EDMONTON – Results from trials conducted by seed, herbicide and fertilizer companies may look good on paper, but that doesn’t mean they will translate well on the farm.
With fewer government resources available for independent agricultural tests, a farmer promoting the benefits of on-farm research says it’s up to producers to do their own work.
“On-farm research is the best way to test new and unknown products,” said Gordon Tuck of Lavoy, Alta., who has hosted several field trials, including an on-farm research project in 2007 to develop protocols for on-farm research.
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“We’re looking at investing huge sums of money for each crop,” he said. “If something isn’t going to work right, we’ve got to figure that out first.”
Tuck told a meeting during FarmTech 2008 in Edmonton that rain, soil conditions and equipment can create big differences in on-farm and plot research results.
Even the small equipment used in research plots is dramatically different from the large equipment on most farms. Hoses on small seeding equipment that use gravity feed systems are short and aren’t likely to damage seed or fertilizer.
Hoses on farmers’ equipment can often be 50 to 60 feet long and it’s not uncommon for seed and fertilizer to be damaged when shot from the tank to the soil during seeding.
Small plots are often in fields with uniform land and soil, Tuck said.
“It’s a rare farmer that doesn’t have to seed around potholes, hills and old farm sites, giving a variety of results within a field.”
He said on-farm research allows farmers to maintain some independence from suppliers.
“There are many products out there that could be good value, but test them on the farm.”
To help maintain that independence, Alberta Pulse Growers launched Landscape Systems Research Network to generate meaningful field-scale, on-farm research.
“We all put in strips and trials,” said Roger Andreiuk with Reduced Tillage Linkages, who helped design Tuck’s trial. “They’re just comparisons without experimental protocols.”
Andreiuk said the new on-farm research network will help producers, organizations and researchers across a variety of soil types and regions willing to field test products and practices.
“We’re talking about getting farmers involved with research,” Andreiuk said.
By working with trained agrologists who know how to design and run a field trial, farmers can be assured the information coming from the field-scale trials is legitimate research, Tuck said.
“It is a standard and some of the present field research isn’t up to standard.”
