Alberta Day 3 - Three Hills with Steve Larocque

Day 3 and we've been very well looked after by Nuffield Scholar Steve Larocque who runs his own company with wife Vanessa called Beyond Agronomy.  Steve lives and works around the town of Three Hills in Alberta.  The town has a population of 2,500 and somewhere 19 churches!  Most of the farms in the area are about 3,000-4,000 acres and have been zero tilled for about 20years.  The soil is loamy, almost sweet smelling and with the great advice Steve is offering to his clients, yields are moving on up.

I was very interested in the planting methods used for zero till so we headed to the local John Deere dealership Evergreen's at Drumheller.  In the yard was a Seed Hawk planter with a seed hopper for fertiliser and seed that could carry 20T.  Bearing in mind nearly all of the fertiliser for the crop is applied at seeding, these rigs were huge.  All pulled by over 500hp of tractor either on duals, triples or tracks, with widths of up to 66'.  Even transport widths were hovering around the 5m mark!  We also looked at the John Deere ConservaPac opener which placed the fertiliser and the seed almost down the same drill row, seeding tine behind fertiliser tine, reducing soil disturbance creating a very even drilling depth and capable of following uneven topography, with short leg length.  Drilling speeds of around 4.5mph are common, so relatively slow compared to our drilling speeds but reduced soil disturbance is key to the system.  

After some lunch we headed out to visit a Hutterite Community at Starlands.  The we were met by 'Farm Boss' Peter Stahl.  It was a very slick operation and Pete was keen to show us around the farm.  The investment was huge with 3 big drilling rigs each worth somewhere near $750,000.  Each of these systems is capable of planting 350 acres in a 24 hour period, and with 14,900 acres (of all crops to plant), seeding can be completed in 14 days.  The infrastructure was impressive too with grain store, hog yards, dairy, beef and chickens.  The community share everything between each other, so all 93 souls get a share of the wealth.  At the communal kitchens we met Pete's wife and daughter who were busy preparing the fresh chicken for super that evening.  It's a shame I couldn't take any pictures but the I will certainly remember Pete for his warm welcome, generosity and openness into the way they live.

We called in to look at some of Pete's crops and the picture above show wheat plants being planted between the rows of Canola stalks.  This is using the guidance on the tractors (RTK) to the fullest and means the new roots and follow the old crop root channels down without all the stubble stalks being ripped up.  It also acts as protection to some degree to the young shoots as they emerge.  Another great day; meeting interesting people, more tomorrow.

Nuffield Contemporary Scholars Conference Saturday - Putting it All Together

The final part of the conference was arguably the best.  We were split into 6 groups to work together on a presentation for the other groups.  We were given two hours to work out a plan; in our case, "Telling the Story of Agriculture", then we had a 15minute presentation and a 10 minute grilling from everyone else.  We looked at the voice that agriculture has in the world, from Facebook groups promoting agriculture to those in opposition and it really was frightening the balance of opposition to agriculture.  We looked at Twitter, at YouTube and how we as scholars can help influence the positive side of our great industry.  What amazed me was that all the scholars are having the same thoughts and issues, no matter where they come from in the world.  The rural population is in decline, the age of our farmers is increasing and our voice is getting lost in the general 'noise' of our modern world.  It's not all doom and gloom though there are some beacons shining in the darkness telling our side of the story.  We need to do more of it, maybe with one international agriculture brand? It was a very good finale to the Conference and one that inspired a very good 'take home' message to us all.  Some were really shocked at the statistics.......

The evening was spent in the Skylon Tower over looking the Niagara falls where we all mulled over the information we had taken in during the week.  I was amazed at how quickly the week had gone, spent with a really tremendous group of friends.  Friendships that will last a life time even though we've only just met.  Friendships that will be built on over time, meeting up around the world, during our individual studies and long into the future.

The view form the tower was a stunning setting for the final talk of the week from Steve Larocque who owns a company called Beyond Agronomy.  Steve was a Nuffield Scholar from 2008 and manages over 30,000 acres in Alberta.  Steve has taken his Nuffield experience to the highest level, looking after a wide range of crops, including wheat, barley, canola, beans, lentils and peas, as well as setting up his own farming business.  He is a huge advocate of Controlled Traffic Farming and looking after the soil at all times.  It's a system that has the greatest resilience to climate change and one that we need to be looking into more and more in the UK.  It will be a nice side line as part of my 20:20 project!  

Steve gave us an example of one of his spring barley fields with 650 ears/m2 with 60 kernels/ear which when harvested yield 12T/Ha.  Now that is very impressive and a target to aim for and one that needs more investigation.  What can I learn for the UK situation?

Steve left us with a couple of quotes; one I especially like is from Lloyd Alexander, an America author, he said; "we learn more from looking for the answer to the question and not finding it, than we do from learning the answer itself".  I guess this sums up my Nuffield adventure so far.......