The severe drought conditions in 2021 were very difficult for many western Canadian crop farmers, but last year’s growing season did provide a few silver linings.
“At Discovery Farm Langham in Saskatchewan in 2021, we gathered important information about crop cultivation under extreme conditions,” says Blake Weiseth, applied research lead at Discovery Farm Langham and agriculture research chair at Saskatchewan Polytechnic. “As you can see in the Discovery Farm 2021 Field Report, we’ve seen promising results in practices we hope producers can use every year going forward to manage soils impacted by limitations such as low moisture and salinity.”
Getting practical and cutting-edge information like this into the hands of farmers is Discovery Farm’s top priority.
Discovery Farm has two hubs for applied research, demonstration projects and knowledge transfer: one is in Langham Sask. (610 acres, home of Ag in Motion) and one in Woodstock Ont. (330 acres, home of Canada’s Outdoor Farm Show.)
“Our facilities and land base provide our partners across industry, academia and government with the opportunity to do trials and technology testing, host their own hands-on farmer education events, demonstrate new techniques and technologies, and more,” says Weiseth.
The practical and innovative solutions from these activities at Discovery Farm – which is part of Canada’s largest ag media company, Glacier FarmMedia – are communicated to farmers in several ways so they can make the best decisions for their business.
KEY FINDINGS FROM 2021
The Salinity Project is focused on how perennial forages can provide solutions for best managing salt-affected soils in Western Canada. Treatments include Halo 2 alfalfa, AC Saltlander and Salinemaster, a commercially available proprietary blend of perennial species. Despite severe drought, all treatments were profitable in the 2021 growing season. In only the second year following establishment, the forage treatments have been shown to compete well against challenging weeds like kochia. Launched in spring 2020, this five year project involves Ducks Unlimited Canada, Proven Seed and Nutrien Ag Solutions.
In the three-year, multi-site 4R Phosphorus Project, different forms and delivery methods are being evaluated in the context of 4R nutrient stewardship to help maximize crop growth while minimizing the potential loss of phosphorus in run-off water. In 2021, crop uptake of phosphorus and nitrogen was significantly different among the fertilizer sources evaluated. As plant availability of fertilizer phosphorus sources is impacted by their solubility, low soil moisture at seeding likely impacted straw nutrient uptake. Partners include the Western Grains Research Foundation, Sask Wheat Development Commission, SaskCanola, Saskatchewan Pulse Growers and Foundation for Agronomic Research.
The Water Management Project evaluates beneficial management practices to promote crop nutrient uptake and reduce phosphorus export in run-off water. Results from the 2021 season indicated that variable-rate fertilizer application was an effective management strategy to promote nutrient use efficiency. Partners on this project include Saskatchewan Water Security Agency, Saskatchewan Soil Conservation Association, Saskatchewan Stock Growers Association, V-Wing, CropPro Consulting, Nutrien Ag Solutions, Proven Seed and Väderstad Industries.
The Field of Excellence, which is a part of the Pan-Canadian Smart Farm Network, attracts industry partners from across the entire production supply chain in a single cohesive project each year. Amid severe drought in 2021, yield varied significantly across the different landscape positions and was related to differences in measured plantavailable water over the growing season. There are several partners for the project this year: AgExpert, AGI, Canada West Harvest Centre, CropPro Consulting, EcoTea, Loveland Products, METOS Canada, Nutrien Ag Solutions, Proven Seed, Robertson Implements, VeriGrain, Shore Measuring Systems, SWAT Maps and Väderstad Industries.
Other projects at Discovery Farm Langham include Nutrien Ag Solutions Innovation Acres, the ‘every farm’ 40-acre showcase guiding farmers on how to use new and leading products from Nutrien Ag Solutions and its proprietary brands Loveland Products and Proven Seed, as well as carbon emissions reduction practices. Even in the drought conditions of 2021, all four field plots showed value from the recommended products and services.
The Taurus Ag Discovery Plot Challenge is focused on demonstrating seed-safe fertilizer innovations that can decrease seed mortality and improve soil biology. Both the canola and pea plots showed valuable information on seed-safe applications of phosphate, potassium and sulphate with new products that Taurus is bringing to the marketplace.
The Yara Incubator Farm is a significant project covering 80 acres. In collaboration with industry partners, Yara utilizes the latest technology and fertilizer applications to demonstrate how growers can improve efficiencies. The Yara Complete Nutrition Program includes a balance of macronutrients and micronutrients complemented with in-season foliar fertility. Under extremely dry conditions last season, the Yara Complete Nutrition Program promoted a better root structure, resulting in the crop utilizing 12 per cent more of the available water in the wheat trial and 18 per cent more in the canola trial. Nutrients are carried into the plant through the soil solution. Being able to improve the intake of soil solution into the plant is one way growers can improve their nutrient use efficiencies.
Other projects at Discovery Farm Langham are being spearheaded by AgroLiquid, BASF, Federated Co-operatives Limited, Innovative Ag Performance, Koch Agronomic Services, Smart Nutrition MAP + MST and Väderstad Industries.
OTHER OPPORTUNITIES
“This is far from a complete list of everything that’s going on at Discovery Farm in 2022 and we are tremendously excited to be offering so much for farmers, industry members, scientists and other stakeholders,” says Kaitlyn Kitzan, business development and operations specialist at Discovery Farm. “Discovery Farm continues to expand as an important source of reliable information and innovative ideas for Canada’s farmers as they grow their farm businesses, and we are looking forward to a successful growing season for 2022.”
The Discovery Farm 2021 Field Report can be found at www.discoveryfarm.ca/field-reports. For a complete partnership package or other information, please contact Kaitlyn Kitzan at [email protected]
