KINDERSLEY, Sask. Ñ Last year’s fickle weather was little help to award-winning malting barley growers Ron and Glenda St. John, who found salvation in their heavy clay soil.
“That kind of land really holds moisture,” Glenda said.
For the second consecutive year, the St. Johns picked up the top Saskatchewan award from the Barley Development Council for their malting barley. This year, they added grand champion to the list.
That was accomplished in a growing season that included limited rainfall, cool temperatures in August and early snowfall.
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“I thought this year’s barley was really awful,” said Glenda.
Their heavy clay field yielded 35 bushels per acre on stubble compared with 80-100 on summer fallow in the district, an area that produces some of the province’s best malting barley.
Lacking in quantity, the crop made up for it in quality, with 98 percent plump kernels, they say.
The crop went in May 1 and was harvested early because it was dry, said Ron St. John.
While the area received good showers in June, there were no moisture reserves from the previous dry year.
St. John has been growing barley for 50 years and feels there is little he does differently than his neighbours.
He plants a coated seed of Harrington barley, some saved from his operation and some purchased from the local Agricore elevator. Granular fertilizer goes into the ground at the same time.
“(Harrington) is susceptible to more diseases but grows really well in our area.”
He sprays any wild oat populations about one month after seeding and also sprays for fungus as needed.
St. John also pays close attention to crop rotations each year, keeping a diary of what he planted where and when.
“You have to be aware of diseases that pass from one crop to the other,” he said, citing the need to be aware of any chemical residues also.
“One chemical and another can more than hurt a crop.”
For the St. Johns, who each year seed 2,400 acres of crops, from barley and lentils to canola and canaryseed, zero-tillage makes economic sense.
“I’m paying taxes on the land and the land you chem fallow costs you money,” he said.
St. John is keenly aware of the price of inputs relative to the return on barley selling for $1.50 a bushel.
He holds down his costs by operating older equipment saying he can’t justify buying new equipment with the prices of grain.
He uses a 275 hp Versatile four-wheel drive tractor to pull his 35-foot Bourgeault air seeder and other smaller tractors for chores. At harvest, he brings out the 23-year-old Gleaner Allis-Chalmers N7 combine.
The couple uses older trucks around the farm and hires a grain hauler to take the cereals the 64 kilometres to the Agricore terminal in Kindersley and the specialty crops to other sites.
While pleased to be recognized with the barley award, St. John joked about the ribbing he takes from his coffee row buddies.
“The hassle I get at coffee row, is hardly worth it,” he said.
Nevertheless the St. Johns agree it’s a bright spot on a dark agricultural landscape, where prices are consistently low.
In addition to his field practices, St. John, once involved in a marketing group, also gathers as much information as he can.
That’s a common characteristic among winners, said Erin Armstrong of the Barley Development Council’s competition committee. The producers who win generally have first consulted agronomic and market sources in choosing their varieties.
“The more broadly they consider that information in making decisions about their varieties, the better off they will be,” she said.
They also know their growing conditions and soil fertility well, make appropriate choices of inputs and react to changing conditions, she said.
