GrainsWest Winter 2020

Winter 2020 grainswest.com 37 esearch plots dot the Prairie landscape and provide farmers a glimpse of what may come from new crop varieties in yield, disease resistance, standability and more. About the size of a pickup truck and just as numerous across Alberta, these plots are an inescapable component of agricultural research. However, dimensions and conditions continually leave something to be desired. Highly manicured and cared for by research scientists in specialized environments, the plots don’t simulate real life and that’s a real problem for farmers who farm sections, not square centimetres. At Alberta Barley, the idea to scale up was brought forth during a research committee meeting and subsequently pitched to the crop group’s board of directors in 2019. The board approved the field-scale, on-farm research and a short time later the Alberta Wheat Commission (AWC) green-lit a similar project. Now, the commissions’ in-house agronomist, Jeremy Boychyn, is leading the charge to develop programming. As he plans for the inaugural year’s trials in spring 2020, he is excited to run the experiments so farmers may judge their value and effectiveness on a field scale. A central goal is to create a network and system where farmers have the capacity to implement experimental protocols on their own farm, Boychyn explains. “It’s not replacing existing research, it’s helping to extend that research information to a point where farmers can see it and trial it.” Each Alberta crop group will support one participating farmer, allocating $10,000 to their first year of testing. Expecting good results, they will increase both the financial contribution and the number of participating farmers in years to come. The nature of the projects will not be prescriptive, either. Instead, Boychyn will work with farmers to create projects that dovetail with their needs, eschewing the idea of working in a research vacuum. “Every farmer handles their logistics and agronomy differently. I want to keep this project malleable so we can make sure it aligns with farmers,” he said. Boychyn believes the initial projects will centre on seeding rates, general fertility and disease management. He also said fungicide application timing and agronomic stacking may be explored. Trials will range in size between 20 and 60 acres and trialling farmers will have initial access to results before they are made public. Once the projects are chosen and ready to begin, a third party working with Boychyn will oversee seeding, harvest and anything that may arise in between with the express goal of making the process simple and straightforward. He said this is necessary since protocols must be followed verbatim to compile accurate year-over-year, multi-site data. One group whose data collection is becoming more and more robust is the Manitoba Wheat and Barley Growers Association (MWBGA), which has on-farm research dating back four years. Its members already had a blueprint, too, R This site near Fort Vermilion is part of the Alberta Pulse Growers’ five-year Plot to Field initiative. The 2018 trial pictured here focused on honing seeding rates.