Proceedings of Direct Seeding Ideas 2001 : January 10, 2001, Knights of Columbus Hall, Falher : January 11, 2001, Dunvegan Motor Inn, Fairview, Alberta

80 Pages·2001·15.8 MB·English

by  Direct Seeding Ideas (2001 : Fairview, Alta , Falher, Alta)

Proceedings
of
DIRECT SEEDING IDEAS
2001
January 10, 2001
Knights of Columbus Hall, Falher
January 11,2001
Dunvegan Motor Inn, Fairivew
r — 1
/diberia
AGRICULTURE, FOOD AND
RURAL DEVELOPMENT
INITIATIVE PPrairieF FarRm RAehabi«lilal^ion Aldmin<i! i

Acknowledgements
Thanks to all the participants, speakers, helpers and the Dunvegan Motor Inn for their
involvement in the Direct Seeding 2001 Workshop held in Falher on January 10 and in
Fairview on January 1 1 . Approximately 140 people attended from across the Peace Region
from as far away as Fort St. John, High Level and Valleyview.
Special thanks to the organizing committee, including Randy Perkins and Tom Staples of
Alberta Agriculture, and Blair English of PFRA for their assistance in locating sponsors,
speakers, advertisers, as well as registration and room setup.
Thanks to the speakers for their presentations at the two days, and for providing the
material for this proceedings.
Thanks to the sponsors, including Alberta Reduced Tillage Initiative, Alberta
Environmentally Sustainable Agriculture, BASF, Advanta, Cyanamid, Farm Credit
Corporation, United Farmers of Alberta, Ducks Unlimited, Fairview College, Monsanta,
Dupont, Zeneca and Cargill.
Special thanks to Monsanto for sponsoring lunch and Zeneca for a jug of Touchdown.
Thanks to Agriculture Financial Services Corporation, Ducks Unlimited, Town of Fairview,
and Alberta Agriculture for supplying door prizes. Thanks to the Alberta Institute of
Agrologists (Peace River Branch) for processing the income and expenses.
Special thanks to Linda Brazel for formatting and producing these proceedings.
We hope the day was beneficial for you and hope to see you next year for another edition
of the Direct Seeding Workshop.
John Zylstra, P.Ag.
Conservation Coordinator, Peace Region
Regional Advisory Services
Alberta Agriculture, Food and Rural Development

2001 "Direct Seeding Ideas" Worlcshop
January 10,2001
Knights of Columbus Hall - Falher
January 11,2001
Dunvegan Motor Inn - Fairview
AGENDA
8:30-9:00 am Registration
9:15 am Opening Remarks
9:30 am My Direct Seeding System
Ken Eshpeter, Daysland Farmer and Poet
10:15am Coffee
1 1 :00 am Insect Pests in the Peace
Jennifer Otani, Entomologist, Northern Agriculture Research Centre
1 1 :30 am Weed Control Systems
John O 'Donovan, Cropping Systems, Northern Agriculture Research Centre
12:00 noon Lunch (sponsored by Monsanto)
1 :00 pm Manure in Direct Seeding
Tom Staples, Soil Specialist, Alberta Agriculture
1 :30 pm Financial Investments for Direct Seeding
Gordon Williams, Farm Management Extension, Lethbridge Community College
2:10 pm Precision Farming
Tom Goddard, Soil Conservation Specialist, Alberta Agriculture
2:40 pm Coffee
3 :00 pm Seeding Depths, Drills, and Your System
Gary Ropchan, Coordinator, Central Peace Conservation Society
3:30 pm Nitrogen Fertility to Minimize Crop Lodging
Tracey Nicholson, Technologist, Central Peace Conservation Society
3:50 pm Pea Fertility in Direct Seeding
Paul Laflamme, Pulse Speciahst, Alberta Agriculture
Digitized by the Internet Archive
in 2015
https://archive.org/details/proceedingsofdirOOdire_0
Table of Contents
No-Till in East-Central Alberta, Canada
Ken Eshpeter, Daysland Page 1
Agricultural Insect Pests - O ur Y2K Bug
Jennifer Otani, Northern Agriculture Research Centre Page 4
Reducing Dependence on Herbicides
John O'Donovan, Northern Agriculture Research Centre Page 9
Manure Agronomics Project
Tom Staples, Alberta Agriculture, Food and Rural Development Page 15
Economic Decision Making
Gordon Williams, Lethbridge Community College Page 25
Precision Farming Update
Tom Goddard, Alberta Agriculture, Food and Rural Development Page 37
Tillage and Time, Seeding Depth, Drill Selection and Lodging
Garry Ropchan and Tracey Nicholson, Central Peace Conservation Society Page 43
Pea Fertility in Direct Seeding
Paul Laflamme, Alberta Agriculture, Food and Rural Development Page 67

Direct Seeding Workshop
No'Till in East-Central
Alberta^ Canada
Ken Eshpeter
Farmer and Poet
Daysland, Alberta
Page 1
Direct Seeding Workshop
No-Till in East-Central Alberta, Cgnada
Ken Eshpeter
Daysland, Alberta
This is one producer's perspective that has been developing over a 1 0-year period.
I f arm in a flat to gently undulating part of the Alberta "Parkland." We receive about 10-12
inches of growing season precipitation annually, which results in fairly predictable moisture
stress for crop development most years.
Our clay loam soils usually reward us with good crops annually. But, no-till farming helps us
manage soil moisture more effectively and thus reduce some of the stress of growing crops on
dry land.
Over the years I h ave had many "learning experiences" developing my direct seeding and no-till
system. The following is a brief outline of what I h ave learned.
I break the process of no-tilling on my farm into five basic stages or processes which are utterly
important. They are interdependent factors which operate together to produce successful crops.
These factors are:
1) Residue Management
2) Weed Control
3) Seed Placement
4) Fertilizer Placement
5) Rotation
1) R esidue Management - S uccessful no-tilling begins at harvest. The harvester must chop and
spread the straw and chaff evenly. Without this step I w ould be beat. Uniform chopping and
spreading allows your seeding tool to smoothly, and without bunching, place the seed into the
ground.
2) Weed Control -Weed control begins at harvest for two reasons:
a) You can assess prior crop weeds and their impact on your next year's crop
b) You can use pre-harvest spray to control certain weeds for the next year's crop like
- Q uackgrass
- C anada and sow thistle
- T oad flax
As experience with no-till increases, our flexibility with weed control increases. We can decrease
our dependence on certain herbicides somewhat. Use all the chemistry possible and hopefully
ward off the lurking monster of 'herbicide resistance." My system allows me to rotate virtually
every chemical group. This takes much planning but I am certain that it will be worth it.
3) Seed Placement - Seed placement is crucial! I m ust have a system that allows for shallow
seeding and that creates a blackened area on top of the seed row. Because our springs tend to be
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