Lifelong learning
As January comes to a close, in-person and virtual meetings are wrapping up and people are getting ready for winter vacations or the busy calving season. But how do you make the most of those learnings and put them to work on your farm?
Wikipedia defines lifelong learning as “the ongoing, voluntary, and self-motivated1 pursuit of knowledge for either personal or professional reasons. It is important for an individual’s competitiveness and employability, but also enhances social inclusion, active citizenship and personal development2.”
Over the fall and winter, you may have participated in formal learning opportunities such as: Regional Meetings, Agronomy Update, Prairie Cereals Summit, or Agronomy Update Basics. These learning sessions may have given you tips on mitigating production risk, soil sampling basics, or conducting on-farm research. While full of useful information, these virtual and in-person learning sessions can provide information overload. There is an incredible amount of content presented at these meetings and while you may take notes and have access to the recorded sessions, it can be difficult and time consuming, to ‘look back’ and glean critical pieces of information.
With this in mind, the Alberta Wheat and Barley Commissions have been developing critical reference materials to help producers and agronomists implement formal learnings on-farm.
The flagship resource is the Spring Wheat Production Manual. This 200 plus page reference is akin to Canola Encycolpedia or the classic Pulse Crops in Alberta Ag-dex 142/20-1 publication. The Spring Wheat Production Manual has been in the works for years and we are pleased it will be released in the spring of 2022. The manual covers: marketing, growth stages, soil sampling, planting and seeding rates, water use, irrigation management, fertilizer management, Plant Growth Regulators, insect management, integrated weed management, integrated disease management, resistance management, tillage and crop residue management, pre-harvest and harvest considerations and grain storage.
Each chapter of the Spring Wheat Production Manual is written by subject matter experts who are well respected scientists, provincial, or commission extension staff including: Dr. Breanne Tidemann, Dr. Brian Beres, Dr. Charles Geddes, Doon Pauly, Geoff Backman, Dr. George Clayton, Dr. Haley Catton, Dr. Harpinder Randhawa, Ian Wise, Jeremy Boychyn, Dr. Kelly Turkington, Dr. Michael Harding, Dr. Reem Aboukhaddour, Laurel Thompson, Dr. Lauren Comin, Dr. Linda Hall, Dr. Ron DePauw, Dr. Ross McKenzie, Dr. Shelley Woods, Dr. Sheri Strydhorst, Dr. Tyler Wist, Dr. Wayne Lindwall, Dr. Yuefeng Ruan, Dr. Zhijie Wang and Dr. Joy Agnew. All information in the manual is supported by third-party independent research. We have captured a large amount of knowledge from these subject matter experts and are optimistic that this new reference will be as frequently used as The Blue Book.
The Alberta Wheat and Barley Commissions provide countless opportunities and resources for lifelong learning. We provide knowledge to our producers through The Growing Point resources and extension events. Additionally, now that the Alberta Wheat Commission has taken over the Regional Variety Trial coordination, we lead the development of the variety data tables found in the Alberta Seed Guide3. This information will be easily accessible on our website soon. We are also developing knowledge opportunities for the research community through Shop Talk with Sheri along with a research mentorship program and Train the Trainer seminars for agronomists. We hope that the knowledge presented in these learning events will assist the industry in their day-to-day work and continue to move our industry forward.
References:
1 Department of Education and Science (2000). Learning for Life: Paper on Adult Education. Dublin: Stationery Office.
2 Commission of the European Communities: “Adult learning: It is never too late to learn”. COM (2006) 614 final. Brussels, 23.10.2006.
3 The Alberta Seed Growers and The Alberta Seed Processors (2021). Alberta Seed Guide.
“Farmers are continuously looking for new information on how to become even more productive and sustainable. The knowledge provided by leading Researchers in the Spring Wheat Production Manual will be a valuable reference tool for all wheat farmers in Western Canada.”
Alberta Wheat Commission Director - Region 3, Jason Lenz