Premium Ag Seed holds meetings in Strathmore

Times Contributor        

 

Franklin D. Roosevelt said, “The nation that destroys its soil … destroys itself.” A great quote that was appropriately mentioned at the Premium Ag Seed meetings that were held in Strathmore last week on March 18.

Matt Gosling, an independent Agri-Coach led the meetings for the day representing Agri-Trend. Gosling reported that 2013 exceeded its yield targets in a number of crops for various reasons, including: famers’ use of sprayers not just for pesticide or fungicide. Warm nights depressed canola, the area (particularly around Strathmore) only saw 30+ days two or three times throughout the entire season followed by rain, the increased number of growing days, and the use of fungicides and increased nutrition for crops. All of these contributed to Strathmore being one of the highest areas in efficiency.

A banner that hung in the Civic Centre at the meeting read, “We know the value of cool weather germination. We have to. It’s Canada.” Gosling encouraged the group in the results of farm-sized trials (which went through 18 different treatments) to give more accurate results for their studies.

In his presentation Gosling and his team predicted the results for this coming year:

• precision is dramatically increasing and going up every year

• soil sampling will double in two years

• the “power zone” program is a success and has propelled into another source of service to farmers

• use of fertilizers, pesticides and fungicides will continue to improve

• seed priming programs seem to double every year

• pH sensing and VR lime applications will increase

• Off-spec ES (elemental sulfer) applications will be used

• Foliar feeding

• Spring will be messy. There will be logistical, moisture level and supply issues so prepare to plan ahead

• Break in rotation and different crops

• And lastly be prepared to make a marketing plan

Premium Ag has promoted itself in communities it serves by involving itself in local events and charities. Fern Pagenkopf, representing Strathmore’s minor Hockey Association, presented Matt Gosling with a Premium Ag hockey jersey from the peewee C Team and thanked them for their sponsorship.

Of the meetings Gosling says, “The patience and persistence of the growers and industry partners in the room was impressive as we went from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. with very little breaks!  Tom Wolf gave an update on sprayer technology and nozzle selection.  Focusing on doing a good job on spraying should always be a focus versus getting as many acres done an hour. Usually the quality of the job is compromised if there’s a lack of attention on what’s happening at the nozzle. 

We learned with some impressive photography how roots grow and the damaging effect that fertilizer placement can have on them from Mike Dolinski. Our crops are demanding more nutrition be applied at seeding time, and without proper placement of that fertilizer, seedlings could really suffer.  This depends on fertilizer type, amounts, soil types, and proximity to the seed.”

There was a joint-effort session to educate the growers on nitrogen stabilizers and the science behind properly spreading nitrogen. This is becoming more common practice as the capital cost of seeding equipment is so high, producers want to spread that cost over as many acres as possible. One way to do this is to take nitrogen (usually a majority of the volume applied in spring) and spread it in front of the seeder. Without paying attention to the science behind this process, nitrogen losses could be substantial and yields could be reduced. There are lots of tools and practices to minimize the types of losses that were discussed. The presentation was spearheaded by Elston Solberg, Director of Agri-Knowledge in Agri-Trend. 

The annual Premium Ag Crop Tour and BBQ will take place on Friday, July 18.

For more information please contact matt@premiumag.ca or www.premiumag.ca and they can also be followed on Twitter @PremiumAg.