The Alberta Wheat Commission (AWC) invites farmers to prove their place as Alberta’s top wheat grower by entering its 2018 Wheat Yield Challenge. This is the second year that AWC is holding this contest, but new rules this year help level the playing field across all soil types and classes.
AWC will award a first and second prize for wheat growers who obtain the highest yield per cent above the five-year Agriculture Financial Services Corporation (AFSC) average for their risk area and class of wheat. For example, this means that a winter wheat grower on irrigation could go head-to-head with a CPS grower on dry land in the same county.
Last year, Matthew Stanford of Magrath, Alberta took home the first-place award for his winter wheat crop – AAC Gateway – grown on irrigation and yielding 113 bushels per acre. Alfred Vandelight of Eaglesham, Alberta was awarded second place for his dryland AC Stettler crop which yielded 100 bushels per acre.
Of his top-notch methods, Stanford noted that “Planning is critical to success,” adding that he was confident his ‘planned recipe’ would show results even before the yield challenge was announced last year.
Vandelight noted that “balanced nutrition is key to success; the rate of fertilizer doesn’t matter if you don’t know what is in your soil. Soil testing is vitally important to producing a good crop and no field is the same.”
This year’s first and second place champion will receive a pass to the Prairie Cereals Summit held at the Banff Springs Hotel in December including two nights stay and a $200 gift card to cover travel expenses. Awards will be presented at the Prairie Cereals Summit.
Farmers can enter the 2018 Wheat Yield Challenge by submitting a registration form by July 1, 2018 and following up with their results by filling out the harvest report form by November 1, 2018. For more information, contact Brian Kennedy, grower relations and extension coordinator at bkennedy@albertawheat.com.
Source : Alberta Wheat Commission