Sustainability and productivity the focus of Manitoba 4R Day

Implementing 4R practices improves agricultural productivity and minimizes impact on the environment, helping farmers grow food in a sustainable way. EMILI hosted nearly 100 people at Innovation Farms on August 6 for Manitoba 4R Day, where attendees learned first-hand from industry experts about how to put the 4Rs – Right Source, Right Rate, Right Time, Right Place – into action.

The morning began with a panel discussion between Bryce Geisel from Koch Fertilizer, Lyle Cowell from Nutrien and Marla Riekman from Manitoba Agriculture, moderated by Wendy McDonald from Manitoba Pulse and Soybean Growers, on real-world examples of 4R stewardship practices, common barriers to 4R adoption and use cases of enhanced efficiency fertilizers on farms in western Canada.

The audience then rotated between three stations in the field. At the Managing 4R Stewardship with Innovative Technologies station, the audience dove into innovative technologies being tested, validated and demonstrated at EMILI’s Innovation Farms to improve on-farm 4R stewardship practices with Innovation Farms Manager Leanne Koroscil and Innovation Farms Associate Sarah Wilcott. Crop Intelligence’s Elston Solberg and Brian Archibald shared how their organization records soil moisture data to supplement fertilizer application decision-making in dryland farming.

At the second station, the audience learned about tile drainage and its impact on 4R Practices with Mitch Timmerman from Manitoba Agriculture, Rick Rutherford from Rutherford Farms, and Mylen Dunbar from NextGen Drainage Solutions. This interactive presentation discussed the relationship between tile drainage and 4R nutrient stewardship practices from three unique perspectives – a farmer, an industry representative, and an expert in the field.