The past few months at the CLC have been very busy. With the late seeding, our spraying season was also extended and, of course, our harvest was also very late. Fortunately, we had good weather when we needed it.
Generally, the incidence of disease throughout the farm was very low. A number of patches were again drowned out this year, causing havoc with our ability to obtain yields on many plots. We started harvest with the barley at the end of August and finished with the flax and canola October 20 - 21. We hired a neighbour to combine our barley, wheat and 40 acres of peas. The other 100 acres of peas we picked up straight with the 8' Sund pickup on our Massey combine and are very pleased with the job. The canola and flax was harvested by Brent Serviss, one of our board members, using his 9610 John Deere.
All peas (Espace, Alfetta and Croma) yielded over 40 bushels per acre. The Fleet feed barley was a very nice crop this year, yielding ~65 bushels per acre. Our wheat crop (AC Elsa) was significantly better this year, yielding 40 bushels per acre. There was no wheat midge damage (did we hit the window this year?) and we also escaped ergot infestation (it was seeded June 1). There is however some frost damage. The 46A73 canola yielded 25 bushels per acre. The flax yielded very poorly; it was seeded June 10 and we had difficulty getting a grip on the weeds. It also froze before it was harvested.
The year was fairly successful. There were no major problems. The new equipment worked well but we had some problems with the application of liquid fertilizer. Some fields received less fertilizer than we had planned (peas 50% less; flax and wheat 30% less). We suspect problems with the single piston pump on the liquid cart.
After harvest was complete, it was time to get down to the business of seeding. On October 26 - 27, we seeded 35 acres Arrow, 20 acres 46A73 and small test plots of 2631 LL and 3640 LL, all coated with Extender, at ~5.5 pounds per acre. Again we had problems with the liquid application. Applied fertilizer rates per acre were:
Arrow: 41 lb N 10 lb P 7 lb S liquid and 12 lb N 2.6 lb P 2 lb S granular
46A73: 53 lb N 13 lb P 9 lb S liquid and 12 lb N 2.5 lb P 2 lb S granular.
Recommended rates are 75 lb N, 28 lb P and 13 lb S. Next spring we will need to top up the fertilizer. Four days after seeding, we got four inches of thick, wet snow. While the weather since that time has been unseasonably warm, it has not been warm enough to trigger germination.
Our school program continues to be a resounding success. This year 1471 students visited the CLC - a 48% increase over 1998. There is a shift in the distribution of the ages / grades attending - there are more Grade 9 and 11 classes participating in the program. There are already 15 classes booked for next spring and the majority of them are Grade 11 classes.
A new component was added to our program this year. Carlton Comprehensive High School has piloted an outdoor school program for Grade 11 students. The participating students hike, bike, camp and canoe through the semester and get credit for Geography, Physical Education, Biology, Communications and Work Experience. They biked out to the CLC and camped there for three days. Many thanks to Greg Perrot (PFRA) and Barb Hanbidge (DU) for their time and knowledge during the three-day program. The program covered the development of soil from glaciation through to land use issues, including impact on wildlife. As we were harvesting canola at the time, Brent explained the concepts of combining and let the students crawl all over his combine. The students that were interested were also given an opportunity to operate the combine. Special thanks to Brent for his contribution. Now they all know the difference between a tractor and a combine!! As well, the herb group was busy harvesting burdock and valerian roots and the students pitched in and learned a few things about herb production.
This fall we also participated in the provincial science teachers' conference (~65 participants) held in Prince Albert. We had our booth set up for the two-day conference and gave a presentation on the CLC and the programs that we have to offer to science classes throughout the province. In the conference packages, we included our brochure and brief overview of our school program, similar to that which we submitted to a previous Prairie Steward. Through this conference, we broadened our circle of contacts and booked new schools for the program next spring.
We are very pleased to have been nominated for the Outstanding Agriculture Ambassador award, a program through Agriculture in the Classroom that recognizes the promotion of agriculture awareness among students and/or colleagues through agriculture-related lessons and demonstrated use of agriculture resources. The winning nominee will be announced at Western Canadian Agribition November 26 - 28.
All in all, it has been another successful year at the CLC. The crops did well (don't ask about the horseshoes) and our school program continues to attract attention. Here's hoping that next year will bring the same successes.