The concept of pesticide-free production is raising eyebrows as well as interest.
Robert Stevenson, who farms at Kenton, Man., said some farmers, upon hearing of a project examining pesticide-free crops as a new niche commodity, think it’s “kind of hokey.”
But pesticide-free production simply puts a name to a variety of things farmers are already doing on their farms, said Stevenson.
For example, last winter, he didn’t spray his winter triticale crop with pesticide. The crop didn’t need it.
In 1998, he didn’t spray some of his oats. But Stevenson continued to use pesticides, as needed, on other parts of his farm.
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This summer, farmers may grow, harvest and ship as much as 10,000 acres of pesticide-free crops as part of a new research program announced here last week.
The research itself is not new. It brings together and builds on agronomic work Manitoba scientists have been doing for years, said Martin Entz, a plant scientist from the University of Manitoba.
Manitoba solution
The concept of creating a new pesticide-free commodity grew out of a long, wide-ranging discussion among weed researchers during a road trip to Minnesota last March.
Rene Van Acker and Gary Martens from the University of Manitoba, Todd Andrews from Manitoba Agriculture, and Doug Derksen from Agriculture Canada’s Brandon Research Centre brainstormed about how to bring together their research to help farmers with sagging bottom lines.
When they returned to Manitoba, they talked to Entz.
Manitoba is home to some of the soggiest areas of the Prairies, a variety of soil types and tillage practices and has the most pests, said Entz.
It’s also home to the largest number of plant pathologists in Canada, and the only Canadian university entomology department.
Entz is keen to see Manitoba become a centre for alternative agriculture research, attracting graduate students hip to environmental concerns – and their valuable research scholarships.
This summer, one graduate student will gather local knowledge by visiting organic farmers and other producers who have farmed without pesticides.
Entz hopes to have 10 to 20 masters and PhD students working with the project, which will also train hundreds of undergraduate students.
But a third of the research will be done by 150 to 200 farmers on their farms each year for the next five years. They will begin with wheat, oats, barley, canola and beans, then move to other crops.
A dozen farmers started the Pesticide-Free Crop Production Association, modeled after the highly successful Manitoba-North Dakota Zero Tillage Association.
They will advise the researchers, help interpret results and take charge of marketing the new commodity.
Grain companies watching
Market research in the emerging pesticide-free category will be done by John Cranfield, an agricultural economist at the university.
The group has already heard from grain companies interested in marketing the product, said Derksen, but it will be up to farmers to choose how to get the commodity to consumers.
Entz believes the group will be able to work with and learn from organic producers rather than compete with them for markets.
Many conventional farmers are too large to commit “cold turkey” to organic farming, he said. They would not be able to replace soil nutrients with manure instead of chemical fertilizers. Entz has talked to organic farmers about the new concept and they are supportive, he said.
Other industry players, such as fertilizer and grain companies, are also supportive.
Entz said he has been directly confronted about his work by people who work in the pesticide industry.
“They feel threatened,” he said.
But the research project takes a grassroots approach to what chemical companies are trying to do through biotechnology, said Entz.
“They’re in no position to criticize.”
Pesticide-free farmers will still use pesticides on most of their crops, Entz said.
Taking time off from pesticides in some fields may help extend the life of chemicals, he said, because it will slow the spread of herbicide-resistant weeds.
