We recorded today’s episode in March at the 2020 Prairie Organics Conference in Brandon Manitoba. 

Scott gets into the weeds with Sam Hitchcock Tilton as they discuss ways to control weeds at all stages of their life cycle throughout the growing season.

Thanks to Regen Ag Solutions for helping to sponsor this episode. If you’re thinking about trying out some of the machines Sam and Scott were talking about, check out their website at https://regenagsolutions.ca/ or give them a call on 1-204-999-1232.

Their farming solutions aim to help farmers achieve balance and synergy between plants and soil. They provide their clients with the best products to develop soil nutrition, increase yields and promote long-term sustainability.

https://regenagsolutions.ca/

https://twitter.com/RegenAgSolutio1

Dalhousie University has put together some great resources from harrowing to robotic weed control to help you decide what will work best for your farm.

https://www.dal.ca/faculty/agriculture/oacc/en-home/resources/pest-management/weed-management/mechanical-control.html

Manitoba Agriculture has also summarized some of the issues with weed control in organic cropping systems here: https://www.gov.mb.ca/agriculture/crops/weeds/weed-management-in-organic-crop-systems.html

And don’t forget to check out the resources on Pivot and Grow!

https://www.pivotandgrow.com/resources/production/managing-weeds/

Sam Hitchcock Tilton is a Horticulture Instructor at Lakeshore Technical College, just North of Sheboygan, Wisconsin. He has a background in vegetable farming and earned a Master’s degree in Horticulture from Michigan State University, where he studied and conducted research on precision weeding tools. Sam was the Midwest Sales Representative for KULT-Kress precision cultivation tools. For this work he designed weeding machines for all types of crops, developed new tools, and traveled through Europe and the US visiting farms. He writes for Vegetable Grower’s News and Growing for Market, and is the organizer of the annual Midwest Mechanical Weed Control Field Day – the nation’s premier event for weeding tool demonstrations.

Our host, Scott Beaton, chats with Kevin Elmy from Cover Crops Canada about …..wait for it….cover crops. 

They talk about why we should all be growing them in the first place and then get into some of the nitty gritty details about some timing issues, how to plan a cover crop mix and how cover crops actually work to improve your soil aggregates and water infiltration.

Thanks to Imperial Seed for helping to sponsor this episode. If you’re thinking about growing a cover crop this year, check out their website at https://imperialseed.com/ or call one of their experts for some help in deciding what would work best for you!

Sponsor

Imperial Seed Ltd. is an accredited seed processing facility focused on the multiplication and processing of proprietary forage and turf seed. Seed production is facilitated through a network of seed growers throughout Western Canada. Growers have at their disposal almost 60 years of cumulative field experience with our staff. This provides both new and experienced growers with an extensive resource related to their seed production.

https://imperialseed.com/

https://twitter.com/ImperialSeed

I was raised on a seed farm near Saltcoats, SK. I moved back in 1999 after various jobs after convocation from the University of Saskatchewan. The land I bought was baled and burned for 50 years so needed reviving. So we changed our management to included forages, corn grazing, winter cereals, reduced tillage, and the use of cover crops. We got to where we have not added synthetic nitrogen for 13 years, reduced our use of herbicides, eliminated seed treatments, fungicides and insecticides, and now eliminated the rest of our synthetic fertilizer applications. Our soil are now alive.

Check out Kevin’s cover crop assessment sheet and more info about cover crops at

https://covercrops.ca/

And https://imperialseed.com/

Haven’t filled out Callum’s survey in 2019 yet? 

Click here to fill it out. 

Or follow him on Twitter @CallumMorrisons  and he’ll let you know when to fill out his 2020 survey.

MOA also hosted a cover cropping workshop last November and the videos are available on our website https://manitobaorganicalliance.com/article/nov-13-brandon-mb-getting-the-most-out-of-every-acre-through-cover-cropping/ or go straight to our YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZg0amo8jn6M6b7O38ZvriznADlDmT9Mm

Still wanting to read more?

http://www.umanitoba.ca/outreach/naturalagriculture/covercrops.html

https://www.pivotandgrow.com/resources/production/cover-crops/

Kevin’s Top Book Pick

“When Weeds Talk”

https://www.acresusa.com/products/weeds-and-why-they-grow

Host: Scott Beaton

Guests: Kevin Elmy & Callum Morrison

Narrator: Karen Klassen

Producer: Karen Klassen

Editor: Karen Klassen

Consultant: Anne Kirk

The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the speakers and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Manitoba Organic Alliance. 

Join our host Scott Beaton in conversation with Transitioning organic grain farmer, Alex Boersch from Elie, MB, interviews Alan McKenzie, an experienced organic grain farmer from Nesbitt, MB. . With host Scott Beaton, they discusses strategies, perceptions, challenges, and opportunities of transitioning into organic grain. Hear their perspective on rotations, managing weeds, markets, paperwork and more.

Bio: Alex Boersch has a bachelor and Masters in Agri-Business and science from INP Purpan (University in Touluse, France). He has worked for two years in Toronto for DG Global Inc as a grain trader and moved back to the farm July of 2017. The farm was founded in 1988 by his father Andreas Boersch, who emigrated from Cologne, Germany. They farm 5000 acres and are transitioning 500 acres of land into organic.

Alan McKenzie farms in Nesbitt, MB on a 4000 acre mixed cattle and grain organic farm. Alan began transitioning his farm to organic production in 2002 and since 2011 his whole farm including his cattle operation are certified organic. Alan works for diversity on his farm, growing a variety of grain crops including inter-crops, hemp and other cereals. His cattle are used to graze cover crops on the farm.

Resources discussed in this episode:

Credits:

Host: Scott Beaton

Producers: Dana Penrice, Iris Vaisman, Cari Hartt, and Tierra Stokes

Grain on the Brain is a podcast of the Prairie Organic Grain Initiative

Join our host Scott Beaton in conversation with Brenda Frick, organic expert on weeds in organic cropping , to talk about practical and helpful tips for managing weeds in organic cropping. With host Scott Beaton, she discusses how to prevent and manage those tough weeds like Canada Thistle and Bind Weed. Learn understanding weed cycles and what practices farmers use to reduce them.

Bio: Brenda Frick is a partner in Resilient Solutions Consulting. Brenda has a wealth of experience in organic research extension having authored many resources for organics along with an expertise in managing weeds in organic cropping systems. She shares this as an instructor of an online organic weeds class through the University of Saskatchewan Brenda is also one of the experts behind Pivot and Grow's 1-800 'Ask an Expert'. Call her with your questions about organics.

Resources discussed in this episode:

Credits:

Host: Scott Beaton

Producers: Dana Penrice, Iris Vaisman, Cari Hartt, and Tierra Stokes

Grain on the Brain is a podcast of the Prairie Organic Grain Initiative

Join our host Scott Beaton in conversation with organic grain expert Joanne Thiessen Martens to talk about taking soil samples and plant tissue samples. Learn when to take sample, how to take the sample, where to send your samples and how to interpret the results. Sampling and testing can help you understand what's happening on your farm and make management decisions or interventions if required. In organic systems, mainstream soil tests might not capture everything that you need to know to make management decisions and by adding plant tissue samples it can give you a better picture of what's happening in your fields.

Bio: Joanne Thiessen Martens grew up on a small mixed farm at Austin, Manitoba. She earned a B. Sc. In Agroecology at the University of Manitoba in 1999 and has since been working in the area of sustainable and ecological agriculture. For much of this time, Joanne has been a part of Dr. Martin Entz’s research team in the Department of Plant Science at the University of Manitoba. Her recent areas of focus include cover cropping, integrated crop-livestock systems, and farming systems design.

Resources discussed in this episode:

Credits:

Host: Scott Beaton

Producers: Dana Penrice, Iris Vaisman, Cari Hartt, and Tierra Stokes

Grain on the Brain is a podcast of the Prairie Organic Grain Initiative

Join our host Scott Beaton in conversation with Organic grain farmer Ian Cushon and organic buyer Scott Shiels to learn about the opportunities and challenges that come along with marketing organic grain. Organic farmers can take advantage by paying attention to what's happening in the market place and planning crops accordingly . The organic industry is a smaller community and everyone wants to help each other so learn the network and learn to ask questions. Learn what might be a good crop to start with and how to approach speciality markets. Hear about the importance of maintaining grain quality on the farm. Hear about contract considerations straight from the farmer's perspective.

Guest Bios:

Ian Cushon has farmed organically for 30 years producing a wide variety of field crops including row cropping organic sunflowers in the 1990s to soybeans in 2016. Ian has used mechanical weed control including rod weeders, tine harrows, tine weeders and rotary hoes. Mechanical weed control is an important option in some crops, but strong crop rotations and cultural weed management are the foundation of productive organic crops on the prairies. Ian and wife Jo-Anne, operate Moose Creek Organic Farm near Oxbow, in Southeast Saskatchewan. They have two children Liam 16 and Anna 14.

Scott Shiels works with Grain Millers as the Procurement Manager and has experience as a grain buyer handling the procurement of grains into the mill in Yorkton. He works with the US procurement team on other commodities that they source from Canada.

Resources discussed in this episode:

Credits:

Host: Scott Beaton

Grain on the Brain is a podcast of the Prairie Organic Grain Initiative

Join our host Scott Beaton in conversation with Katherine Stanley to talk about strategies for designing organic crop rotations that build soil fertility, manage weeds and prevent disease and pests. Learn about planning green manures that will set you up for a successful cash crop. Scott and Katherine discuss applying manure, integrating livestock grazing and options including perennials in your rotation.

Bio: Katherine Stanley is a Research Associate at the University of Manitoba's Natural Systems Agriculture. She has a MSc. in plant science from the University of Saskatchewan and a B.Sc. in Agroecology from the University of Manitoba. Her research focuses largely on organic agronomy and weed management and extension work has allowed her to work with agronomists and organic farmers across the prairies.

Resources discussed in this episode:

Credits:

Host: Scott Beaton

Producers: Dana Penrice, Iris Vaisman, Cari Hartt, and Tierra Stokes

Grain on the Brain is a podcast of the Prairie Organic Grain Initiative