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FARMERS HOPEFUL
That was the general observation
of central Alberta farmer Dallas Dau
in 2013. He was involved in a PGR
research trial organized by his local
crop consultant. Dau said a research
plot on his Three Hills-area farm didn’t
produce any dazzling results showing
the effectiveness of PGRs on preventing
cereal crop lodging, but he said he is
hopeful that over the next two or three
years it will emerge as another useful
tool in increasing crop yields and overall
efficiency.
Dau said the biggest problem in 2013
with products applied to reduce lodging
in both wheat and barley was probably
that it was just too good a growing year.
“The products have very specific
timing and they were probably applied
on the later end of the window,” he said,
“but it was a year with such ideal growing
conditions, I think the crops just blew
right through the products—just kept
growing.
“Our wheat and barley were both just
growing gangbusters, and even after we
applied the products they didn’t slow
down a bit.”
The 40-acre field had plots of wheat
and barley seeded with varying rates of
fertilizer from a standard check level to
double the fertility rates.
“Lodging can be a concern so we have
to watch how much fertilizer we apply,”
said Dau. “On these plots, I think the
wheat did stand a bit better but it wasn’t
a huge difference. I think because it was
such a good growing season, it might
have been a bad year to try this. But it
was only one year and I’m hoping we
do it again for at least two or three more
years to get a better idea of how it works.
It will be an excellent tool if it works.”
A “NO-BRAINER”
While field research is important,
Elston Solberg, president of Agri-
Trend Agrology and a longtime crop
consultant, said he believes the broader
use of PGRs should be a “no-brainer.”
He said that the industry needs to do
a better job of education to ensure the
proper product is applied at the proper
rate and at the proper timing, but that
there is no doubt PGRs can be a valuable
tool in helping farmers increase crop
production efficiency by getting higher-
yielding crops to stand better.
Solberg was involved in research work
with PGRs in Canada nearly 30 years ago,
“and at that time these products had
already been in use in
Europe for about 20
years.”
Even back in the
late-1980s, the use
of PGRs in trials
showed a reduction
in lodging, which
translated into easier
combining, improved
crop quality and, in
many cases, higher
yields.
But because timing and management
of product use is so critical, some
mistakes were made and interest in the
products never took off.
“Fast-forward to 2013 and now
the world has had another 30 years’
experience with the products,” said
Solberg. “These products have proven
themselves in high-producing, high-
yielding environments, so I think we
should be able to figure it out here.
“The other thing we keep hearing
is that over the next 36 years we need
to be producing 70 per cent more
crop on each acre of land we have
now, which means higher rates of
fertilizer to produce higher yields,
which predisposes us to a higher risk
of lodging—which, to me, means that
if PGRs aren’t already a no-brainer, they
soon will be.”
Solberg said PGRs won’t be effective
on every acre of cereal crop in Western
Canada, but they will have a fit in
higher-producing environments and
on farms able to apply a higher level of
management.
“It isn’t just about the timing of the
product, it is about the whole crop
production system,” said Solberg. “They
need to be used in a system that uses
the proper (higher) seeding rate, proper
fertility, and good management of crop-
protection products. PGRs can be a
useful tool in a system where all these
management factors are integrated.”
BENEFITS WITH RISKS
Another longtime central Alberta farmer
and crop consultant, Steve Larocque of
Beyond Agronomy
said that, after
four years of field
research and some
trial and error, he is
convinced PGRs can
be an effective tool
in helping “malt and
feed barley growers
attain higher yields in
our semi-arid climate.”
Larocque said the
increased risk of lodging is the limiting
factor in achieving consistently high
barley yields.
“In our area, applying nitrogen rates
above 100 pounds per acre usually
resulted in lodged barley and would void
any gains we made through intensive
agronomy,” he said. If he applied 120
pounds of nitrogen, his barley crop
would go flat.
Obtaining the products for research
purposes, Laroque worked mainly
with Ethrel and Cycocel Extra. He
said he found Ethrel to be the most
effective on wheat and barley. He also
did some trials with Manipulator on
wheat. Manipulator is expected to be
registered in 2014 and available for
commercial use in 2015.
Timing and temperature were indeed
critical, he said, adding he also used a
lower rate of Ethrel than the 400 millilitres
per acre recommended for crops grown
under irrigation. He said he had the most
success using 250 millilitres per acre.
That rate reduced lodging in barley,
but didn’t shorten the height too much.
If the crop is shortened too much, a
combination of rainfall, sunlight and open
canopy can encourage late tillering,
which he didn’t want.
With Champion barley, for example,
Spring
2014
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39
“It isn’t just about the
timing of the product,
it is about the whole
crop production
system.”
–Elston Solberg