GrainsWest Winter 2020

Winter 2020 Grains West 38 since theManitoba Pulse and Soybean Growers conducted on-farm research with its members prior to theMWBGA doing so. The overall goal for theMWBGA is no different than that of the Alberta commissions: helpmake its barley and wheat farmers more profitable through research that will provide real returns. MWBGA research manager Lori-Ann Kaminski believes it is logical to take successful plot-size research and try it out for farmers’ benefit at the field level. “The advantages of that are growers get an idea how things play out with their equipment and how they might incorporate a new way of doing things they’re interested in,” she said. Kaminski added that pencilling out economic benefits is also of critical importance. Successful projects that Kaminski has overseen relate to plant growth regulators, nitrogen trials for high- yielding wheat varieties and fungicide timing. These themes may also be trialed in Alberta. In MWBGA’s first year of trials, its board committed $38,900 to field research. Today, the commitment is up to $95,000. In previous years, Kaminski has received grant funding to hire additional staff and pay for various project costs including mapping, statistical interpretation and, at times, extra inputs. Each spring, Kaminski puts out an open call to farmers who may be interested in specific research in addition to targeting particular people. This year, 31 farmers participated in three projects across Manitoba. Once the research is complete, Kaminski hosts a day for the data to be presented to the group’s farmers who receive individualized reports on the findings. From there, Kaminski spins out a generalized document for the farm community at large. One person thumbing through the early reports is Boris Michaleski, a grain farmer southwest of Dauphin, MB. He started working with the provincial soybean and pulse group in 2014 and partnered with Kaminski in 2017, all in the name of becoming more educated about agronomics and making his farmland as productive as possible. “I’m always interested in learning what works and doesn’t work,” he said. “If you try something and find out it doesn’t work … I don’t deem that as a failure, it’s good information to know.” Michaleski believes determining whether a practice works or not is more practical at the strip test size than across his entire farm, consuming greater time and resources. An aspect of the program he appreciates is the help from Kaminski’s team during seeding, spraying and harvest, the busiest times on Michaleski’s farm. “Many times, a producer might want to do a trial, but it’s time consuming,” he said. “Having this additional help to lay out the groundwork and collect the data really helps simplify and speed up the process.” Those same farm teams that conduct such trials also turn the data out into farmer-friendly results, a key feature praised by Michaleski. “You’re looking at the raw data,” he said. “It’s third party neutral data. [The commissions] don’t have a vested interest in selling a particular product. It’s unbiased information.” Jeremy Boychyn, Alberta wheat and barley agronomy research extension specialist, is excited to run the experiments so farmers may judge their value and effectiveness on a field scale. Photo:RobMcMorris FEATURE