Welcome to The Growing Point, the Alberta Wheat and Barley Commission’s agronomy focused Podcast. Our goal with the podcast is simple; to provide Alberta farmers and agronomists with timely, relevant and valuable agronomic knowledge sourced from science-based research and projects funded by the Alberta Wheat and Barley Commissions.
In this episode, we speak with Wes Anderson, Vice President of agronomy with Croptimistic Technology. Anderson discusses the terms alkali, alkaline, saline, and saline-sodic and how they impact land and crop management.
In this episode, we speak with Dr. Jeff Schoenau, Professor of Soil Science at the University of Saskatchewan. Dr. Schoenau provides a breakdown of the major pathways that nitrogen can be lost to the environment. He also discusses management practices producers can implement to mitigate loss and increase their nitrogen use efficiency.
In this episode, we speak with Myles Dick professor of soil science in the Department of Renewable Resources at the University of Alberta. I chat with Myles about the legacy of the Breton Plots, a long-standing plot research location in Alberta, Canada that has been conducting trials since 1929. We also discuss how decisions are made around some of the legacy plots and what agricultural knowledge the Breton Plots are providing today.
With high fertilizer prices, ongoing drought, and potential for nitrogen carryover from the 2021 season, it is important we assess nitrogen is available in the soil for the 2022 growing season. Dr. Don Flaten (Retired University of Manitoba professor) and John Heard (Soil fertility specialist with the Government of Manitoba) provide insight into how mineralization and immobilization play a role in your nitrogen fertility plan. Hint: your expected nitrogen release value may not be as reliable as you think!
On this episode of The Growing Point Podcast, I speak with Dr. Martin Entz, a professor at the University of Manitoba. Entz describes tillage as it relates to soil health and crop production in western Canada. We discuss how much tillage is too much tillage, the types of tillage and their impacts on soil, and how producers can think about tillage. We also discuss the relationship between tillage, plant diversity, soil health.
In this episode we chat with Jennifer Otani (AAFC Beaverlodge) regarding wheat midge on the prairies and in the peace region. We chat about the wheat midge life cycle, damage, and mechanisms tools for producers. We also delve into the complex relationship that wheat midge has with Macroglenes penetrans, a beneficial wasp that parasitizes wheat midge, and how farming practices in crops like canola impact its ability to reduce wheat midge populations. The links that Jennifer mentions:
http://insectpestmanagement.blogspot.com/2021/06/talking-about-wheat-midge-and-its.html?m=1
We chat with Dr. Kate Congreves (Assistant Prof at the University of Saskatchewan) regarding some exciting work she is currently conducting. Partially funded by the Alberta Wheat Commission(AWC) to conduct this research, Congeves is working with breeders to investigate Nitrogen Use Efficiency (NUE) in spring wheat cultivars. Understanding which Canadian wheat varieties have higher NUE can increase the value a producer receives from each unit of nitrogen. This is because varieties with higher NUE are able to produce each unit of yield on less nitrogen. This research has many impacts for producers of spring wheat in western Canada including future access to more nitrogen efficient varieties as well as a better understanding of what currently available varieties display higher NUE.
In this episode, we chat with Dr. Breanne Tidemann about why weeds are jerks. We chat about the current state of weed resistance in Western Canada, how we got here, and what it means for farmers' pockets. We also chat about what weed resistance looks like in a field, how it develops in a plant, and what producers can do to mitigate resistance. Check out the Resistant Wild Oat Action Committee website here, https://weedscience.ca/wild-oat-action-committee/ and follow them on Twitter @RWildOat. (https://twitter.com/RWildOat)
In this episode, we speak with Dr. Sheri Strydhorst (Agronomy Research Specialist - Alberta Wheat and Barley Commissions) about plant growth regulators (PGRs). Over the past couple of years, the PGRs available for use in Western Canada have changed. Producers now have multiple options to select from. Luckily, research conducted in Canada, as well as internationally, provides a strong indication of which product may be best for barley. For more information, follow this link (link referenced by Dr. Sheri Strydhorst within the podcast): https://bit.ly/33tvdCU
In this podcast, we chat with Dr. Brian Beres regarding his current research on closing yield gaps in Western Canada. Part of his research involves capturing management information from producers through a survey. We discuss the survey and research value to western Canadian producers and how it will impact producers goal of closing yield gaps in the future.
To learn more about this survey click here: https://albertawheat.com/media/the-growing-point/february-2021/yield-gap
