By Alice McFarlane

Online meetings provide valuable information for producers

Jan 25, 2022 | 6:19 PM

MELFORT, Sask. – The Northeast Branch of the Saskatchewan Institute of Agrologists will host their annual Ag Update online again this year.

Spokesperson Patty Soloducha said concerns around the COVID-19 pandemic prompted the group to hold a virtual version of the event.

“We’ve had to consider all our options and we’ve decided to go virtual again this year,” Soloducha told farmnewsNOW. “Having said that, we still got a great lineup of speakers scheduled for three days, and that way people can take it in whenever they have time.”

On Feb. 1, the conversation will focus on the contentious issue of fertilizer pricing with Josh Linville, the director of Fertilizer for StoneX Financial Inc. who has 20 years of experience in the fertilizer industry. Farmers have seen a dramatic increase in prices and want to understand why it’s happening, according to Soloducha.

“He kind of has a broad overview of how the world impacts the fertilizer pricing here in North America and give farmers a better insight on why prices may be where they’re at this spring, and what happened over the winter,” she said.

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Ryan Brook of the Canadian Wild Pig Research Project, based out of the University of Saskatchewan will speak on Feb. 2. He will discuss just how invasive the wild pig population is in northeast Saskatchewan.

“It’s something we need to be aware of and start thinking more about,” Soloducha said. “He’s going to talk to people about what they can see and the population in our area here.”

The third and final day will have two presentations starting with Dr. Jeff Schoenau, a professor of soil fertility and professional agrologist who works in the Department of Soil Science at the University of Saskatchewan. He will focus on fertility after a drought year.

Soloducha said the poor yielding crops didn’t take up all of the fertilizer applied last year and there could be significant carryover this spring.

“Lots of people are wondering ‘What did I have left from last fall?’ ‘Did my crop use everything during the year,’” she said. “Jeff will touch on what we can expect to see coming out of a drought, and what our fertilizer needs will be this spring.”

The second presenter will be Brianne McInnes, operations manager for the Northeast Agriculture Research Foundation (NARF). She will summarize the projects from 2021 and provide information on projects coming up this year.

Participants can register in advance at agupdate.ca. Sessions begin at 9:00 a.m. each day.

Soloducha said Ag Update has continued for many years because of the assistance from the community and local sponsors.

“We appreciate the support from the industry in our area as well as the farmers and agronomists that attend the event from year to year,” she said.

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alice.mcfarlane@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @farmnewsNOW