By Alice McFarlane

Research centre welcomes the addition of new equipment

Feb 11, 2021 | 4:24 PM

The Conservation Learning Centre (CLC) staff completed the 2020 harvest of its research plots with the addition of a new piece of equipment.

A plot combine was purchased thanks to the roughly $266,000 from the Western Grains Research Foundation and $10,000 each from SaskWheat, SaskCanola and Fertilizer Canada.

CLC temporary manager Brooke Howat said it replaced an older unit from 1985.

“It wasn’t really up to the task. We really needed something new,” Howat told farmnewsNOW.

The Conservation Learning Centre replaced its outdated 1985 plot combine in 2020. (submitted photo/Jan Zawada)

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When the new equipment arrived, it took some time to get it ready for the field and staff members needed training to use it, Howat said.

“There was a lot of computers we had to figure out. The new combine has a weighing system and we had to calibrate that. It can measure grain moisture as well. That was all very new for us,” Howat said. “It has a cab as well. Our old combine did not.”

The combine is much smaller than the equipment you may see on a conventional farm.

“It’s only six metres long, three metres high and 1.6 metres wide. It’s really tiny,” she said.

CLC staff stand beside the new Wintersteiger plot combine that arrived in time for the 2020 harvest) Robin Lokken, Zoe Galbraith, Brooke Howat, and Nicole Wensman. (submitted photo/Jan Zawada)

The CLC runs several cropping, forage, and horticultural trials. Howat said they have expanded its research over the last few years.

“We had around 31 projects and I think the year before it was 27 and the year before was even less. We’ve really been growing and that’s another reason we needed it,” Howat said “You can do a lot more plots. We’re excited to grow even more.”

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alice.mcfarlane@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @AliceMcF