Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28 Page 29 Page 30 Page 31 Page 32 Page 33 Page 34 Page 35 Page 36 Page 37 Page 38 Page 39 Page 40 Page 41 Page 42 Page 43 Page 44 Page 45 Page 46 Page 47 Page 48 Page 49 Page 50 Page 51 Page 52 Page 53 Page 54 Page 55 Page 56 Page 57 Page 58 Page 59 Page 60 Page 61 Page 62 Page 63 Page 64 Page 65 Page 66 Page 67 Page 68 Page 69 Page 70 Page 71 Page 72 Page 73 Page 74 Page 75 Page 76 Page 77 Page 78 Page 79 Page 80 Page 81 Page 82 Page 83 Page 84 Page 85 Page 86 Page 87 Page 88 Page 89 Page 90 Page 91 Page 92 Page 93 Page 94 Page 95 Page 96 Page 97 Page 98 Page 99 Page 100 Page 101 Page 102 Page 103 Page 104 Page 105 Page 106 Page 107 Page 108 Page 109 Page 110 Page 111 Page 112Genetics ANYONE who has spent time producing crops knows no matter how fantastic a variety’s breeding, improved genetics are only one factor in a successful crop’s equation. Producers who don’t prioritize agronomics like weed control, disease manage- ment and crop nutrition won’t survive long in agriculture. Since the Second World War, scientists – and producers – have made enormous strides in agronomic understanding. Still, expect Alberta producers to make plenty of agronomic practice improve- ments over the near future. “It takes more than just genetics. We talk about a 50-50 split: 50 per cent of a crop’s ultimate success comes is in the genetics; 50 per cent is in agronomic BMPs in the field,” says Pat Flaten, research project manager with the Western Grains Research Foundation (WGRF). “You have to allow genetics to live up to their best potential by providing great agronomy.” The good news is that today’s Alberta farmers are typically quite expert in agronomy and generally operate according to industry-recommended best management practices (BMPs), says Gregory Sekulic, an agronomy specialist with the Canola Council of Canada. “The common practices used in agriculture today – especially relating to crop inputs – are for the most part exactly what are recommended by researchers and industry, because BMPs are the most profitable,” he says. “In general, growers don’t over-apply anything because the economics aren’t there to support it. On the other hand, they don’t under-apply either because they’ve come to accept that inputs are investments rather than expenses.” In other areas of agronomic practice, Alberta growers tend to be similarly in line with BMPs. Where possible, seeding is largely done according to recommended timing, depth and spacing. And integrated pest management is now fairly widely accepted and practiced. In many cases, improving technology is allowing enhanced precision of BMPs. While an increasing number of producers are considering advanced agronomic technologies like variable rate application, even refining one’s operations in low-tech ways can be beneficial. “Growers understand the importance of seeding rate, but they can fine tune their rate by using the thousand kernel weight calculation. There are some growers using thousand kernel Taking Big Steps in Agronomic Understanding Top-notch genetics are an important first step towards growing a successful crop. But genetics alone can only get a farmer so far. 44 www.seed.ab.ca | Advancing Seed in Alberta weight but it needs to become more widely adopted,” says Mark Cutts, a crop specialist with Alberta Agriculture and Forestry. “A significant difference in thousand kernel weight can make a huge impact on how many pounds per acre you’re seeding.” Instead of choosing a seeding rate by bushels per acre, he rec- ommends, seed according to how many plants per square foot you want. And don’t scrimp. “Some farmers still want to save money at seeding time,” says Sekulic. “If you went and spent the money on good seed, you need to seed it at the right rate to get the plant population you want. There’s no point seeding on the low side because you thought the seed was expensive.” Crop rotation is currently one of the few areas in which expert recommendations and grower realities diverge. Today, the majority of Canadian annual cropping farmers plant a canola and wheat rotation, while the majority of their American counter- parts plant a soybeans and corn rotation. The pest management risks of tight rotation are clear and well understood by research- ers and producers alike: among other downsides, repetitive and frequent use of specific crops support pest populations; foster the development of resistant pest populations; compromise soil health; and decrease microbial biomass. “Crop rotation is definitely something we need to focus more on,” says Sekulic. Saying that, however, he understands why producers opt for a one in two rotation. “In an ideal world, there would be a third or fourth or fifth lucrative crop that you could add to the two-crop rotation, and preferably farmers would be adding a perennial crop too. I certainly recommend a one-in-three or one-in-four rotation and I’ll do my best to help make that profitable, but the crux comes down to economics. “I came into this job preaching the need for rotation. But it’s pretty tough to ask a guy to use longer rotations with the current mix of crop species we have, especially when a lot of the second- ary crops are already at or near the max of what the market can hold. If we start growing 10 million acres of a niche crop, that’s going to change the market,” adds Sekulic. While convincing growers to extend their rotations may be a hard sell, convincing them to pull land out of production may actually be reality soon. New research suggests landscape diver- Today, WGRF considers agronomic research a huge research priority. Photo by Harpinder S. Randhawa, AAFC Lethbridge