Inputs - by Top Crop Manager

This marks the 100th episode of Inputs. To celebrate this milestone, we invited a special guest to join us and share his insight on a topic that’s on everyone’s mind lately: AI in agriculture. 

As in every other industry, AI is taking off rapidly - and agriculture is no exception. Darrell Petras, CEO of the Canadian Agri-Food Automation and Intelligence Network (CAAIN) explains the specific ways AI is being used in agriculture right now, the challenges it might help solve in the future and the potential benefit to a farmer’s bottom line. 

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Much has been made of cover crops and their benefits over the past several years, and for good reason. While no cover crop is a quick fix or solution to all a field's problems, when treated like specialist tools and used with defined goals in mind, they can do many things, including busting up compacted soils, boosting soil organic matter, keeping weeds down – and suppressing diseases like Fusarium root and crown rot in soybean and barley, according to a recently published study based on research at the Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) research centre in Charlottetown. 

In this episode of Inputs, Eastern editor Alex Barnard discusses the study with two of the researchers: AAFC research scientist Adam Foster and Harini Aiyer, now a graduate student at the University of British Columbia. Foster and Aiyer contextualize the research, discuss the results, and share some quick advice for growers.

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• Aiyer's M.Sc. thesis, based on the research conducted at AAFC-Charlottetown with Foster (leads to a pdf download)

Winter cereals see all four seasons in Ontario, which means a wide variety of environmental conditions can affect their growth and yield. What can growers expect after a cooler fall for planting in parts of the province and an unusually warm winter? Do typical considerations like nitrogen and sulphur application timings and pest management strategies changed in a year like this one?

In this episode of Inputs, Joanna Follings, cereals specialist with the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA), gives an overview of fall 2023 planting conditions for winter cereals, including what effects the warmer than average winter might have, an update on spring cereals planting, and some tips for nutrient applications and pest and disease management.

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• Field Crop News for in-season updates agronomic information
• Wheat Ag Pest Monitor for stripe rust tracking and more

Support for this episode provided by Gowan Canada.

In March, during the first installment of our two-part series on managing drought, we chatted about what growers need to be doing right now to ensure their soil and crops have the best opportunity to thrive this coming summer.

In this episode of Inputs, we expand on this topic, tapping into some of the measures farmers need to take over the course of the growing season to maintain healthy soil and crops. Dustin Farr is an instructor in the ag management program at Olds College of Agriculture and Technology, and he shares some of his insights into improving soil health and water retention, as well as how farmers can conserve a healthy growing environment during dry conditions.

After a winter with below-average snowfall levels, farmers in Alberta and across the Prairies need to plan now for what could be a dry growing season. In this episode of Inputs, we are joined by agronomist extension specialist Ruoxi Xia, who works with Alberta Grains. Xia shares her insights and some tips on how growers can prepare for potential drought conditions, including what measures should be taken right now, which crops are more susceptible to dry conditions, what resources are available to farmers and much more.

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Support for this episode provided by Gowan Canada.

With more and more digital agricultural tools on the farm – whether guiding or driving the tractor, tracking finances or prices, or optimizing conditions in a barn – cybersecurity management should be on your radar, no matter the size of your operation. Just like you would manage any new pest, you should add cybersecurity to your toolbox.

Janos Botschner, lead investigator of cyber security capacity in Canadian agriculture with the Community Safety Knowledge Alliance (CSKA), wants to ensure Canada's farmers are informed and prepared for cyber threats. In this episode of Inputs, he discusses the current risk situation, the bad actors at play, and some approaches to cyber preparedness and resilience (as well as resources available) that farmers should keep in mind.

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Support for this episode provided by Gowan Canada.

The start of the 2024 growing season is coming fast – do you have a plan for spring nutrient management?

In this episode of Inputs, Chris Brown, field crop sustainability specialist with the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA), discusses considerations for successful spring manure application, as well as best management practices and an alternate nutrient source coming from urban areas.

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• AgriSuite
• Organic Amendment Decision Support Tool

Support for this episode provided by Smart Nutrition MAP + MST.

Peter Sikkema has been researching the importance of weed management on soybean crops for more than three decades now. A professor of weed management for field crops at the University of Guelph, much of Sikkema’s work has been conducted in Ontario, but there are key takeaways from his research for soybean growers in Manitoba and Saskatchewan.

During this episode of Inputs, Sikkema, along with FMC Canada’s technical sales manager for the Eastern Prairies region, Rachel Evans, talk about several issues facing soybean growers when it comes implementing a quality weed management strategy. Sikkema and Evans discuss the impact of weed interference, factors that influence yield loss due to weed interference, how farmers can minimize losses, as well as other findings from Sikkema’s research and related work done in Manitoba.

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Agriculture can be a contentious topic when speaking with the general public, as there is a lot of misinformation or confusion about the industry out there. But educating the public, whether on social media, at the coffee shop, or on a broader scale can be difficult when the industry is so diverse and resources aren't always easily accessible. Enter The Real Dirt on Farming, a magazine on agriculture in Canada that addresses many of the hot button issues and puts faces to the people who feed the country.

Kelly Daynard, executive director of Farm and Food Care Ontario (the organization that puts out The Real Dirt on Farming), talks about the latest edition, the purpose of the project, and some of the stories she's heard from farmers who've been working to share the importance of agriculture with those around them.

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• Farm and Food Care Ontario
• On Twitter/X: @FarmFoodCareON
• The Real Dirt on Farming, 6th Edition

Support for this episode provided by Gowan Canada.

Dec. 5 marks the annual World Soil Day, which for 2023 will celebrate the theme of “soil and water: a source of life.” To recognize the importance of soil health to the farming community and the environment as a whole, Dr. Benjamin Ellert, research scientist and biogeochemistry and the agroecosystem science team lead with AAFC – Lethbridge, will join Inputs podcast host Dylan Sjolie to discuss several soil health topics and how that relates to the environment.

During the podcast, Ellert will touch upon such issues as soil health as it relates to carbon, the impact carbon content in soil has on the environment and how soil can retain carbon from the atmosphere. Ellert will discuss how long-term agrological relief sites are adding value to the understanding of the influence of cropping practices on carbon sequestration and levels of carbon in soil. He will also address the effect drought conditions had in Southern Alberta, how that impacted soil health and how today’s technology helps mitigate some of the impact of dry conditions. Finally, Ellert will talk about a children’s book he wrote with AAFC soil technician Katelyn Lutes titled Soil Biodiversity: What’s Most Important, and the importance of engaging today’s youth in soil health.

To reach Dr. Ben Ellert, email [email protected].