Alberta, Canada
November 14, 2014
To many agricultural producers, winter wheat is an unknown and untried commodity. But a new hands-on partnership between Lakeland College and Ducks Unlimited Canada (DUC), is firmly planting into the minds of producers-to-be the value that winter wheat can add to a producer’s pocketbook, the land’s productivity, and nature’s ecological balance.
“The land–known as the Driver project–has 38 bodies of water, rolling hills and some equipment access issues,” says Wolters. “This made it difficult for the previous owner to do much with it. Previous attempts to turn the land into grass did not go well, so when DUC took it over, we decided to reclaim it, and as part of the process, introduce a crop of winter wheat.”
It was then that Wolters called Josie Van Lent, dean of Lakeland’s School of Agricultural Sciences, to see if the project would be of interest to her and her students. She jumped at the chance.
“The timing of Bryon’s call was perfect,” says Van Lent. “For a while, we have wanted to do something with winter wheat on the Student Managed Farm and this was the perfect opportunity. We’ve always had a great relationship with DUC as a college and this project provides our students with an even greater opportunity to experiment with a different type of crop in a very hands-on way. As well, not only does the project give our students the opportunity to learn about winter wheat production management — including seed and fertility rates, as well as yields at harvest — it also drives home sound stewardship and sustainable land use practices that we entrench into our agricultural programming.”
Lakeland’s students and DUC seeded the crop in mid-September on 135 acres. Now, some eight weeks later, the crop is looking good. Janine Paly, DUC’s winter wheat agrologist in Alberta, visited the Vermilion site and spoke with Lakeland’s students and staff on Wednesday, Nov. 5.
“Winter wheat is an attractive crop for a producer to have in their crop rotation. It has the potential to be high-yielding and very profitable,” says Paly. “It is, however, an underutilized and underappreciated crop on the Canadian prairies. But despite its short growing season and the challenges of getting seed into the ground on time, producers who grow winter wheat are seeing multiple benefits which include added protection from soil erosion, and restored nutrient levels in the soil. The results so far on this site also indicate that winter wheat is well suited to this climate and geography.”
Peter Walsh, an instructor in Lakeland’s crop technology program, is also pleased with the opportunity that the students will have to learn more about weed management practices as well as the opportunity to learn and explore more about marketing opportunities for winter wheat.
“The milling industry especially likes winter wheat for its reduced protein and gluten levels,” says Walsh. “It has characteristics that are very desirable for baking flours.”
While the winter wheat project provides a chance for Lakeland students to become embedded in DUC’s work in east central Alberta, there is one more group of beneficiaries that will also reap the rewards. Winter wheat provides good nesting habitat for waterfowl, particularly northern pintail, whose numbers have been declining since the 1970s. The northern pintail is Alberta’s signature species, says Wolters, and DUC has engaged in several activities and projects over the years to help the species re-establish its population to healthier levels.
Funding to support the purchase of the Driver property, the site of the DUC/Lakeland College/winter wheat/conservation project is provided by the Natural Areas Conservation Program to DUC. The project aligns with DUC’s new partnership with Bayer Crop Science and Richardson International Limited that supports the Western Winter Wheat Initiative. This initiative includes work being done with winter wheat on six additional “super sites” within Alberta. One of those six is also situated on Lakeland College’s Student Managed Farm at its Vermilion campus. For more information, visit www.growwinterwheat.ca.
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