Precision Farming Corner

By Tim Nerbas,

SSCA Soil Conservationist

As the long, dry days of June stretch out into the mid-season of the '98 crop year, it is apparent that precision agriculture is not at the forefront of producers' minds.

Blame it on El Nino or not living right, but when the skies dry up as they have thus far this year (Figures 1, 2 and 3), farmers donne a familiar attitude: "Precision farming? I just hope I can get a crop this year." From the beginning of May until mid-June, the Waseca area has only received 9% of its normal precipitation (Table 1).

Manipulating nutrients within a varying landscape seems irrelevant in the midst of near-drought conditions. But at the end of the day, our Precision Farming project will still have a valuable year of data. The yields we had hoped for may seem a distant memory, but I am certain there is wisdom to be found in the numbers we will crunch.

In 1998, we seeded the Precision Farming plots to Carneval peas using some new technology the Saskatchewan Wheat Pool is marketing as Bio-Coat Plus. The peas are coated with N-fixing rhizobia and Provide and protected by a thin polymer coating. This year we have replicated plots looking at P, K, and S, as well as inoculation trials comparing Bio-Coat Plus, the new clay-based granular innoculant (mbr), Tagteam, and no innoculant at all.

If you are in the Lloydminster-North Battleford area July 22nd, plan to take in the Yellowhead Crop Tour. It includes a stop at the northwest Precision Farming plots, as well as the Ag Canada substation at Lashburn.

Remember, this is dry land farming and droughts can and will occur, usually when we are least prepared for them. As a local producer told me, "Without a word of a lie I can tell you it's going to rain. What I can't tell you is when."