent years. While technically not new mode of action herbicides they belong to herbicide groups not previously used in the Canadian prairies. Examples include Group 14 herbicides such as Authority (sulfentrazone), Heat (saflufenacil), and Valtera (flumioxazin) plus the Group 15 herbicide pyroxasulfone (a component of Focus). Some people may be concerned about these herbicides being adsorped to stubble in no-till fields and not being effective. However, stubble adsorption a reversible process and subsequent rainfall will wash the herbicide off the stubble into the soil. Nevertheless, these herbicides will be more dependent on timely rainfall compared with fall-applied granular herbicides. Weed resistance is increasing but it is not unmanageable. We all need to be more creative in developing improved weed control programs for prairie crops. h

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Farming Smarter / fall 2016

15

Partner News

The International Year of Pulses: Creating a Legacy by Madeleine Goodwin Children interact with IYP Exhibit at Calgary Aggie Days in April 2016. Photo: Canada IYP

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ore people around the world will crave your pulse crops now as the major goal for International Year of Pulses (IYP) was increasing consumer awareness of pulses. The projects and program aimed to teach people what pulses are, expand their knowledge about them and ignite a passion for, a food that aligns with all the things consumers want. Pulses are affordable, packed with nutrients, good for your health and the health of the environment. With this increased consumer awareness and knowledge, the ultimate goal was to get more consumers eating pulses, creating more demand for these crops in Canada. Throughout the first nine months of 2016, IYP made significant progress toward achieving this goal.

Pulse Feast

Canada’s Pulse Feast January 6 in Toronto’s Financial District officially “kicked off ” the IYP in Canada. More than 180 Canadian journalists, chefs, dietitians and bloggers joined celebrity Chef Michael Smith to feast on creative pulses dishes and learn about the health, nutritional and environmental benefits of pulses. The event generated media coverage on CBC News and Global News, and in the Globe and Mail, the Vancouver Sun and the Toronto Star. Also, 35 other countries held 140 Pulse Feast events too.

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Farming Smarter / fall 2016

Educating consumers

An ongoing consumer promotion campaign in North America resulted in a number of stories and segments featuring pulses in the American and Canadian media. So far this year, these stories reached more than 2.5 billion people. The North American consumer promotion campaign is just one of many consumer-facing initiatives launched during IYP. Pulses.org, a global website that educates consumers about the importance of pulses to global health, nutrition and sustainability is the main tool used to educate consumers around the world. The website includes a database with over 300 recipes collected from 31 countries. Establishing connections and partnerships with a variety of important national organizations played a big part of IYP here in Canada. IYP and Agriculture in the Classroom Canada teamed up to bring pulses into the classrooms of 32,000 potentially life-long consumers. Through lesson plans, interactive exhibits and gardening programs, young students learned about a food that is good for their immediate and long-term health and the health of the planet. Canada Agriculture and Food Museum developed an educational exhibit that travelled across the country, teaching Canadians why pulses are important for health, nutrition and sustainability. Since January, Pulses: The Ideal Partner visited 13 Canadian cities where 350,000 Canadians saw it. GROWING NEW IDEAS / GROWING KNOWLEDGE / GROWING STEWARDSHIP

IYP also established a partnership with Community Food Centres Canada (CFCC) to integrate pulses into community kitchens, food banks and after-school cooking programs across Canada. CFCC works in lower-income communities to increase access to healthy foods such as pulses, build food skills and provide education and engagement opportunities. CFCC’s FoodFit integrated 12 pulse recipes into its cooking program and a social media contest in June challenged CFCC participants to come up with unique pulse recipes. Engaging stakeholders

Another major focus of IYP increased awareness of pulses and pulse research among stakeholders in the areas of food science, health and nutrition. Several technical conferences in North America featured pulses including Experimental Biology, the Institute of Food Technologists Food Expo, the Canadian Nutrition Society, Dietitians of Canada, the Research Chefs Association and the Restaurants Canada Show. IYP Canada Chair and Alberta pulse grower Allison Ammeter spoke about pulses at the prestigious EAT Stockholm Food Forum in Sweden. A two-part technical workshop series in Winnipeg and Saskatoon helped communicate the benefits of pulses as value-added ingredients to food manufacturers and ingredient suppliers. Both workshops sold out, which is evidence of the food industry’s increasing interest in pulses.

Chickpeas in pods.

Photo: Farming Smarter

survey respondents indicated that what they learned about pulses led to an increase in pulse consumption. These statistics demonstrate that the pulse industry is on the right path to increasing awareness and ultimately demand for pulses in Canada. At the same time, it demonstrates that there is still work to do. 2016 offered an opportunity for the pulse industry to tell the world that pulses contribute to the health of people and of the environment. Pulse Canada looks forward to continuing its strategic partnerships in A look ahead: pulses and the future of food Canada and around the world in 2017 and beyond, in a collaborative Looking back on the pulse industry’s many activities for IYP, it’s easy to feel proud of all the work accomplished. A recent consumer survey B:8.625”effort to increase pulse production and consumption and to serve the showed that awareness of pulses among Canadian consumers increasedT:7.25”interests of human health and environmental health with safe, affordable pulses. h by seven per cent in the first six months of 2016. Roughly one third of

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Farming Smarter

Grassroots or Corporate Workforce? by Madeleine Baerg

Farming Smarter saw about 60 people come to Alberta Wheat Day held in conjuction with the Alberta Wheat Commission. Photos: Farming Smarter

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ince day one, Farming Smarter’s operating mandate and unrelenting pursuit is to support southern Alberta’s agricultural producers. Every applied research trial has primary producers’ priorities in mind; every extension event aims to meet primary producers’ needs. Increasingly, however, the faces standing around Farming Smarter research plots on field days and the voices chiming in at Farming Smarter forums and discussions are not primary producers. Rather, they are farm advisors and agronomists. Even though the change is a departure from Farming Smarter’s expectations and stated operating goals, it’s actually a good thing for Farming Smarter and — even more importantly — primary producers too. “As farms get bigger and more complex, there’s more and more demand for farm advisors. Also, maybe not surprisingly, those farm advisors come to us to get updated on the latest and greatest in applied research,” says Ken Coles, Farming Smarter’s General Manager. “To be honest, we hadn’t really given it much thought until we noticed the trend. But it makes sense. We’re trying to serve the most progressive, scientifically-minded producers. But, while there are a lot of great and really innovative farmers out there, not very many actually want to be on the bleeding edge of innovation. But farm advisors, they need to be up on what’s new and noteworthy in order to be a good resource for clients.” At the end of the day, the winner is the farmer whether that farmer learns from and is supported by Farming Smarter firsthand, or whether Farming Smarter educates the advisor who in turn directly works with producers.

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Farming Smarter / FALL 2016

Even Farming Smarter’s Medicine Hat field day saw increased numbers in 2016. Here Lloyd van eeden Petersman talks about grain corn agronomy.

That said, the shift does impact how Farming Smarter does its business and what it offers in terms of extension. “The reality is that, as an organization, we haven’t quite figured out yet how we can best serve farmers and farm advisors. We’ve noticed a trend that will ultimately have implications — probably both policy implications and operational implications — on our business. At this point, we want to reach out and hear from people what they want. It will be up to our Board and our members to determine what we do with this shift.” Part of the increase in the number of farm advisors attending Farming Smarter events is a simple numbers game: the total number of farm advisors is increasing very quickly. “Farming is very sophisticated now, so the need for farm advisors is growing and growing,” says Liz Robertson, Executive Director of the Canadian Association of Farm Advisors. “Our association grows at more than 15 per cent each year, and this year we expect even bigger growth than that.” So, what do Farm advisors need? “Professionals, farm advisors included, often charge by the hour. If they are going to something that takes them away from their office, it has to add to their business and add to their particular toolbox of services they offer clients,” says Robertson. “They’d see value in extension and learning opportunities where they can gain the latest developments in the industry.” And, in an industry that is consistently divisive and siloed, there’s a lot to be said for collaboration. Farm advisors — and individual primary producers too — can benefit enormously from being in the same place at the

same time as other forward thinking agriculture experts. After all, the more diversity of experience and knowledge among those you rub shoulders with, the more benefits you can gain for your business. “There is so much to learn from just talking to each other. In-person networking with other people working in agriculture is so important to individuals and to the health of the whole industry,” says Robertson. “The thing about networks is they are dynamic and constantly changing. You can never have too big a network.” While Coles supports farm advisors’ interest in Farming Smarter’s work, he acknowledges one note of caution. More and more companies show interest in Farming Smarters’ research and extension. Regularly, corporate groups attend events for corporate training purposes. This he supports, because it ultimately filters down to more and better information going to producers. What makes him uneasy is the possibility that companies could take over the policy development and operational direction of Farming Smarter. “We’re not just seeing private consultants coming to our events. We’ve got big companies who regularly use our events as field school training for a whole fleet of agronomists. That has serious implications at a governance level and an organizational purpose level. If farmers aren’t careful and engaged, the companies could take over, just by positioning their people to step into our board positions. It’s something we’re really aware of, because that wouldn’t necessarily be in the best interests of the producer.” h

GROWING NEW IDEAS / GROWING KNOWLEDGE / GROWING STEWARDSHIP

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New Tech

Ping! It’s Your Field Calling by Madeleine Baerg

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hat if the ping on your phone was a warning from your field that a disease outbreak may be imminent? Some Vegreville-based scientists are developing a high-tech electronic tool that will test the air for sclerotinia spores and automatically alert the farmer via text message. The real-time spore detection and automatic alert system would mean a huge leap forward in the control of canola’s most common and costly disease and almost certainly a correspondingly large decrease in farmer stress. “This technology could change the future of agriculture. If we are successful, it should prevent any kind of yield loss from sclerotinia because a farmer will know with certainty whether he needs to spray or not,” explains Susie Li, a biochemist with Alberta Innovates Technology Futures (AITF) and the project’s lead developer. “Other scientists I’ve talked to are as excited as I am. Being able to accurately predict a sclerotinia outbreak would be a dream come true for scientists and for farmers.” Sclerotinia can infect virtually any broadleaf plant from peas to Canada thistle, but is most costly in canola fields. Sclerotinia is particularly difficult to manage because the disease has to be caught with fungicide before its symptoms become obvious in a field. As such, farmers have to make fungicide application decisions based on little more than history, predictions and guess work. Whether they opt to spray or not, they risk a lot. An unnecessary spray costs significant time and money. However, skipping a necessary application can cost 50 per cent or more of a canola crop. To compound the problem, the window in which to catch a sclerotinia outbreak under favorable environmental conditions is very small — generally just one week — which means the disease frequently gets away from producers. Currently, the only way to determine whether a crop has sclerotinia before symptoms develop is to send petals to a lab for analysis and/or to crawl through the crop searching for the disease’s golf tee shaped fruiting bodies. These tests are time consuming, labourious and not always accurate. Worse still, even if a farmer does manage to detect the presence of the disease in a field, there is no way to determine how severe or economically damaging a resulting outbreak will be, because the disease does not always follow obvious rules. In some years, conditions can be nearly ideal for disease development, yet sclerotinia damage will be fairly mild. In other years, conditions will be dry at flowering yet sclerotinia still manages to take a big bite out of secondary pods’ yield. Li’s project, funded by ACIDF and the Alberta Canola Producers Commission (ACPC), will take all of the guesswork and risk out of sclerotinia management. “This is a totally new concept but it works,” says Li. “What we are creating is a tool that can identify spores right in the field. Once the

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Farming Smarter / FALL 2016

The disc shows Sclerotinia sclerotiorum ascospores that cause Sclerotinia stem rot in canola. Photos: Alberta Innovates Technology Futures

Sclerotinia can infect virtually any broadleaf plant from peas to Canada thistle, but is most costly in canola fields. Sclerotinia is particularly difficult to manage because the disease has to be caught with fungicide before its symptoms become obvious in a field.

GROWING NEW IDEAS / GROWING KNOWLEDGE / GROWING STEWARDSHIP

number of spores detected reaches a threshold that could trigger a disease outbreak, the farmer receives an automatic alert, which means he can apply fungicide right when the crop needs it. We can detect as little as five spores; which is really exciting.” The tool starts by capturing spores from the air and pumping them past an antibody-based biosensor that Li successfully developed back in 2012. The antibody — a specialized protein that reacts exclusively to sclerotinia spores — ensures that the detection process is highly accurate and entirely sclerotinia-specific. Once the antibody detects and attaches itself to a sclerotinia spore, a tiny electrically charged particle called a nanoparticle that bonds to the antibody, sends a signal to an electronic chip, registering that an individual spore has been detected. The chip counts each spore detection until a threshold is crossed, at which point the Bluetooth-enabled device sends an alert to a producer’s smart phone. “We’ve completed the proof of concept and all of the components work. Now we’re just connecting the dots,” says Li. “What we still have to figure out is the thresholds: how many spores will trigger an outbreak in a field or greenhouse? If there are only two spores, that won’t trigger an outbreak so there’s no reason to let the farmer know. And if there are too many spores, obviously there’s a point after which it’s too late. So we have to figure out when to let a farmer know that he should be spraying.” While the tool may seem brain-bendingly complex, Li says most of its components are readily available and fairly inexpensive; which hopefully means its eventual price tag will be in reach of all canola producers. h

Sclerotinia stem rot on a canola plant.

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Farming Smarter Research

Walking Miles in Field Trials by Lewis Baarda, GIS Technician

“

A

little bit can make a big difference.” This was my summer mantra as I took responsibility for over 20 different herbicide research trials. The trials focused on crop safety, crop harvest dry down and weed control efficacy using a range of herbicides on a number of different crops. Applying herbicides in a small plot research setting is a little different than in a field environment. Instead of adding liters or jugs into a large spray tank, I measure out herbicides in milliliters and add them to one liter bottles. These concoctions spray target crops and weeds in hundreds of 12-square-metre plots. I don’t have a high clearance sprayer with a 60-metre spray boom, but a two-metre spray boom and my own two legs. I walk through each and every plot and spray it by hand. Without a speedometer to measure walking speed (a critical factor in herbicide rates), I traverse each plot in a consistent and deliberate amount of time. The need for precision here is palpable, as a deviation as small as one millilitre of chemical in a mixture or one second in the time to traverse a plot can impact study results. A little bit can make a big difference. Although each of the spray trials has a unique objective, ultimately they all have the same purpose: to help the investing company learn more about the effects of its herbicides. This information is important for determining appropriate and safe application rates, for cataloguing the response of crops and target weeds and for attaining regulatory approval for new chemicals and formulations. To obtain this information, company staff frequently visit plots in the days and weeks following spray applications. It takes a trained observer to assess subtle differences in crop dryness, herbicide injury to crops or herbicide efficacy on weeds.

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Farming Smarter / FALL 2016

Matt Graham and Lewis Baarda prepare spray bottles for 2016 trial plots at Farming Smarter. Photo: Farming Smarter

Untreated check plots provide a stable baseline to compare treated plots against. In addition to performance differences, we saw variations in ways that herbicides acted on target weeds or crops, in the time they took to be effective and in the observable symptoms of activity. Documenting these variations provides valuable information to people that advise growers who use these products. Many treatment differences were modest, but that doesn’t mean they were insignificant. Small differences in chemical activity and effectiveness can have a big impact when measured over an entire field. A little bit really can make a big difference. h

These concoctions spray target crops and weeds in hundreds of 12-square-metre plots. I don’t have a high clearance sprayer with a 60-metre spray boom, but a two-metre spray boom and my own two legs.

GROWING NEW IDEAS / GROWING KNOWLEDGE / GROWING STEWARDSHIP

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New Tech

What Lies Beneath May Revolutionize Crop Production by Kristi Cox

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en Coles, Farming Smarter General Manager, has an irregular shaped 110 acre piece of land he wanted to irrigate. So he took the plunge and installed sub surface drip irrigation (SDI). The promises are water and energy savings, efficient management, disease control and, above all else, the ability to completely irrigate an irregularly shaped piece of land. An irrigation canal runs through this particular piece of land, giving it an odd shape. It was previously irrigated with an old wheel line system. A low pressure pivot without a swing arm could irrigate approximately 80 of the acres and he wasn’t keen to give up the other 30. This led him to investigate SDI. He contacted Southern Irrigation to get an estimate. Typically, SDI gets used for smaller plots of land with specialty crops, and the cost came in much higher than Coles would have paid for a pivot. Coles and Southern Irrigation came to an agreement to set up the system at a reduced cost, and use it as a demo farm for the next five years. This allows both Southern Irrigation and Coles to trial SDI on a larger plot of land used for commodity crops. They hope to work out the bugs, host tours, garner support, and gather evidence that it can and does work well on a field scale setting. Coles also hopes to document whether there is opportunity to gain enough in yields and return to offset some of the added costs of the initial investment. Subsurface drip technology has been successful all over the world for a variety of crops, particularly in the U.S. and Australia. The initial investment is high, but the payback could be significant. With the water going directly to the roots and little evaporation, there is high water and energy savings. “I don’t know of a crop that it doesn’t work on. Typically, plants respond better to subsurface drip irrigation,” said Frank Oostenbrink, Inside Sales Manager for Southern Irrigation’s Lethbridge location. Some plant diseases may be controlled by utilizing SDI. Under typical irrigation, the top surface and foliage are wet, creating a more suitable environment for infection. “With subsurface drip, the top stays pretty dry and we’re feeding from underneath so we might be able to improve our management of diseases,” Coles explained.

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Farming Smarter / fall 2016

An above ground demonstration of the emitters at work. Photo: Farming Smarter

The system control center stored in a small shed near the house. Photo: Southern Irrigation

The dry surface and zero till with SDI also helps prevent weeds. “Most of the weed seed under zero till is dropped on the surface, so if we’re not getting that top surface wet, we’re again not helping weeds germinate,” Coles said. The system Southern Irrigation installed at Coles’ farm comes with many advanced features. It includes many sensors, is fully computerized and allows for remote access. This enables full monitoring of the system and water quality. Fertilizer can be delivered with the water and allows for multiple approaches to application. “I can put a little bit of fertilizer down every time we water, every week, or whatever I want,” Coles explained. “I don’t have to handle all that fertilizer in the spring when we have to seed.” Pre-planning is critical. Every plot of land will need a particular setup in terms of spacing of lines and distance between emitters. The types of crops that will grow on the plot is also a factor and correctly mapping the land in terms of soil type and terrain is key. The fields are typically divided into zones. In Coles’ case, there are eight zones that can be turned off and on with an automatic controller. There are several considerations before implementing sub surface drip irrigation. For

example, the drip tape is buried 10-12 inches under the soil, so it is critical that fields be rodent free before installation. Additionally, the pressure compensating emitters are very small, and the water must be filtered to ensure they don’t get plugged. The system will automatically backflush any filters that get clogged, but it does require close monitoring to ensure everything is running smoothly. “It really comes down to design I think for the system to work well — design and management,” said Oostenbrink. “If you’re going to keep farming the way you used to farm with your centre pivot, you’re probably not going to be successful with drip irrigation. You really need to look at it as a management tool that is totally separate from what you’re used to if you’re a centre pivot irrigator.” “The real benefit of the drip system is the flexibility. We can apply water and nutrients directly to the roots and that’s really helpful because when your crop is going to be at that peak uptake of water and nutrients you can get it there very efficiently and you don’t leave your plants under stress,” Oostenbrink said. Ken Coles is excited to see how this system works out for him, and to experiment with the features. “I’m happy that I get my full acreage covered. I can manage it as intensively as I want. It’s all push button.” Coles said. h

GROWING NEW IDEAS / GROWING KNOWLEDGE / GROWING STEWARDSHIP

Pest Patrol

Wheat Streak Not Gone From Southern Alberta By Alexis Kienlen

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heat streak mosaic virus popped up again in southern Alberta, after disappearing for over 10 years. Last year, about a dozen fields in southern Alberta tested positive for the virus. It’s likely the virus overwintered during the mild winter. “Wheat streak mosaic virus causes streaks on the wheat. It’s an infection that needs a carrier and it is carried by a mite,” said Dr. Reem Aboukhaddour, research scientist in cereal pathology with Agriculture and Agri-food Canada, Lethbridge. For the infection to occur, conditions need to line up. A mite needs to be present, be infectious and spread from field to field. Wheat streak mosaic virus doesn’t overwinter here and can’t infect the host plant without a vector, the wheat curl mite, a tiny insect native to Alberta. The mite is carried by the wind. Alberta winters can stop this disease, but the mite can overwinter if there is plant material available. “It seems to be worse in areas with winter wheat. The mite and the virus require a living plant to survive. They can affect other cereals such as barley and oats, but they seem to favour wheat. If you have an area where there is winter wheat, it gives a chance for the mite and the virus to survive and then you can get the infection,” said Aboukhaddour. Wheat streak mosaic virus stunts plants and covers the leaves with light green, yellow or white streaks that run parallel to the veins. The virus can also cause the wheat leaf to curl. Wheat plants that get infected produce fewer seeds and the seeds can be badly shrivelled. “The earlier you get the infection, the more damage,” said Aboukhaddour. “If you walk in a field that has the symptoms, you will see the streaks and because plants that are infected are stunted, you will see different levels of the heads between the infected and the noninfected plants. The infected ones are shorter.”

Dr. Reem Aboukhaddour speaking at Farming Smarter’s Alberta Wheat Day July 28, 2016. PhotoS: faRMING SMARTER

Some other diseases can cause stunted plants to appear in bunches, but the wheat streak mosaic virus will cause stunted plants all over a field. The wheat curl mite can damage foliage on the plants, if the mites are doing a lot of feeding. The virus reduces the plant’s ability to photosynthesize and fill heads. If people seed winter wheat early in the fall, the mite can proliferate and cause more infection. Spring wheat is not as susceptible to the virus. Unfortunately, there are no in-season treatments, fungicides or chemical controls to deal with wheat streak mosaic virus. Radiant, a winter wheat variety developed on the prairies, is resistant to the mite, but not to the virus. “At the time of seeding, you should also make sure that you don’t have any volunteer wheat in the field or near the field, especially when you’re seeding winter wheat,” said Aboukhaddour. “Bury or destroy the stubble. Seeding winter wheat later rather than earlier might be safer.”

GROWING NEW IDEAS / GROWING KNOWLEDGE / GROWING STEWARDSHIP

Wheat streak mosaic.

Rob Graf, a winter wheat breeder at Agriculture and Agri-food Canada, Lethbridge, is working on resistant varieties. But Aboukhaddour cautions that it’s not a good idea to rely only on resistance for control. “We can’t let resistance break. So incorporate resistance with all the other cultural practices,” she said. h Farming Smarter / Fall 2016

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Agronomy & Economics

Malt Barley Success Path By Lee Hart

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wo key messages when growing malt barley — follow recommended agronomic practices and line up marketing contracts. Those were the take home messages from long-time, now-retired Agriculture Canada researcher John O’Donovan and Kevin Sich, supply chain director for Rahr Malting Canada as they spoke to producers at the 2016 Farming Smarter Field School. The weather will always have the last word in producing any crop, including barley that has all the characteristics to make malting quality, says O’Donovan, now an adjunct professor at the University of Alberta. “Depending on the weather, there are no guarantees,” says O’Dononvan. “But the best plan is to follow the proper production practices to begin with and hopefully the weather co-operates.” O’Donovan, along with other agronomic researchers and barley industry partners have researched what they consider are the best management practices to apply during a growing season to produce both a high yielding and high quality crop. That means plump, 13 per cent moisture seed with a 95 per cent or higher germination rate and with a lower (11-12 per cent) protein content. Here are O’Donovan’s recommended agronomic practices: • Seed malt barley early. Even though malt barley varieties tend to be earlier maturing, seeding them later in the season “is not a good idea,” says O’Donovan. In most areas of Western Canada, seed as early as possible for optimum yield and lowest protein. • Keep the plant count up. Ideally plan on a seeding rate that places 300 seeds per square metre or about 30 seeds per square foot. Although varieties and seed batches will vary, usually about 70 per cent of the seeds will germinate producing a plant stand of between 200 and 250 plants per square metre, or 20 to 25 plants per square foot. That plant density optimizes overall yield and quality, improves kernel uniformity and reduces protein and beta-glucan levels. • More (and less) are not better. Seeding too light reduces yield potential and using a seeding rate higher than 330 seeds per

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Farming Smarter / FALL 2016

Agriculture Canada researcher John O’Donovan explaining malt barley agronomy at Farming Smarter Field School July 2016. Photo: Morton Molyneux

square metre, increases the risk of reduced yield, reduces plumpness and shows no great advantage in reducing protein or increasing seed uniformity. • R educe fertility. While with most crops increasing fertility is usually a good strategy for increasing yield, it can be a disadvantage with malt barley. While yield and kernel weight might increase, higher fertility also increases protein and negatively affects nearly all other aspects of malting barley quality. Including reductions in fine extract levels — which are very important to maltsters. For best results, O’Donovan recommends applying 60 to 70 per cent of nitrogen listed in a soil test recommendation. Some of the newer malt barley varieties can handle a bit more nitrogen, but again, don’t overdo it. • Follow a proper rotation: Planting barley on barley generally reduces yield and quality, and increases disease as compared to planting barley on canola or field peas. Barley yields are highest (without significantly increasing the protein levels) when planted on field pea residue. LINE UP PRODUCTION CONTRACTS

Before seeding that excellent crop, Kevin Sich with Rahr Malting recommends producers line up production contracts with malting companies. “Malt barley has essentially become a specialty crop,” says Sich. “There are a number of malting companies looking for high quality malt barley to supply various contracts. Some have specific requirements. It is a competitive market and maltsters like to know they are dealing with producers with

Photo: Farming Smarter

potential as consistent suppliers and a track record of producing quality malting barley.” About 25 per cent of the barley seeded for malting purposes, actually makes malt quality. But growing the crop on spec, in hopes of finding a buyer once it is combined, can be risky and disappointing. So it is important to line up a marketing contract well before seeding. January is a good time to check market opportunities. Contracting also helps farmers with variety selection. There are several malting barley varieties on the market, but maltsters do have favourites, says Sich. AC Metcalfe, for example, is a popular, long-standing tworow malting barley variety favoured in many export markets; CDC Copeland has become a popular two-row variety and AAC Syngery is a newer, high yielding, two-row variety. CDC Meredith was a very popular variety at one time — great from an agronomic standpoint, but it was found to deliver inconsistent and undesirable results in the malting process. h

GROWING NEW IDEAS / GROWING KNOWLEDGE / GROWING STEWARDSHIP

FEEDLOT SPECIAL!

Oh! The Places a Drone Can Go!

ONE OF THE TOUGHEST MANURE SPREADERS ON THE MARKET!

by Alexis Kienlen

Anne Smith with several drones talking about their capabilities and uses in farming at the June 2, 2016 Farming Smarter Plot Hop in Lethbridge.

This manure spreader is a heavy duty spreader that is designed to handle all types of manure. The JBS Feedlot special is a joint development between Noble Equipment Ltd. and JBS. The spreader is designed to meet the demands of modern agriculture and custom work.

Photo: Farming Smarter

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n the future, drones might be one of the most important pieces of farm equipment for successful management strategies. Anne Smith, a research scientist in remote sensing application at Agriculture and Agri-food Canada, Lethbridge, has several projects to expand the use of drones. For Smith and other researchers, the drone is a platform. “What is more important for me is the sensor on the platform. The drone just allows me to fly where I want. It can fly beneath the clouds or give me higher resolution. It depends on what I’m looking for,” she said. “A satellite is a well-calibrated system. We’re trying to bring that down to the UAV level. A UAV offers you flexibility; when you use it, and where you use it. We’re trying to figure out how to make that a quantitative system, similar to a satellite.” Some farmers use drones, but mainly they use them to scout or to take pictures. Smith and the researchers that she’s working with are expanding on these concepts. In New Brunswick, Smith works with other researchers to zone potato fields based on production, looking at the parameters that inhibit yield. “We’ve been using UAVs to map the field, but in a quantitative way. Rather than just getting a pretty picture, we’re trying to get more quantitative data,” she said. “We can look at vegetation indexes over time, figure out where they are lower and try to relate that to yield.” Smith joined with the team at Farming Smarter to quantify hail damage and the extent of crop regrowth after hail damage. The work also includes seeding density studies, trying to measure canopy cover based on different seeding levels. With a colleague from Regina, Smith has a project to map leafy spurge, an invasive weed, in rangelands. The team also works with a specialist in biological controls, who released beetles in areas of Saskatchewan. “We’re going back and sending a drone over his plot areas to see how successful he has been. If we do a good job on that, we’ll expand to a larger area. The thing about drones is you can fly really low and get really high resolution data,” she said. There are lots of regulations about flying drones and people need to obey Transport Canada Regulations. “If you’re using it for commercial venture or for research purposes, you require a special flight operation certificate. We require a permit because we’re flying within certain distances of airports,” she said. “You can’t just fly wherever you want; there are regulations for how close to highways you can fly, and how close to airports you can fly.” There are also regulations about flying drones over people. “You can get fined for breaking rules,” said Smith. h

GROWING NEW IDEAS / GROWING KNOWLEDGE / GROWING STEWARDSHIP

The JBS Feedlot Special Manure Spreader is one of the toughest manure spreaders on the market. All of the walls from the guillotine door to the beaters are Hardox. This manure spreader comes standard with brakes on all 4 wheels, 800/45R30.5 Flotation Trac tires and Rear selfsteering. It is available 26 feet long, and 7 feet 4 inches wide. It can spread up to 55 feet wide. The Feedlot Special can spread all types of manure and comes standard with a guillotine gate and a Vertimax attachment with dynamically balanced twin vertical augers. Dual planetary drives and double #80 chains come standard on this machine.

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www.NobleEquipment.ca Smarter / Fall 2016 27 Follow us Farming on Facebook | AlbertaBeef.ca 23

Stewardship

Engaging OHV Recreationists in the Oldman River Watershed by Donna Trottier, P. Ag

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lbertans ask a lot of the Oldman River, its tributaries and watershed landscape. The same creeks, streams, rivers and riparian areas that are an integral part of its watershed, also serve as recreational areas. The source of drinking and irrigation water for many communities downstream and home to plants, fish and animals also supports random camping and off-highway vehicle (OHV) activity. The Oldman Watershed Council (OWC) recognizes the values and benefits of healthy watersheds and makes efforts to integrate, protect and restore them. Factors such as development, land management choices and recreational activities can all have an impact on the health and function of the watershed. The OWC identified random campers and OHV recreationists as stakeholders who could play a vital role in protection for the Oldman watershed. Rather than creating conflict with recreationists, OWC fosters strategic partnerships within the OHV community to gain an understanding of the common ground and collective connection to the landscape. To help promote the partnership, the OWC formed the Recreational Advisory Committee (RAC) — a group made up of OHVers from various organizations, individual riders and retailers that help to inform the OWC on how to educate OHVers on safe, appropriate and sustainable motorized recreation. The RAC members engaged in on-the-ground activities as part of the program including: building bridges, sponsoring interns in education and outreach activities to involve OHVers and campers, garbage pick-up events, and building structural walls that encourage bridge use. Irresponsible OHV use, such as needlessly driving OHVs through waterways, contributes to streambank erosion, sedimentation, and damage to riparian areas; all of which creates issues for fish habitat and downstream water quality. OWC learned that many OHV riders do not understand the far reaching implications of their activities in the watershed and are unsure of what constitutes good watershed behavior. However, there are also knowledgeable OHV riders who understand that their actions can either help or harm the watershed. “We are partnering with these responsible recreationists, as leaders in the OHV community, to train their fellow-riders to respect the

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Farming Smarter / FALL 2016

Volunteers from the Crowsnest Pass Quad Squad on the Completed OHV bridge. Photo: Oldman River Watershed Council

land and to bring about basic social change. Change takes time and seems to be more readily accepted if it comes from within the OHV community,” states Anna Garleff, Communications Specialist with the OWC. The Crowsnest Pass Quad Squad (CPQS) is one of the organizations involved with the OWC RAC. The mission of the Quad Squad is to promote responsible use of Alberta’s Southern Rockies and to ensure the conservation and preservation of our wilderness areas for the continued use by those who come after us. The mission and goals of the CPQS align with the goals of the OWC and the goals of the Alberta Government pertaining to headwater protection. The OHV groups communicate positive messages about acceptable behavior to their members: “When we are in the backcountry, we pick up our garbage. When we are riding in the backcountry we stay on designated trails and use bridges to cross water wherever possible. When we are quadding in the backcountry, members of our group learn where the sensitive areas are and treat them as no-go zones.” By forming an alliance with groups like the CPQS, Garleff hopes to build on the stewardship activities that these groups initiated and work cooperatively towards establishing new social norms for acceptable OHV use in the watershed. As new norms become established and best practices adopted by the majority of

Young OHV enthusiast gives the “thumbs up” to responsible OHV activity in the watershed. Photo: Donna Trottier

the OHV community, the vision is to have nonconforming actions frowned upon and consequently self-policed amongst the OHV community. If you are an OHV rider who values recreation in the backcountry, you can support these efforts by riding responsibly, avoiding the water and using bridges or other hard crossings when possible, and encourage fellow-riders to do the same. Promoting a healthy watershed provides benefits to everyone and we can all play a part. h

GROWING NEW IDEAS / GROWING KNOWLEDGE / GROWING STEWARDSHIP

ANNUAL GROWERS MEETING Farming Smarter has a homestead!

March 1, 2017 Time: 4 – 8 pm

Come see how we’ve grown up and moved out! 4 - 5 pm

Tour our new offices at our field site

5 – 6 pm

AGM, elections, reports

6 – 7 pm

Dinner

7 – 8 pm

Visit, get to know Farming Smarter staff & board, one-on-one with experts

Visit www.farmingsmarter.com| Farming Smarter 403-317-0022

Crops

Grazing Mountainview Sainfoin By Helen McMenamin

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ometimes, what you gain cannot overcome what you lose. “I knew the gains of the cattle that didn’t bloat more than made up for the financial losses, but the sight of all those dead yearlings stayed with me — and all my family and staff. We were never as comfortable grazing alfalfa after that. I’m not sure I’d do it again.” That’s how one successful cattleman describes his experience pushing to get feedlot level gains by grazing alfalfa. It’s fine to repeat that fear of bloat, rather than bloat, is the biggest hurdle to the increased gains and profit from grazing alfalfa, but that’s not the way most stockgrowers feel. Bloat happens because alfalfa is digested very quickly and releases gases and slime that form bubbles that the animal can’t get rid of — sometimes called frothy bloat. The rumen swells and animals very quickly die of suffocation or heart attack. Sainfoin is a non-bloating legume forage. It contains high levels of condensed tannins that prevent the formation of the stable bubbles in the rumen that cause bloat, even when most of the forage is alfalfa. Cattle grazing sainfoin and alfalfa together have weight gains almost as good as on straight alfalfa without the bloat risk. But, sainfoin is slow to regrow after cutting or grazing. Under continuous or repeated grazing, sainfoin-alfalfa pasture can quickly become a pure alfalfa stand with a high risk of bloat. Research trials showed that AAC Mountainview sainfoin can be a way to graze alfalfa safely. The variety has been developed to regrow as fast as alfalfa. Cattle need continuous access to sainfoin that makes up at least 20 to 25 per cent of an alfalfa-sainfoin stand to be protected by the sainfoin’s condensed tannins, according to Surya Acharya, the Lethbridge plant breeder who developed AAC Mountainview sainfoin. Northstar Seed of Neepawa, Manitoba acquired the marketing rights to the new sainfoin and this year is the first time commercial AAC Mountainview seed was available. Supplies have been tight, so Mountainview has only been available as a pelletized blend with 70 per cent Haygrazer alfalfa. Sainfoin seed, at 35,000 per pound, is more than six times the size of alfalfa seed, at 225,000 seeds

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Farming Smarter / FALL 2016

Dr. Surya Acharya speaks about his reseach at a Farming Smarter plot hop in Lethbridge June 23, 2016. photo: Farming Smarter

per pound, so a simple seed mixture would be very difficult to seed evenly. Pelletizing the seed allowed the company to ensure the large sainfoin seeds and tiny alfalfa seeds remain mixed during transportation and seeding. It also inoculated the seed with the specific strains of rhizobia for sainfoin and alfalfa — at six times the recommended rate to allow for losses between coating the seed and seeding. Brian Palichuk, sales agronomist with Northstar Seed, sees the premixed blend as an ideal format that will fit ranchers’ needs and that the proportion of sainfoin gives a good margin of error to maintain the sainfoin in the stand.

“I’ve been very impressed with the stands I’ve seen,” he says. “But this is still the establishment year. The pastures haven’t been grazed and we haven’t seen how they’ll overwinter. We really won’t know much until we have some history.” Northstar suggests a seeding rate of 30 lbs. per acre, but some growers have increased the rate to 50 or even 70 lbs. per acre. Some have combined the legume blend with grasses In Acharya’s experience, seeding a mixture of alfalfa and sainfoin hasn’t resulted in a consistent stand over several grazings. “Alfalfa chokes out the sainfoin if they’re seeded in the same row,” he says. “They need

GROWING NEW IDEAS / GROWING KNOWLEDGE / GROWING STEWARDSHIP

to be seeded in alternate rows or in separate passes.” The other difficulty to overcome is obtaining the rhizobia strain selected for sainfoin. It’s available in the U.S., but it cannot be legally sold in Canada because it hasn’t been approved by CFIA. As a researcher, Acharya can import the inoculant under a special permit for his work. Seed inoculated in the U.S. may be imported. Northstar sent their seed to the U.S. to be inoculated. They then imported the pelletized Canadian seed back into Canada. Acharya advises using inoculant selected for other forage legumes if you can’t get the sainfoin strain of rhizobia. “It’s not ideal, but it will help roots form nodules,” he says. “Any inoculant will help nodules develop early. Eventually, native rhizobia will infect the plant roots. It’s in the soil, just not at high levels.” No matter who’s talking about seeding forages they all agree that the most important thing to do is to start with a very firm seedbed. Forage seeds need to be placed no more than half an inch deep, says Grant Lastiwka, Alberta Agriculture forage specialist. “I prefer to see seed put in with a drill, in

Left: Acharya’s sainfoin in research trial. Right: Sainfoin and alfalfa growing in Acharya’s research trial. photos: farming smarter

Grazing a combination of alfalfa and sainfoin could be a key tool in raising sustainable beef and an important tool for the increasing number of stockgrowers who put their management skills into more productive pastures. Northstar Seed’s seed growers harvested a good crop of sainfoin this year, but it hasn’t been cleaned yet. Palichuk expects to have plenty of Mountainview seed by late fall. h

two crosswise passes if you have different size seeds. But, however you seed, make sure your seedbed is very firm before you seed. You won’t get any kind of establishment if you broadcast seed and then start harrowing to firm up the soil. Some of your seed will be too deep and you’ll never see anything of it.” Lastiwka co-ordinates trials of pastures incorporating sainfoin and alfalfa. Grazing the pastures will start next spring.

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31

Crops

Canadian Canola Still Thriving BY LEE HART

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anada’s $20 billion per year canola industry, owes its start to a garden patch of rapeseed planted by Polish immigrant farmer Fred Solvoniuk on his Shellbrook, Sask. farm in 1936. Recognized early as a crop that grew well under western Canadian conditions, that patch of industrial rapeseed launched what could aptly be described as the phenomenal history of the oilseed. Canola has evolved well beyond its early ranking as a mere Cinderella in the late 1970s to the Queen of crops now in the 21st century. While canola itself won’t fill the bill to meet the expected doubling of world food requirements over the next 35 years, experts say it will be an important player not only in the edible vegetable oil market, but also as a valuable protein source for all classes of livestock, as well as humans. And it has a huge potential to be a significant component in diversified industrial markets, as well. It is adaptable, it is healthy, it is green, it is renewable. In a world looking for that magical combination of productivity, profitability, social acceptability and environmental sustainability, it hits on all cylinders. And it all started in research labs in Saskatchewan and Manitoba. Curtis Rempel, vice-president, crop production and innovation, with the Canola Council of Canada describes a bright and diverse future for canola much larger than its traditional role as just a healthy vegetable oil for the table, or a high protein feed source in a dairy ration. The crop is just hitting its stride in the expanding world of food and feed, human health and industrial applications. But first, a bit of background on the journey the oilseed took before the first true canola variety got to the field in 1977. Thanks to Fred Solvoniuk introducing rapeseed to Western Canada in the mid ’30s, the crop quickly drew the interest of farmers and researchers alike. Rapeseed, naturally high in erucic acids that rendered it unfit for human consumption (also high glucosinolates in the meal protein producing a negative effect on animal growth), positioned the crop with an important but limited fit for industrial oil. In the early 1940s, with the outset of the Second World War, the supply of European and Asian rapeseed to Canada was cut off. T.

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Farming Smarter / fall 2016

Canola in bloom and under pollination. Photos: Farming Smarter

M Stevenson of the Canada Department of Agriculture and Forage Division in Saskatoon assured the Wartime Agricultural Supply Board that rapeseed could be successfully grown in Canada to produce the oil needed to lubricate steam engines that powered Canadian war vessels. Rapeseed production and accompanying research flourished for about 10 years. With the first seed released in 1943, crushing plants soon opened. Production reached a peak in 1948 with 80,000 acres harvested. But with the end of the war and the introduction of diesel engines there was a greatly reduced demand for marine lubricants. Rapeseed production plunged to 400 acres by 1950. Demand plunged, but the interest in rapeseed didn’t. The federal government, learning from the early 1940’s experience of losing the supply of industrial rapeseed oil, threw out the challenge to develop an oilseed that could deliver an assured home-grown supply of vegetable oil. Some 25 years before canola was actually launched, plant breeders and researchers began working on the task of modifying the

properties of rapeseed with the end objective to develop a Canadian grown edible oil crop. While progress was made, the task was eventually handed over in 1957 to researchers Dr. Keith Downey at the Canada Agriculture Research Station in Saskatoon, and Dr. Baldur Sefansson, plant breeder at the University of Manitoba. Downey, regarded as the father of modern day canola, headed the project and assumed responsibility of the rapeseed breeding program began in 1944. With advancements in breeding technology (still limited by today’s standards), rapeseed germplasm from around the world was evaluated and tested finally leading to the development of a low erucic acid rapeseed (LEAR) variety in 1968. That was a major step forward in developing an edible oil, but the high glucosinolates content in the meal made it unacceptable as a feed for livestock. The next breakthrough came in the early 1970s with the discovery of a low glucosinolate rapeseed variety. That eventually led in 1973 to development of the first Brassica Napus (Argentine) variety with both features — low in glucosinolates and low in erucic acid. Tower

GROWING NEW IDEAS / GROWING KNOWLEDGE / GROWING STEWARDSHIP

was the first B. napus variety registered in 1973. But since most farmers were interested in growing the B. campestris or rapa varieties, Downey kept working. Finally in 1977, he registered the first B. campestris or Polish variety, called Candle. Breeding work has never stopped. In 1978, the Western Canadian Oilseed Crusher’s Association, trademarked the term ‘canola’ — a combination of Canada and ola (Spanish word for oil) — launching a new name for the oilseed crop. The trademark was transferred to the Canola Council of Canada in 1980. As Curtis Rempel, with the Canola Council of Canada points out, canola is a Canadian success story with perhaps still its best, or most impressive chapters, yet to be written. Canadian farmers produce about 20 million acres of canola per year (most in Western Canada) yielding about 15 million tonnes of canola seed annually. Overall, in all sectors ranging from farms to seed supply companies, to grain handling, transportation, crushing and refining, canola makes nearly a $20 billion contribution to the Canadian economy. On a regional basis it is worth more than $3.4 billion to the Manitoba economy, another $6 billion to the Alberta economy, and a whopping $8.2 billion to the Saskatchewan economy. It is a major economic driver. In direct production, as well as handling and processing it provides employment for nearly 250,000 Canadians. With the importance of canola already well rooted in Canadian agriculture, where is the crop headed? Ongoing research and development as well as agronomic extension will further unlock canola’s full potential, says Rempel. The Canola Council of Canada has already set a goal to increase average canola yields to 52 bushels per acre by 2025. That’s roughly a 30 per cent increase over the current yield average. That will come through continued agronomic extension services helping farmers apply proper production practices, and through ongoing plant breeding development to produce higher yielding crops more adapted to a wider range of growing conditions, with greater disease and pest resistance. Research will also build on the desirable health profile already earned by canola not only as a heart-smart vegetable oil but also in helping reduce the risk of diabetes and showing the benefits a healthy oil can have on reducing chronic brain diseases. Canola meal is already recognized as a high quality protein source in dairy and swine rations, and is making inroads as an important feed protein in the expanding aquaculture industry. High protein canola also has poten-

Above: Canola emerging in spring. Below: Canola seeds in the pod.

GROWING NEW IDEAS / GROWING KNOWLEDGE / GROWING STEWARDSHIP

With the importance of canola already well rooted in Canadian agriculture, where is the crop headed? Ongoing research and development as well as agronomic extension will further unlock canola’s full potential. tial to be a significant ingredient in a variety of human foods where people are looking for a vegetable-based food protein. On the industrial side, while canola oil is already being processed to produce biodiesel, its fibre is also being researched for potential to produce biodegradable plastics and other durable but compostable materials. “The crop has come a long way since it’s development in the 1970’s,” says Rempel. “But we’re just at the doorstep of the real potential the crop can achieve through ongoing research and development over the next 10 to 30 years.” h Farming Smarter / fall 2016

33

Book Review

Rain — A Natural and Cultural History By Cynthia Barnett, Crown Publishers ISBN 978-0-8041-3709-6 REVIEW By C. Lacombe

W

hadn’t thought about it before. Apparently, some of the world’s greatest writers and composers did their best work in dreary, rainy weather or places. In the chapter called City Rains, Barnett talks with foreboding about the phenomenal efforts humanity makes to get just the right amount of water where we want it. She talks about modern cities challenges where rain falls on hard surfaces and has only one flow path left open to it in many cities. Paths designed for a different climate with different rain patterns and now mostly overwhelmed. The Strange Rains chapter is that for sure. I’m not sure how I would react if I saw frogs or fishes falling from the sky. I think we might be safe on the Alberta prairie from those incidents, but we might experience mud fall one day. This chapter made me realize that pollution came with the industrial age and things happened that I had never heard of before. Did you know that soot from industrial operations in London, England combined with fog and an inversion in 1952 that lasted five days and killed 12,000 people! I thoroughly enjoyed this book for the information and perspectives it offers about a topic that is so common place that most people do the lift up the eyebrows face at me when I tell them I read a book about rain. I had the same thought when I first saw the book online, “How does someone fill a whole book talking about rain?” Well, one chapter and one fascinating topic at a time, that’s how. h

hen I came across a book called Rain, how could I not add it to the list of books I review for Farming

Smarter? It turns out that rain captured human interest and impacted human lives through all the ages, cultures and religions. Cynthia Barnett took the time to research all those ways rain shaped human history and some of it surprized me. For instance, did you know we have a Korean King to thank for the invention of the rain gauge? The book starts off talking about elemental rain. This is the rain that shaped our planet and allowed civilization to germinate. Of course, what follows that chapter is the struggle between civilization, drought and flood. Rain is such an important part of all life that people began recording it almost as soon as we had the tools to do so in ancient Greece. An Italian, Evangelista Torricelli, discovered how to measure barometric pressure in 1643, but didn’t tell anyone for fear of religious persecution after watching the Inquisition of Galileo. Twenty years later, Robert Boyle named it barometer and launched a “weather prediction craze” across Europe and America. I was amazed to find that citizen science started with weather watching back in the mid-1800s in England. The whole story of watching, recording and eventually TV forecasting shows impressive dedication by humanity. I also had no idea that rain making pervaded human cultures down through the cen-

turies. I thought that making rain fell into the same category as love spells not the United States government Defence Department! Never mind giving someone grief for believing that praying or dancing can call the rain, read what the U.S. spent on trying to create or manage rain through the last few hundred years. It’s a story for sure. Another story is how rain affects art and has through the ages. I’m surprized this surprized me not because it doesn’t make sense, but because it makes perfect sense and I

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@Adrian_Moens (403)308-6685

DELIVERS NO MATTER HOW YOU CUT IT

chinooktreaters.com 34

Farming Smarter / FALL 2016

Genuity® and Roundup Ready® are registered trademarks of Monsanto Technology LLC. Pioneer® brand products are provided subject to the terms and conditions of purchase which are part of the labeling and purchase documents. ®, SM, TM Trade-marks and service marks of DuPont, Pioneer or their respective owners. © 2016, PHII.”

GROWING NEW IDEAS / GROWING KNOWLEDGE / GROWING STEWARDSHIP

ALPINE STARTER FERTILIZER PERFORMS COULDN’T HAVE SAID IT BETTER

Having customers believe in the product you are selling is the best reward and leads to more satisfied customers. ALPINE is happy to share one such story from a customer and a consulting agronomist, Steve Larocque at http://beyondagronomy.com/. “There are two crops that I find the most response to seedplaced phosphorus and they are barley and canola. Today, I’ll share an example about malt barley. The photo here is of our barley taken two days ago and you’ll notice a difference in maturity from left to right. The crop is at full head emergence on the left side and 3-5 days behind on the right side with heads emerging. The fertilizer blend I applied was 55-30-50-6 sidebanded with 8.8 lbs of liquid P205 seedplaced using ALPINE G22. However, during seeding the electric pump on my liquid kit failed. Instead of waiting until the next day before the new pump arrived I went ahead and planted another 60 acres of barley (right side of photo). Soil test levels hover around 40 lbs of P205 so I thought the risk of less seedplaced phosphorus would be low. Clearly, I was wrong! It did make a difference. I can’t emphasise enough the importance of seedplaced phosphorus and its impact on vigour, frost tolerance and maturity. We’ve had one of the warmest springs on record with soil temperature above 10C at the beginning of seeding and yet we’re still seeing responses to seed placed phosphorus compared to side banded phosphorus. When you’re planning your fertility program next fall, be sure to create a specific seed placed blend and move the mobile nutrients like nitrogen and sulphur to the side or mid row to avoid seedling damage.”

My accidental phosphorus trial currently underway: phosphorus seedplaced on the left, not on the right. Photo source: S. Larocque

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©2016. NACHURS ALPINE SOLUTIONS. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. ALPINE and ALPINE G22 are registered trademarks of NACHURS ALPINE SOLUTIONS.

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Plan to attend this one day hands-on diagnostic and advanced agronomy session featuring small group interaction with Western Canada’s leading canola experts.

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