Several errors in a story that ran on page 29 of the April 23 edition of The Western Producer require correction.
Incorrect information was provided to us by a source in the story headlined “Location, location, location,” which dealt with seed and fertilizer placement research conducted by corporate agronomist Garry Meier on behalf of Bourgault.
The first error was the location and circumstances depicted in a photograph that accompanied the story. The photo, in fact, was taken near Balcarres, Sask., and it is not a fair comparison of results between a mid-row banding drill and a dual knife drill.
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The farmer of the land in the photograph said the crop seeded with the dual knife drill was inadvertently planted 3.5 inches deep, while the crop seeded with the mid-row unit was planted properly. The photo is representative of the effects of seeding a crop too deeply, but nothing else.
In developing the story, Western Producer staff were told that three seeding trials comparing dual knife systems to a Bourgault 3310 took place in 2008. Those included one at Balcarres and one at Choiceland. We published that information but later learned it was not true.
Only one of the three farms took part in a trial. The other two, Torch River Farm and the farm at Balcarres, operate both Seek Hawk dual knife and Bourgault drills but did not participate in a trial with Bourgault in 2008.
Both farm operators said no fair comparison could be made between the seeding systems on their farms due to operational errors in the trials.
The final paragraphs of the story were about phosphorus trials. However, the Producer has since learned that formal comparisons in trials at Torch River Farm were invalid because a fertilizer tank lid was left ajar when the field was seeded.
The Western Producer regrets these errors and remains committed to vigorous fact checking of all stories.
