On a sunny July day, participants from across Alberta and beyond gathered for a series of farm tours that showcased regenerative grain farming practices. These farms were located near Rolling Hills, Alberta, which is in the southern part of the province and within the irrigation district.
First stop was a farm growing organic oats, potatoes, and hemp. They had been growing organically for over 20 years and their top piece of advice was to not worry about what your neighbours have to say as you transition and get through the learning curve of the first 5 years.
Participants got to see some of the newest technology that is helping farms to grow organically and manage weeds. One implement in particular stood out – it uses cameras to detect the rows of plants and then adjust the weeding mechanisms to fit perfectly in between crop rows. This allows for more effective weeding, which is key in organic agriculture!
At the next farm, participants got to see a super diverse cover crop being grown for hay and forage. This mix of over ten annual species is helping to feed the soil microorganisms through root exudates and the insects and pollinators through habitat and flowers. The cows especially love this forage mix and the farmer noted that he needs less minerals and feed overall.
Having this diverse mix also means that weeds are not a problem in the field, and it’s easy to have a full stand regardless of the weather. Participants loved standing in this field watching the insects and munching on peas.
At the last stop, we saw a hemp and oat field, both of which were under-seeded with a mix of species. The idea is to keep the soil microbes fed with root exudates, which only come from plants in their vegetative (not reproductive) state. The more species of plants you have, the more species of soil microbes you have, the healthier your soil & plants are!
We also got a chance to see the soil profile at this farm. The soil was sandy with a few slightly compacted layers and we saw several earthworms in the soil too. This a great way to benchmark the on your farm soil. As Kevin Elmy, a local soil health educator, says – the shovel is your best soil health measurement tool!
We also got a chance to see a DIY Johnson-Su Composting Bioreactor. This is a low cost and effective method of composting for materials low in nitrogen that produces high-quality compost that is rich in fungal and bacterial diversity. Worms are also added to further break down the materials and make nutrients more available. The key to this composting method is to use materials from the farm and allow it to compost for a long period of time.
The farm is diluting the finished compost and using it as a liquid seed treatment when the seed is going into the ground. It’s still early days for this on-farm experiment but the farmers are excited about this low-cost and local way to improve soil quality and plant health. Learn more about the principles behind this composting method in this quick video.
Thank you to Canadian Organic Growers for hosting this event and to all the farmers and educators for sharing their knowledge and expertise.
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