Grainswest - Spring 2022

Spring 2022 grainswest.com 41 FEATURE n a bright but chilly day last October, Nevin Rosaasen, Alberta Pulse Growers (APG) sustainability and government relations lead, and Hayley Webster, the commission’s Adaptation Resilience Training project assistant, made their way to a small slough on Hannah Konschuh’s farm near Cluny. Konschuh, a former Alberta Wheat Commission (AWC) director, joined them for the short hike down from an adjacent dirt road to examine this modest, semi- permanent wetland. It was the fifth and final data collection stop for the first year of a three-year, water stewardship initiative launched by Team Alberta Crops. Funding for the $1.5-million project includes $750,000 provided by Results Driven Agriculture Research, $417,500 of which was secured through the Canadian Agricultural Partnership. The remainder has been contributed by APG, AWC, Alberta Barley, Alberta Canola, Alberta Sugar Beet Growers, Alberta Potato Growers and industry supporters. The project’s 10 wetland sites are located on farms in the southern region of the province and samples are also being taken from 10 tributaries in the Milk River and South Saskatchewan River watersheds. Konschuh’s wetland had completely dried up over the course of the 2021 summer drought. Surprised by its severity, she said the 2021 harvest was the farm’s worst ever, and its surface water vanished. “Two nearby sloughs usually have mud hens on them, but they’re also dry,” she said. Once he recorded rain gauge readings, Rosaasen launched a drone to capture imagery of the area while Webster carried out a vegetative assessment. She placed two metre sticks in an L shape among the wild plants of the filter strip that ringed the slough. She carefully recorded the types of plants and the extent of ground cover within the area. This particular square metre was thick with cat tails and a variety of wild grasses, sedges and rushes. She stashed a portion of one of the grasses in a container for later identification. Near a set of moose tracks preserved in the cracked mud, Rosaasen broke open chunks of slough bottom to reveal the roots, grubs and worm tunnels within. He completed a formal insect inventory process in the spring of 2021 at each of the project’s sites. This will form a picture of their insect populations, from parasitic predators to beneficial pollinators. INPUT ACCOUNTABILITY Wetland stewardship study works to promote best practices, prevent unnecessary chemistry bans BY IAN DOIG PHOTOS BY IAN DOIG Part of a three-year Team Alberta Crops water stewardship study, Nevin Rosaasen examines the dried bottom of a semi-permanent wetland.