By Brent Bosker

CLC pleased with agricultural research funding

Apr 14, 2011 | 7:02 AM

A demonstration farm near Prince Albert will be furthering agricultural research this summer.

The Conservation Learning Centre (CLC) has received $20,740 from the provincial government to carry out four demonstration projects at the research facility.

“The one that has me the most intrigued is testing fertilizer effects on malt barley,” said Curtis Braaten, manager of the CLC.

“We’re going to try different fertility techniques (on two varieties) to determine whether increased rates of nitrogen will provide the tonnage while keeping the protein levels low enough to achieve a malting status.”

The challenge, said Braaten, is finding the correct balance that will benefit farmers.

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“Most of the time when extra nitrogen is applied to increase the extra tonnage the protein levels go up accordingly and you can reduce your chances of getting malt status.”

These types of projects are vital to the future of farming, said Braaten.

“That’s one of the reasons we do work like this, is to improve the farmers’ profitability.”

The CLC will also be investigating in the agronomics of new varieties of midge resistant wheat and testing new crop varieties suited for north east Saskatchewan.

I’m pleased with the investment the government is making, Braaten said.

“There certainly has been a big improvement and it sounds like this may stick around.”

In total, 19 demonstration projects received funding in the Prince Albert area under the Agricultural Development of Practices and Technologies.

bbosker@panow.com