Farming Smarter Plot Hop promotes innovation in ag

By Lethbridge Herald on July 21, 2022.

Herald photo by Al Beeber Farming Smarter executive director Ken Coles discusses the subject of maximizing irrigated durum to participants in Thursday’s “plot hop” series of seminars.

Al Beeber – LETHBRIDGE HERALD – abeeber@lethbridgeherald.com

Farming Smarter isn’t just the name of a local program that focuses on applied research that helps southern Alberta farmers make informed choices.

It may also describe the focus of a “plot hop” that was staged Thursday at the facility just east of the city on the Jail Road.

The event featured six speakers talking about various agricultural matters. Farming Smarter called it “a fantastic opportunity to learn about the latest innovations and to network with industry peers.”

Among the speakers was Farming Smarter executive director Ken Coles who talked about maximizing irrigated durum.

The day opened with talks called Strip Till Corn and Strip Till Canola given by Mike Gretzinger and Carlo Van Herk respectively.

Charles Geddes of AAFC Lethbridge discussed Kochia Challenge while Doug Moisey of Cortevea talked about deep-seeded canola, while another presentation focused on Intercropping Wide Row Corn.

Jamie Puchinger of the Farming Smarter event said Thursday was a field day in which it showcases plant research and agronomy trials being done on site.

Agronomists, farmers and industry people come to learn at the event.

“It’s a way for them to continue their learning, stay up to date on current research and trends, practices that are going on in the industry,” said Puchinger.

“The average person is unaware of how complex agriculture is these days,” said Puchinger.

“When you think about how much technology has changed your life personally, it’s changed farming just as much,” she said.

That technology includes the ability to access and turn on a pivot with a cellphone.

“Modernization is happening in agriculture just as quickly as it is in home modernization and automation,” Puchinger said.

Farming Smarter was created when two other groups amalgamated in 2012. It has 60 acres in a field just east of its headquarters and land has been rented by the Netherlands Reformed Church as well as about 150 acres just south of it.

There are also plots in Brooks, Bow Island, Enchant and Taber. Farming Smarter also does field research across southern Alberta, working with farmers and their equipment on their land to get valuable results from things they want tested, Puchinger said.

Coles’ discussion was on irrigated durum production.

“We’re trying to improve the agronomy and get better yields and we’re playing with a precision vacuum planter” that is normally used for corn and soybeans but which have been adapted for smaller grains, Coles said.

“What it does is it more precisely puts one seed equidistant from each other so very, very precise even seeding compared to our traditional drills that are more of dump the seed in,” said Coles.

If a farmer gets better germination, he could reduce seeding rates, he said.

“We’re looking at ‘does it add agronomic value?’ So if you have nice even crops, then all the things that you do as an agronomist, like spraying a fungicide or plant growth regulator becomes a bit easier.”

This ensures getting better protection from diseases, better timing for growth rate and when it comes to harvest, it’s easier to harvest all the grains that are ready at the same time, he said.

“It’s more efficient production and in the end we’re hoping for more yield and profitability but also more precise agronomic practises,” Coles added.

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