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Importance of Early Season Crop Walks | |
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From the June 8, 2009 Issue of Agri-News | |
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| | Early season crop walks are an excellent method for producers to find out how things are looking for the upcoming growing season.
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"Basically it seems like every spring is just a little bit different," says Ross McKenzie, agronomy research scientist, Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development, Lethbridge. "Going on a crop walk with researchers and agrologists can be invaluable for producers to find out how things may have changed this year from last."
Going on an early season crop walk can help producers find out what insects or diseases are starting to crop up early, so they can take appropriate action if necessary.
"For example, we've already seen significant damage from pea leaf weevil feeding on the winter pulses we seeded last fall," say Mckenzie. "This will be something producers will want to be aware of, especially in southern Alberta where this pest can be a real problem."
McKenzie is an organizer for the crop walks hosted by the Lethbridge Research Centre. He says his group is interested in finding out what producers want to see when they come on the centre's walks.
"We'll be asking producers and industry agronomists what they'd like to see over the next few weeks in the Lethbridge or Bow Island areas where we do have research trials," says McKenzie. "We have our own ideas about what we want to show, but feedback from participants is invaluable in helping us to plan these crop walks. We also have trials in north central Alberta in the Vegreville, Gibbons and Barrhead regions and are considering doing crop walks in these areas if farmers are interested."
For more information on crop walks at the Lethbridge Research Centre, call Dr. Ross McKenzie at 403-381-5842.
Contact:
Dr. Ross McKenzie
403-381-5842 |
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For more information about the content of this document, contact Ross McKenzie.
This document is maintained by Rita Splawinski.
This information published to the web on June 3, 2009.
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