Hello All,
As many of you know the last year has been tough for both finances and member engagement throughout Soil and Crop. Recently at our AGM we received notice that a large portion of our government funding has been cut for 2021 and along with it the funding for many of our trial projects. As an initiative to boost member engagement and get back to our roots of “Seek, Test, Adopt” we would like to invite you to try something new on farm this year and collaborate with GHSCIA to share your trial results.
For 2021 we are focusing on 2 products: Envita and Boron on corn. Please note, we are not trying to reinvent the wheel here, our goal is to collect and analyze results across an unbiased platform. These are trials that many of our members are conducting already on their own – some may already be in the ground! We have been working with Jake Munroe from OMAFRA to put together a plot protocol that would allow us to amalgamate results and get reliable statistics at the end of the season. We would like to challenge you to join us in this endeavor. We think it would be an excellent opportunity to get some consistent cross-county data on a couple products that have generated a lot of interest over the last year or two. Although this committee is based out of Golden Horseshoe we want to encourage members from across the province to collaborate. The more cooperators we have the greater a success this will be. If successful we are hoping to use this method to analyze more trial data in the future.
What would this cooperation look like?
- Each county would be responsible for their own trials. This would include sourcing cooperators, product expenses, site information and harvest data. Due to the tight budget OSCIA is on this year it is highly unlikely there will be any funding available for these projects. We would like to take a self-sufficient approach on this and such are targeting growers who already are doing these trials on their farms, just trying to unify the plot layout and collect data at the end of the season.
- There will be 2 methods of application for each product – Envita as an in-furrow treatment or foliar spray, and Boron as a liquid fertilizer (such as Nitro-B from Axter) applied with nitrogen or as a granular fertilizer. We would like to avoid foliar applications of Boron as there are too many products on the market to generate reliable results. Please note that if you are using a combination product such as Aspire, your check strips will need to have equivalent K applied – otherwise the results could measure potassium not boron response.
- We ask that you stick to the plot layouts wherever possible. In order to get reliable data we need repetition. Jake has proposed a minimum of 2 randomized replications per site. However if you only have one replication don’t let that deter you from signing up!
- At the end of the year, you would submit your results to ghsciadata@gmail.com in a survey that includes field history, timing/methods of application, in season notes and final yield results. Harvest data analysis will be the responsibility of the cooperator as we will not have the funding and/or manpower to process raw data.
- We will present results at the 2022 AGMs for the counties involved, giving members in attendance first access to trial results that reflect both province wide and county specific findings.
If you are interested in participating this year please email ghsciadata@gmail.com with your contact information and the trial you are interested in participating in and we will reach out to you to get started.
Thank you,
Golden Horseshoe Soil and Crop Improvement Association
Please find the trial protocols for Envita and Boron trails below:
Response to EnvitaTM in corn:
on-farm trial protocol for OSCIA summary project, 2021
Envita is a naturally occurring, food grade microbe – Gluconacetobacter diazotrophicus – marketed by Azotic. It is promoted to form a beneficial relationship with the host plant and provide nitrogen to every cell in the plant, foliage and root system, throughout the growing season.
Objective: Determine corn yield response to Envita across a range of soil types in the Golden Horseshoe SCIA region using standard nitrogen application rates.
Eligibility requirements:
- Corn crop for 2021
- A relatively flat, uniform field
- Single hybrid to be grown
- Uniform nitrogen rate across field
Trial information:
- Treatments:
- Check – no Envita applied (normal nitrogen rate)
- With Envita (normal nitrogen rate)
- Optional: with Envita (lower than normal nitrogen rate, e.g. 80-100 lbs/acre N)
- 2 replications minimum: field length strips (minimum 200 m), randomized (see example below)
- Timing of application:
- Envita applied at recommended rate at seeding (with low salt pop-up fertilizer) or as foliar at V2-V6 stage
- Each treatment to be one or more widths of Envita applicator – e.g. planter or sprayer. Must be as wide or wider than combine header.
Data collection
- Yield and moisture of all strips for both the Envita-treated and check treatments by weigh wagon or calibrated yield monitor. Statistics will be performed on data and provided to cooperating farmers.
Important notes
- Envita must be applied the day it is opened (within 12 hours)
- Avoid tank mixing with Group 4 herbicide if foliar applied
Useful background information (to be collected by online form)
- Crop rotation history (past 3 years minimum)
- Recent soil test if available
- History of manure and/or organic amendment
Example plot design. Randomization of treatments is just an example and should vary at each site.
Response to boron in corn:
on-farm trial protocol for OSCIA summary project, 2021
Objective: Determine corn yield response to boron fertilization across a range of soil types.
Eligibility requirements:
- Corn crop for 2021
- A relatively flat, uniform field
- Single hybrid to be grown
- *coarse-textured, low organic matter or fine-textured, low organic matter sites are preferred
Treatments
- The on-farm strip trials will be a simple with and without boron trial that will be replicated in a grower’s field.
- Treatments:
- Check – no boron: 0 lb/ac B
- With boron: 0.5 lb/acre B
- 2 replications minimum: field length strips (minimum 200 m), ideally randomized (see example below)
- Boron source:
- Liquid or granular; no foliar
- Timing of application:
- Side-dress timing preferred
- Pre-plant or late-season application also possible
- B should be applied with nitrogen
- Each treatment to be one or more widths of boron applicator, e.g. sprayer, spinner-spreader. Must be as wide or wider than combine header.
Data collection
- Yield and moisture of all strips for both the boron-treated and check treatments by weigh wagon or calibrated yield monitor. Statistics will be performed on data and provided to cooperating farmers.
Useful background information (to be collected by online form)
- Crop rotation history (past 3 years minimum)
- Recent soil tests if available
- History of manure and/or organic amendment use
Example plot design. Randomization of treatments is just an example and should vary at each site.
