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Winter
2017
Grains
West
12
THE
FARMGATE
Clair Langlois, Alberta Agriculture and Forestry’s new cereal extension specialist, is looking forward to working
with producers and researchers in the cereals sector.
BY ALLISON FINNAMORE
WEGOTAGUY
ALBERTAAGRICULTUREANDFORESTRYHIRESCEREAL
EXTENSIONSPECIALIST
ALBERTA WHEAT AND BARLEY
producers hope a newly created cereal
extension specialist role will help move
research results out of the laboratories and
into the fields.
Jason Lenz is chair of Alberta Barley
and a regional representative for the Al-
berta Wheat Commission (AWC). He said
both organizations lobbied the provincial
government for several years to fill the
role, culminating in the hiring of Clair
Langlois into the position in mid-October.
AWC was especially active in the discus-
sions leading up to Langlois’s hiring, hold-
ing several meetings with ministers and
senior o cials from Alberta Agriculture
and Forestry. AWC also negotiated the
terms of the role with ministry o cials
and provided input in drafting the job
description.
“It’s important to have that really good
support role and have that go-to person
when a question comes up,” Lenz said.
“To have Clair get out to di erent field
days and be that face in the crowd that
producers recognize and producers feel
comfortable going to and asking questions
is important.”
Langlois said that’s exactly what he
intends to do in his new position, which is
funded by
Growing Forward 2
. As the for-
mer research manager with the B.C. Grain
Producers Association—a position he held
for 15-plus years—Langlois is familiar
with moving information on to farmers.
During his 30-year career since graduat-
ing from the University of Guelph in 1985,
he has worked in various positions within
the agriculture industry, and he is also a
Certified Crop Adviser.
Langlois pointed out that research re-
sults frequently aren’t adopted on the farm
because producers are unaware of the lat-
est research findings. That’s an area where
he hopes to make some improvements.
“I’m comfortable with explaining the
research to the producers,” he said. “A
lot of what I will be doing is knowledge
transfer—to be that regular and direct
contact with the producers. I hope to be
the middleman, or synergist, that will
improve producer productivity. A lot of
times, things don’t get adopted because
farmers don’t know about it.”
Lenz agreed, and further emphasized
the importance of the middleman role
Langlois will assume for producers. “For
him to pick up on that research and guide
the way to pickup by producers is good,”
Lenz said. “Clair can be the connecting
link and bring research back to producers
through field days and meetings. Having
that go-to guy that everyone knows and
respects will be really important.”
Jim Calpas, executive director of the
crop research and extension branch at
Alberta Agriculture and Forestry, expects
Langlois to create new opportunities for
the cereals industry. “This is going to get
information to farmers they can use to
make informed decisions when growing
their crops,” Calpas said. “The benefit is
the information to make informed deci-
sions in a timely fashion.”
Valuable research results flowing from
the lab to the field won’t be the only infor-
mation being exchanged, Langlois said.
He wants growers to share information
with him about issues and concerns they’re
facing in the field so he can then take that
back to researchers to see if the ideas can
be developed into research projects.
“Sometimes producers have a need
that researchers don’t know about,”
Langlois said.
Langlois plans to spend the winter at-
tending meetings and conferences around
the province in an e ort to get out and
meet as many producers as possible.
Photo:GarsonLaw