2021-22 New Research Commitments
By Manitoba Crop Alliance
Manitoba Crop Alliance entered into funding agreements for several new research projects in the 2021-22 fiscal year. Download the file below to have a closer look at each of the new projects and the funding details.
2021-22 New Research Commitments
The amount reflected in the “MCA Commitment” column represents the total funding over the lifetime of the project. Projects vary in length, from one year to projects ending in 2027.
For more information about MCA’s research program click here.
MCA-funded research at the 2022 Manitoba Agronomists’ Conference
By Manitoba Crop Alliance
On Dec. 14 and 15, 2022, Manitoba agronomists met to discuss the latest developments in crop production, crop protection and soil management at the Manitoba Agronomists’ Conference.
The conference theme for 2022 was “Dialing Down the Heat: Agronomic Solutions to Climate Change” and much of the research shared was funded in part by Manitoba Crop Alliance (MCA).
Here is a summary of the posters shared at the conference that feature MCA-funded research:
Nutrient management
- Improving In-Season Corn Nitrogen Dressing Using Canopy Sensing in Manitoba
Claudia Quilesfogel-Esparza, Mario Tenuta, Paul Bullock, University of Manitoba - Optimizing Nitrogen Management Under Conditions of Extreme Moisture
Timi Ojo, John Heard, Manitoba Agriculture and Resource Development; Ramona Mohr, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada; Trevor Fraser, Paul Bullock, University of Manitoba - Fertilizer Use in Manitoba: Results From the 2021 Survey
Ashley Ammeter, Morgan Cott, Manitoba Crop Alliance
Soil and water management
- Soil Temperature as Affected by Drainage Spacing in Heavy Clay Soils of Manitoba
Nirmal Hari, Manitoba Agriculture and Resource Development
Crop management
- Economic and Agronomic Performance of Emerging Cropping Systems for Western Canada
Ramona Mohr, Mohammad Khakbazan, Debbie McLaren, Yong Min Kim, Aaron Glenn, Maria Antonia Henriquez, Bill May, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada; Brian Beres, Francis Larney, Newton Lupwayi, Henry Chau, Lethbridge Research and Development Centre; Rob Gulden, University of Manitoba; Chris Willenborg, University of Saskatchewan; Terry McGonigle, Brandon University
Pest management
- New Fusarium Head Blight Disease Risk Maps for the Canadian Prairies
T. Matengu, P. Bullock, M. Mkhabela, F. Zvomuya, D. Fernando, University of Manitoba; T. Ojo, R. Picard, Manitoba Agriculture and Resource Development; M. Henriquez, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada; R. Avila, A. Akhavan, Ministry of Agriculture, Government of Saskatchewan; M. Harding, Alberta Agriculture and Forestry - Residual Weed Population Shifts in Manitoba – 1978 to 2022
K. Brown-Livingston, S. Hladun, Manitoba Agriculture and Resource Development; J.Y. Leeson, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada
Thank you to the conference partners – University of Manitoba, Manitoba Agriculture and the Prairie Certified Crop Advisor Board – for hosting an excellent conference!
For a full list of poster presentations and speakers from the 2022 conference, visit the Manitoba Agronomists’ Conference website.
Doug Cattani, associate professor in perennial crop breeding, Department of Plant Science, University of Manitoba
Doug Cattani is the perennial grains breeder and agronomist at the University of Manitoba (U of M), with over 35 years of perennial grass breeding and perennial grass and legume seed production experience.
Cattani holds a bachelor of science in agriculture and a master’s degree in plant breeding, both from the U of M, and a PhD in plant production ecology from Wageningen Agricultural University in the Netherlands. He lives in Winnipeg, MB, and is married with three children and four grandchildren.
Where did you work before the U of M?
Before the U of M, I worked at provincial and federal government levels, in private industry and at another academic institution.
What is the best part about your job?
The best part of my job is being outside in the field interacting with plants and producers.
What got you interested in this area of work?
My first summer job as a university student was with the forage breeder here at the U of M and they happened to be working on seed production in perennials. After that, I worked for a year on vegetables and a year on wheat and barley, but I’ve predominately worked on perennials and I thoroughly enjoy it. A major focus has been on seed production and breeding for seed production.
Tell us a bit about what you’re working on at U of M.
From a research perspective, because I work with perennials, we are worried about what is happening 365 days of the year. Freezing rain, no snow, too much snow, all the problems people are worried about when dealing with perennials. Generally, from snow melt to when snow comes to stay, we are in the field evaluating our crop, watching it to determine ae we getting disease? Are there insects? Winterkill? We are looking at all the factors that go into the long-term survival of a perennial.
We are looking into the potential of adding intermediate wheatgrass as a perennial grain into western Canadian cropping systems. Earlier work brought about the selection of adapted materials for Western Canada, and current research looks to move the breeding along to traits with agronomic importance to sustainable production systems.
Currently, I am working with Dr. Matthew Bakker, U of M, in this research and we are looking at the genetics related to Fusarium head blight resistance and to seed size, as well as agronomic production systems for integration into a “typical” crop rotation in Western Canada. Practices identified for integration into typical crop rotations are especially promising for Manitoba, where precipitation tends to be higher than Alberta or Saskatchewan.
In the winter, I also teach courses, which have ranged from general agricultural production through to genetics, plant breeding, forage production and grassland science.
What can you say about the value of farmers providing funding and support to your organization?
In our system it’s almost imperative we get farmers’ support. For me personally, I am working on developing a new commodity, so the willingness of farmers to support research looking to potentially change the landscape of farming in Western Canada is critical for me to be able to move forward.
It also provides contact with farmers to bounce ideas off, have them test the materials and to work out the glitches of production on research-scale plots. Even though I have run experiments where our individual plot size is close to three acres, we are still not on a farm-scale production level. Having farmers grow it and work with it on their farm provides us with a better idea of what some of the challenges will be and, potentially, some of the best practices we could utilize.
How does that funding and support directly benefit farmers?
Hopefully, there is the potential for a new crop in the future – one that will aid in the aspects that have become quite popular in last couple years (like soil health). It’s generally accepted that having perennials on the landscape allows for less soil erosion, better nutrient and water utilization, and once established, you have ground cover 365 days of the year.
I think it would fit well with the current soybean, canola, wheat system that a lot of farmers are using. It will maintain soil health throughout the whole cycle of having the annual and perennial crops in a rotation. There are a number of potential benefits that could accrue from utilizing a perennial in a rotation.
It is important to understand this research is in its infancy. When I was an undergraduate student, I was told it was a stupid idea and it would never work. Then 25-30 years later, this idea came out again and there were people willing to work on it, seeing the potential direction of where the earth is heading and where production agriculture has taken us. We should be able to make progress over the next couple of decades to where we have something that will be tangible. Think of soybeans 20 years ago. How many acres did we have? Look at how much research has gone into getting soybeans to Western Canada. There is a risk, but there are definitely rewards in this type of research.
How do you spend your time outside of work?
I enjoy photography to an extent.
What gets you most excited about your work?
The potential of it and seeing the progress we’ve made. I’ve been doing this for 12 years and when I started, Manitoba Forage Seed Association industry reps said with intermediate wheatgrass they could average around 500 lbs/acre for maybe three years and then that’s it. The tests we just ran over three years (two of them very dry), we averaged over 600 lbs/acre a year. In this last year, with our best management program, we were at 750 lbs/acre in the third production year.
Just employing selection within Manitoba and some of our production methods we’ve been able to bump the yields up approximately 50 per cent. Quite encouraging that in a relatively short period of time, taken what industry told me was the norm, to now be up through relatively trying years and have results I am quite happy with. I see there is more potential.
What are you excited about for the future of your sector/agriculture?
We’re always going to need agriculture. I see agriculture is probably at the forefront in a lot of ways of taking climate change seriously. The industry understands the risks to production and realizes the need to continue to be productive at the current levels, but to do it in a manner that has less impact on our environment. Agriculture is taking a lead in a lot of this.
The road to perennializing some aspects of production agriculture is being led by the Land Institute out of Salina, Kansas. There is currently research taking place on six continents, with perennial rice being the largest success story to date. Research is needed in order to make progress and with the younger researchers becoming interested, we are seeing an influx of new ideas and newer skill sets into this research area. Researchers from four of the continents recently co-operated to evaluate some newer materials to get a better understanding of adaptation and how climate change could influence where different perennial crops could be grown.
MCA delegate represents Canadian farmers internationally on Cereals Canada new crop mission
By Manitoba Crop Alliance
Cereals Canada and the Canadian Grain Commission recently launched the 2022 New Wheat Crop Report at a series of webinars targeted to global customers of Canadian wheat. This month, the report will be shared in person when delegations representing the cereals value chain travel to over 15 countries in Asia, Latin America, Europe, Africa and the Middle East. This will be the first time in nearly three years that the report has been presented in person.
Sheila Elder, a delegate on Manitoba Crop Alliance’s wheat and barley crop committee, will be travelling with the group on the Latin American leg of the tour. She will visit Mexico, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Chile and represent Canadian farmers at over a dozen seminars and meetings. In addition to providing a summary of 2022 Canadian growing conditions,Elder will talk about the growing conditions in her area, share her science-based production practices and answer questions from the audience.
Hearing directly from a Canadian grower is always a popular component of both the virtual and in-person meetings, as it provides a direct link between the customer and grower and puts a face on Canadian grain production. For Elder, this experience is an incredible opportunity to represent Canadian cereals growers and get a better understanding of customer interest from an availability,milling quality and end-product use perspective.
To learn more about the 2022 New Crop Report and download the 2022 Crop Summary, visit: cerealscanada.ca/2022-wheat-crop/.
Watch the new Cereals Canada Grain Farming in Canada video here.
David Whetter, owner and consultant, AgriEarth Consulting Ltd.
David Whetter is owner and agri-environmental consultant at AgriEarth Consulting Ltd., a company focused on adding value and providing environmental solutions for agriculture across the Canadian Prairies and beyond. He earned his bachelor’s degree in agroecology and master’s degree in soil science at the University of Manitoba (U of M).
As a soil scientist and professional agrologist, Whetter has been providing innovative, effective and practical agricultural-environmental solutions to the industry for over 20 years. Much of this work has been focused on soil-water management, largely for irrigation and drainage projects. Whetter lives in Winnipeg with his wife Michelle and their two daughters, Ellie and Emerson.
Where did you work before AgriEarth Consulting?
Following graduation from U of M, I worked with AXYS Environmental, a consulting firm based out of Calgary. I was the first hire for AXYS Agronomics in 2001, a division focused on agri-environmental issues. I was hired by Jim Hicks, who quickly became an important career and life mentor for me. The company was bought out five years later by Jacques Whitford and then again in 2009 by Stantec Consulting. At Stantec Consulting, I was the business centre managing leader for environmental services in Winnipeg. While I enjoyed this role, the interactions with my team and the experience it brought, I had slowly drifted away from my passion, agriculture. That was a driver behind the decision to refocus on supporting sustainable growth in agriculture and launch AgriEarth Consulting in 2017. I also wanted to be around home more to be able to enjoy time with my two young kids, and starting my own business allowed for that.
What got you interested in this area of work?
My roots are in agriculture. My dad grew up on a family farm at Chain Lakes near Dand, MB, and my dad and brother continue to farm together today in seed production near Hartney, MB. They are the co-operating producers in our current soil and water management research project. While I am not involved in the farm, this research I am working on has been really great for me, as it has brought me back to the farm and enabled me to work a little more closely with my dad and brother.
Tell us a bit about what you’re working on at AgriEarth Consulting.
I support a range of clients through various evaluations of their soil landscapes to support agri-environmental planning, permitting and management. Most of my work is related to irrigation and drainage. For example, if someone wants to develop an irrigation program in Manitoba, they need an Environment Act License. I would support them through that process. More recently, I’ve been getting involved in drainage as it becomes a more prominent practice in Western Canada.
I have recently been working on some large-scale irrigation feasibility studies in Saskatchewan. Through this process, I provide information to the province on how to prioritize areas for irrigation development around their existing reservoir system.
Another interesting project I completed recently was providing agricultural leadership to an engagement program on First Nation involvement in agriculture across the Prairie region.
I am also involved in work for industrial clients such as Manitoba Hydro and others developing infrastructure, advising on how to develop their projects while minimizing the impacts to agricultural land use and production systems.
Research is a growing component of my work. The Best practices for soil and water quality, excess water management and drought resiliency in an undulating soil-landscape in southwestern Manitoba project is a significant component. We are interested in better understanding how tile drainage performs in variable soil landscapes in southwestern Manitoba, an area representative of a broad region of the Canadian Prairies.
In this research we are looking at how water flows through tile at different landscape positions, as well as the quality of the water coming out of the tiles, including nitrogen, phosphorus and salts. It is our hope that outcomes of this research will help industry make drainage management decisions in the variable landscapes across the region. We’re also adding edge-of-field treatments to the primary project next year. Those are practices specifically geared towards improving water quality before it leaves the field. Ultimately, we are interested in field-scale learnings on practical and cost-effective treatment practices for Western Canada.
What can you say about the value of farmers providing funding and support to your organization?
We couldn’t do this type of applied research without them. Their co-operation, collaboration and investments allow this type of meaningful research to be done. It is my hope that this type of research project, with a strong knowledge transfer and demonstration component, can help bridge the gap between lots of good research that is being done in the lab or at a fine, plot scale, and what farmers experience on the land and some of the challenges they face. I think our co-operating producers realize and understand that and we appreciate their contributions and willingness to participate. We also appreciate their patience in accommodating our activities in their field and care in working around our many monitoring equipment installations throughout their field!
How does that farmer funding and support directly benefit farmers?
In the case of our current soil and water management research project, we aim to provide information that is directly applicable to understanding effectiveness of beneficial management practices for dealing with the double-edged sword of excess water and drought limitations that farmers in these variable landscapes experience. Producer funding and access to their land and production information allows for this type of practical, applied research with the objective of providing value to farmers’ operations.
In terms of value, it’s a longer-term outlook getting to the point where we better understand how to apply best practices for soil and water management in these variable landscapes. But again, we really appreciate their commitment and hope they feel they are getting good information back through the process, or at least see the potential for that as the research activities and monitoring efforts progress.
How do you spend your time outside of work?
I keep active with recreational hockey, and our family loves to mountain bike and ski/snowboard. These sports get us outside enjoying nature all year. Travelling and exploring our amazing world is a big passion I share with Michelle. Our travel adventures have taken a bit of a back seat thanks in part to COVID-19, but the bug is still there, and we look forward to continuing to explore the world together with our kids.
What gets you most excited about your work?
The opportunities in agriculture. I’ve been involved in agriculture environmental consulting for over 20 years and just in last two to three years there has been a whole new energy. Unfortunately, much of this is connected to lots of the challenges we are having around climate change, greenhouse gas emissions and more extreme weather, but agriculture is getting a raised profile and an increased level of importance – not just as a means of producing food, but as part of the solution to some of the environmental challenges we are having. This is exciting to me and translates into opportunities for the type of work I do. I believe the future of agriculture is bright and there are lots of opportunities to improve on the already great work farmers and industry are doing to feed the world and protect our soil landscapes.
Who or what inspires you?
It’s always inspiring to see how farmers manage to do what they do, year in and year out. Dealing with the various levels of adversity – from uncertainty in markets, to dynamic weather conditions they have to deal with – they keep doing it.
I have always felt fortunate for the support I have received from family, friends and colleagues throughout my career. I mentioned a mentor of mine, Jim Hicks, who sadly passed away 13 years ago. He had a profound impact on me and inspires me to this day to enjoy life to the fullest – focus on family and loved ones first, travel and enjoy good food, and to work with passion but not lose sight of what is most important in life.
Having young kids also changes one’s perspective. That ties into looking forward and looking for better ways of doing things. They keep me inspired to keep doing what I think is my best part in that.
Visit agriearth.ca for more information.
Tyler Wist, research scientist, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada
Follow @TylerWist1 on Twitter!
Tyler Wist joined Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s (AAFC) Saskatoon Research and Development Centre (RDC) as an entomologist in January 2016. Wist earned his master’s degree in specialty crops from the University of Saskatchewan (USask) and completed his PhD at the University of Alberta. Before completing his master’s degree, he was an undergraduate at USask and worked for the city of Saskatoon in pest control where he got his passion for controlling insects. Wist lives in Saskatoon with his wife and three daughters.
Where did you work before the Saskatoon RDC?
Before I was working at the Saskatoon RDC, I was working at the Saskatoon RDC. I did a post-doc there under Chrystel Olivier, entomologist, working on aster yellows and cereal aphids in wheat, barley and oats and looking at the natural enemies that were attacking them.
We created an app, Cereal Aphid Manager, which includes economic thresholds for each crop, the ability to track aphid populations (if they are increasing or not) and natural enemies and how many aphids they can take out of a population in a day (the dynamic action threshold).
We are still collecting data and refining the model, but the app is freely available.
What is the best part about your job?
Well, it’s definitely not the paperwork! I think the best part is when I can actually get out into the field and see the insects in action and watch what they are doing on the plants.
For example, we had some cereal leaf beetles in my wheat crop this year, so I brought them in and put them under the microscope and made a video of the cereal leaf beetle larva feeding. Now I can connect that feeding behavior to those longitudinal feeding scars they leave on the leaves. It’s really, really fascinating to watch.
This and other videos are all available on the Field Heroes YouTube channel or @FieldHeroes on Twitter. If you are into beneficial insects like I am, I would suggest getting in touch with this account. It’s full of fun and great, short bursts of information teaching you about different beneficial insects, like what they do and how many pest insects they can kill in a day.
Tell us a bit about what you’re working on at Saskatoon RDC.
Since my post-doc, I’ve been running multiple projects looking at the effects of aster yellows on different crops. We looked at camelina and wheat, and then I got involved in a flea beetle project looking at the striped and crucifer flea beetle. Through this research, we revisited economic thresholds to see if anything changed based on different parameters in the field. Alejandro Costamagna led this research with entomologists in Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta working together on the same issue.
When I first joined AAFC, my mandate was to solve wheat midge, which I thought was already solved with the SM1 gene. As I learned more about it, I realized single gene resistance is not something you want to rely on for the rest of your wheat-growing career, as it can break down quickly. We’ve seen it in canola where diseases have overcome single resistance genes in no time.
Back in 2013 and 2014, there were big outbreaks of wheat midge up in the Peace River region where they had never seen it before, and then it was everywhere. This sparked a project looking at tools used to monitor wheat midge through Jennifer Otani, AAFC and master’s students.
I am currently reviewing data from the third year of the Alternatives to Sm1: hairy glumes, awns and egg antibiosis for managing wheat midge research project. Through this research, we are taking a few different traits that have the potential to reduce wheat midge on the plant, such as hairy glumes, awns and egg antibiosis, and stacking them on top of the SM1 gene to protect it. We have found that some of these traits work together to make the SM1 gene work better. We are not certain if it is one gene or a few genes, but when it is in a plant with SM1, it takes the resistance up to almost 100 per cent, which is very exciting.
What can you say about the value of farmers providing funding and support to your organization?
The value is huge. Thank you very much for all of those check off dollars that go through groups like Manitoba Crop Alliance and other commodity organizations. We have the clusters (five-year projects) for larger projects that you get a lot of people working together, but without the research dollars from farmers themselves, we wouldn’t be able to do these smaller, but important, projects, or even the large, cluster-type projects. Thanks very much for believing in us.
How does that farmer funding and support directly benefit farmers?
We are working on these traits that, hopefully, can reduce the need for insecticides and reduce the effect of insects on your crops. The direct benefit to farmers is increasing yield and decreasing damage and reducing insecticide inputs. That is sort of my goal in doing my research.
How do you spend your time outside of work?
I do plenty of things outside of work! I started playing soccer after about a 20-year hiatus. I don’t play well, but I play in a men’s indoor and outdoor league in Saskatoon. I coach my youngest daughter in soccer and I enjoy riding my bike. I am pretty involved at church as well.
How do you celebrate agriculture?
By wearing my RealAgriculture hat and my #MidgeBusters t-shirt out in the field. I try to transmit the things I’ve learned to the people that need to know them (agronomists, farmers). I also like raising a glass of things that are produced by agriculture, say from a barley or rye crop.
What gets you most excited about your work?
The interaction of insects with the plants and the insects with each other. Finding new forms of resistance and finding new ways to protect plants from insect attacks gets me really interested and excited.
Follow @TylerWist1 on Twitter!
Tips and Tricks for Sunflower Harvest
MOISTURE TESTING SUNFLOWER SEED >15% MOISTURE
The following procedure is suggested for testing the moisture content of high moisture sunflower with the microwave oven.
- Harvest seed samples from different parts of the field and mix all samples together. Separate this total sample into at least four 50 gram samples for the tests. Make sure the samples are clean and hand pick out foreign material if necessary.
- Weigh a paper towel using a gram scale and record the weight. With the towel on the scale, pour a sample of seeds onto the scale and record that weight.
- Place the towel and seeds into the microwave oven; spread the seeds on the towel to a thickness of no more than about two seeds.
- Microwave for four-minute intervals; take out the sample and weigh it after each period. When the difference in weights become small, start weighing at two-minute intervals until there is no weight change. Lack of weight change indicates that the moisture has been removed.
- If running repeated samples for a long time, check to see if the glass tray in the oven is getting hot. If so, let the tray cool before running another test. If a sample starts to smoke or appears charred after a test, discard this sample and start another test after the oven and tray cool.
- Calculate the original seed moisture content of the sample by using the following equation. Be sure to subtract the weight of the paper towel from the initial and final sample weights before you begin the calculations.
Moisture content = (Initial weight – Final weight) / (Initial weight) x 100.
- Be sure to run a minimum of four tests and average the results.
- Do not leave the microwave oven unattended during the tests.
Confection sunflower should be under 10% moisture (between 9% and 10% is best) for proper storage. Oil sunflower moisture content should be 10% or less for winter storage and 8% or less for storage during warmer months.
Getting there can be a balancing act at harvest: Wait too long for natural dry down, and sunflower standing in the field can become too dry and vulnerable to quality deterioration and shelling out. Cut too early and there’s greater chance for deterioration during storage if seed moisture is too high. Many experts advise combining ‘flowers at 12-15% moisture and using natural air drying to get stored see moisture under 10%.
HARVESTING HIGH MOISTURE SUNFLOWERS
Sunflowers can be combined when the seed moisture is below 20 percent. Harvesting when seed moisture is greater than 20 percent can result in scuffing during harvesting and shrinkage during drying. It would be preferable to combine seeds at 10 to 13 percent moisture.
Scuffing is caused when sunflowers are harvested at a high moisture content. The combine causes mechanical damage by peeling away part or all of the top layer of the shell, giving the seed the appearance of sclerotinia damage or white seeds. Processors are known to discount for scuffing, even though it leaves no impact on the product itself.
HINTS & REMINDERS FOR HARVESTING SUNFLOWERS (Special Bulletin – Harvest)
Combine headers: Platform (wheat), row-crop, and corn headers have all been used successfully with sunflower. Row-crop heads are perhaps the best choice because they can be used without modification. Corn heads need to be modified with a stationary cutting knife before use with sunflower. Combines used for threshing small grains can be adapted to harvest sunflower with a variety of header attachments available with many operating on a head stripper principle.
Have the header platform raised high enough to take in the heads, minimizing stalks as much as possible. The overall goal of the threshing process should be passing the head nearly intact through the combine, or in a few large pieces, with all developed seed removed from the head. If the head is being ground up into small pieces, there will be excessive trash in the grain. Platform heads can be used without modification, but often have a higher amount of seed and head loss than a row head. Adding pans to the front of the platform, and/or modifying the reel can improve efficiency. Twelve-inch pans are best for 30-inch row spacings; 9-inch better for other row sizes and solid seeding.
Common threshing mistake: Waiting to harvest and seeds become too dry and shell out. Better: combine at 14-15% moisture and use air/dry down to under 10% moisture. Waiting too long to harvest can result in excessive field losses.
Threshing goal: Have the header platform raised high enough to take in the heads, minimizing stalks as much as possible. The overall goal of the threshing process should be passing the head nearly intact through the combine, or in a few large pieces, with all developed seed removed from the head. If the head is being ground up into small pieces, there will be excessive trash in the grain.
Fan speed: Air speed should be lower, due to the lighter weight of sunflowers (oils weigh about 28 to 32 lbs/bu, confection 22 to 26 lbs/bu). Excessive wind may blow seed over the chaffer and sieve, and seed forced over the sieve and into the tailings auger will be returned to the cylinder and may be dehulled. Set the fan so only enough air flow is created to keep trash floating across the screen/sieve. The concave should generally be run wide open (on a rotary combine, a rotor-to-concave setting of 3/4 to 1 inch is appropriate). A bottom screen or lower sieve of 3/8 inch, and a top screen/upper sieve of 1/2 to 5/8 inch is typical.
Forward speed: Combine forward speed should usually average between 3 and 5 miles per hour. Forward speed should be decreased as moisture content of the seed decreases to reduce shatter loss as heads feed into the combine. Faster forward speeds are possible with seed moisture between 12 and 15%.
Cylinder/rotor speed: Slow cylinder/rotor speed to 250 to 400 rpm. Normal cylinder speed should be almost 300 rpm (for a combine with a 22” diameter cylinder to give a cylinder bar travel speed of 1,725 feet per minute). Speed will vary depending upon crop conditions and combine used. Combines with smaller cylinders will require a faster speed and combines with a larger cylinder diameter will require a slower speed. A rotary combine with a 30”cylinder will need to be operated at 220 rpm, and a combine with a 17” cylinder will need to be operated at 390 to have a cylinder bar speed of 1,725 feet per minute. If a combine cylinder operates at speeds of 400 to 500 rpm, giving a cylinder bar speed of over 2,500 feet per minute, very little seed should be cracked or broken if the moisture content of the seed is above 11%. Cylinder bar speeds of over 3,000 feet per minute should not be used because they will cause excessive broken seed and increased dockage.
Concave clearance: When crop moisture is at 10% or less, conventional machines should be set open to give a cylinder to concave spacing of about 1″ at the front of the cylinder and about 0.75″ at the rear. A smaller concave clearance should be used only if some seed is left in the heads after passing through the cylinder. If seed moisture exceeds 15 to 20%, a higher cylinder speed and a closer concave setting may be necessary, even though foreign material in the seed may increase. Seed breakage and dehulling may be a problem with close concave settings. Make initial adjustments as recommended in the operator’s manual. Final adjustments should be made based on crop conditions.
Harvest Loss Rule of Thumb: Ten seeds per square foot (don’t forget heads that have seed left in them) represent a loss of 100 pounds per acre, assuming seed loss is uniform over the entire field. Harvest without some seed loss is almost impossible. Usually, a permissible loss is about 3%. Loss as high as 15 to 20% has occurred with a well-adjusted combine if the ground speed is too fast, resulting in machine overload.
Are your bins ready? Bins with perforated floors work better for drying sunflower than those with ducts. Aeration is essential, especially in larger bins. Aeration may be accomplished with floor-mounted ducts or portable aerators. Aeration fans should deliver 1/10 to 1 cfm per cwt of sunflower. If aeration is not available, sunflower should be rotated between bins to avoid hot spots developing in the stored grain.
Cleaning before storage: When excessive trash is present in the harvested grain, cleaning before storage can greatly reduce incidence of storage problems. Ambient air can be used to cool and dry sunflower. If heated air is used, generally a 10 degree F increase in temperature over ambient is sufficient to increase rate of drying. Be aware that sunflower dries more rapidly than corn or soybeans, and should be monitored to avoid over-drying.
Watch for Moisture Rebound: When tracking moisture readings on sunflower seeds that are being dried in a bun, keep in mind that the hull dries faster than the kernel. Thus, a moisture reading taken on sunflower being dried may be artificially low; for example, a moisture meter may give a reading of 10%, and then climb back up to 12% the next day. To get a more accurate reading, place some seed in a covered jar overnight and take moisture readings the next day, after the hull and kernel moisture have equalized.
Prepare for Fire Hazards: Always keep in mind that sunflower is an oil-based crop and fine fibers from sunflower seeds pose a constant fire hazard, especially when conditions are dry. Keep your combine and grain dryer free of chaff and dust (consider having a portable leaf blower on hand for this). Keep a small pressure sprayer or container filled with water on hand in the combine in case of fire. Should the threat of extreme dry conditions and combine fires persists; try nighttime harvesting when humidity levels are higher.
Estimating Yield in Grain Corn
Estimating grain corn yield in any given field is exactly that – an estimate. The more samples and counts that are taken, the better variations in the field will be captured and accounted for. However, on that same note, no matter how many counts are done in a field, a variance of 20 bushels of yield (plus or minus) is a reasonable expectation.
A STEP-BY-STEP PROCESS FOR GRAIN CORN YIELD ESTIMATION:
1. Prior to sampling, determine how many samples or counts will be taken in each field. A minimum of 5 is recommended, 5 – 10 being appropriate. Of course, the more counts that are taken, the better representation of the field, overall.
- Tools needed: measuring tape, pen and paper. A calculator can be used in the field, or once all samples are completed, but will be required.
2. Enter the field and walk in several paces beyond the headlands. Pick a representative location to take the first count.
3. Measure a single row to the appropriate length of 1/1,000th of an acre. For the most common 30” row spacing, 17’5” is the appropriate length.
Figure 1: Row length required to measure 1/1,000th acre in various row widths
4. In the chosen 1/1,000th acre, count and record the number of harvestable ears on the plants. Do not count ears that have either dropped or may be on lodged plants and will not be picked up by the combine header.
5. Choose every 5th – 6th ear in the row and record the number of kernel rows and average kernels per row, and multiply the two factors for each chosen ear.
- Be sure to be selecting representative ears.
- Kernel rows are typically 12 – 18, but can be fewer or greater than that.
- Kernels per row – do not count aborted kernels; do not count the extreme base or tip kernels.
6. Add all counts together for the first site, then divide by number of sampled ears. For example, if 5 ears were sampled with kernel counts of 336, 384, 512, 496 and 600, the average number of kernels per ear: (350 + 380 + 510 + 500 + 625)/5 = 473
7. Yield for each sample site in one field is determined by multiplying ear number (Step 4) by the average number of kernels per ear (Step 6) and then dividing that total by 90. 90 represents the average number of kernels in a bushel of corn at 15.5% moisture (90,000). In a scenario where grain fill has exceptionally good, decrease that value to 80, and conversely, increase that number to 100 if grain fill has been particularly stressful and grain is lightweight.
Figure 2: Grain corn yield estimate formula – Iowa State University (https://crops.extension.iastate.edu/cropnews/2017/08/estimating-corn-yields-using-yield-components)
Formula example for sample site #1:
Let’s say 31 harvestable ears were counted at the first sample site.
- (31 harvestable ears * 473 kernels per ear)/90 = 163 bushels per acre for average/normal grain fill.
- (31 harvestable ears * 473 kernels per ear)/80 = 183 bushels per acre for exceptional grain fill.
- (31 harvestable ears * 473 kernels per ear)/100 = 147 bushels per acre for a below average grain fill.
Repeat this procedure 5 – 10 times throughout the field to get a good representative estimate and average the number of sites to yield calculations. Let’s say 7 sample sites were calculated:
(163 bu. + 182 bu. + 155 bu. + 159 bu. + 171 bu. + 176 bu. + 164 bu.)/ 7 sample sites = 167 bu/acre yield estimate for this grain corn field sampled.
REFERENCES:
Xiben Wang, research scientist, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada
Xiben Wang was raised in China and completed his bachelor’s degree in plant pathology at Nanjing Agricultural University in Nanjing, China. After he finished his undergraduate degree, he moved to Canada to complete his master’s in plant science at McGill University in Montreal, QC. He moved on to earn his PhD at the University of Manitoba (U of M) in the in Department of Plant Science and is now a research scientist at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s (AAFC) Morden Research Development Centre (RDC). Xiben lives in Winkler, MB, with his wife and son.
Where did you work before the Morden RDC?
After I earned my PhD, I worked at the Cereal Research Centre in Winnipeg in the area of cereal pathology before coming to work at the Morden RDC.
What got you interested in this area of work?
Both my parents worked in agriculture. I can still remember spending most of my summers in my dad’s lab looking at samples he collected from growers’ fields under the microscope. When I was working on my master’s and PhD, I also had very good mentors who were really hard workers. They encouraged me to study problems that were appearing and to work to fix those. This is what really got me interested in working in agriculture.
Tell us a bit about what you’re working on at the Morden RDC.
My program covers multiple aspects of diseases on small green cereals (wheat, barley and oats). We use different techniques to identify disease pathogens to try to get a better understanding of the species present in farmers’ fields. We work to determine what is the most important pathogen of concern and what damage it may cause.
Another part of my program is working with breeders to try to develop varieties that have increased resistance against Fusarium head blight (FHB) and other major leaf spot diseases found on barley and oats. I operate a disease nursery at Morden RDC for FHB and different barley leaf spot pathogens.
I’m interested to see the impact different management practices can have on soil microbial communities through metagenomics analysis. In the Crop rotation affects disease suppressive soil microbiomes project funded by Manitoba Crop Alliance along with Western Grains Research Foundation and CAP Ag Action, we are looking into whether different crop rotations may promote some groups of bacteria and suppress others.
For example, in a cereal-over-cereal rotation, we see an increase in abundance of the Fusarium pathogen we know will infect the cereals. But in other crop rotations, such trend is not observed. We want to see whether we can identify a certain rotation type that can promote beneficial microbial populations (plant growth promoting bacteria). By doing so, we hope to be able to determine the bacteria most likely present on your farm and what impact it might have (beneficial or negative). If that impact is negative, we’d then look at the recommendations to minimize that.
The long-term goal is to incorporate several sites in different provinces to generate multi-year data sets, so in the long term, we can identify the general trend of what we expect under different crop rotation practices. Hopefully, we can minimize our reliance on commonly used fungicides to control different diseases that are common to barley nodes or wheat.
This project is almost in the second year and we are nearly finished analyzing the data we gathered from the first year. We are expecting to have some preliminary results next year.
What can you say about the value of farmers providing funding and support to your organization?
Our work is directly related to farmers. We try to identify what the most important threat is and look at the possible solutions, as well as what we can do to increase the varieties they grow and minimize the costs they may have to try to combat diseases.
I want to express that the funding from farmers is very important for us to be able to continue the work that we do.
How does that farmer funding and support directly benefit farmers?
There is a direct value to farmers. Take the surveillance work we do, for example. It is very important to gain a better understanding of what major diseases are in fields causing damage, and how it might result in yield loss. When we know what the risks are we can study the best way to control them to minimize yield losses. We study these pathogens so we can develop a strategy to mitigate the losses and try to develop varieties with better resistance, so that farmers will have less risk of loss due to these pathogens. The surveillance work also allows us to monitor the emerging diseases in farmers’ fields and be proactive on potential issues.
How do you spend your time outside of work?
I love to spend time with family and go to sports. Soccer is my favourite sport – I play and I love to watch as well. Go Brazil!
What gets you most excited about your work?
There is always something new for me to study and new techniques to learn. I think that is what gets me most excited. I love to visit farmers’ fields to do surveys. When we find something that we don’t know, I get really excited about the challenge to try to figure out what it is.
What is the best piece of advice you’ve received?
Always look for something new. Don’t jump to conclusions too quickly – study first, verify second and then you’ll get your conclusions.