WGRF is excited to announce the completion of twelve regional factsheets from the Resilient Rotations project.

The Resilient Rotations project is part of the Integrated Crop Agronomy Cluster (ICAC) and is and evaluating various crop rotations to help create more productive, sustainable and resilient cropping systems on the Canadian Prairies. The project is led by Dr. Kui Liu, research scientist with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. 

“We are approaching crop rotation by looking at a systems approach – all the elements that impact crop rotation from soil health, economics and yield to local growing conditions,” say Liu. “It’s a more holistic way to look at crop rotation and one we hope will provide new insights and options for farmers in Western Canada in a more customized, prescriptive type of approach.”

The team is evaluating six different crop rotations at seven field sites across the prairies to provide relevant recommendations based on local growing conditions. There are three sites in Alberta, three in Saskatchewan and one in Manitoba. Data from the four-year rotations have been evaluated by region based on yield, economics and efficient use of both precipitation and nutrients.

“We have produced twelve factsheets with regional results on how each of the six rotations performed based on the evaluation criteria,” says Sheri Strydhorst, Principal, Sheri’s Ag Consulting Inc. who helps manage communications and extension for the Resilient Rotations project. “We would also encourage growers and agronomists to complete our survey to help us better understand what would encourage the adoption of more diverse crop rotations. The survey can be accessed here.”

The factsheets can be found here wgrf.ca/resilient-rotations-factsheet/.

“There are agronomists, weed scientists, pathologists, economists and soil health experts involved in this project,” says Wayne Thompson, WGRF Executive Director. “A testament to the diversity of factors that impact an effective, sustainable and productive approach to crop rotation. WGRF invests in research like the Resilient Rotations project with the goal to help farmers make decisions that are the best fit for their operation.”

The Resilient Rotations project is supported by funding from WGRF, Alberta Wheat, Sask Wheat, Alberta Pulse Growers, SaskCanola, Manitoba Crop Alliance, and Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada through the Canadian Agricultural Partnership – a provincial-federal-territorial initiative.