The 2015 SFSDC Annual General Meeting was held in Nipawin, SK on December 2, 2015. David Maxwell, Chair welcomed the group and introduced the Board of Directors and speakers for the day as well as provided his annual report.

Copper is an essential micronutrient needed for proper fertilization and seed formation. Copper deficiencies are not widespread in Northeastern Saskatchewan, but where they occur they can result in very substantial yield losses to susceptible grain crops. Deficiencies are most common on organic (peat) and coarse textured (sandy) soils.

It has been a very interesting year in Saskatchewan. The spring was better than the past two years for getting crops into the ground in a timely manner because there was not as much surface water in many areas.

Research has always been the main objective for the SFSDC and the Directors look for ways to expand the research program with the Commission’s limited funds.

SFSDC held their annual field tour on July 21, 2015 near Carrot River, SK. with 25 people in attendance. Norm Klemmer with AG-Vision Seeds of Carrot River hosted the group and provided the gathering point for the afternoon.

Forage Seed Grower Workshop and Saskatchewan Forage Seed Development Commission Annual General Meeting

Drs. Fran Walley and Rich Farrell, together with their graduate students Nils Yannikos and James Woodhouse, recently completed a three year research study examining the impact of enhanced efficiency fertilizer products in forage grass seed production.

Guidelines for Estimating Forage Seed Production Costs 2016 is now available from Manitoba Agriculture.

So far, 2015 has been a better spring for getting crops into the ground in a timely manner. At the time of writing this article, concerns were growing about dry soil conditions and some good rains would be much appreciated.

Nels Smelland has been farming in the Nipawin, SK area most of his life and started growing grass seed in 1985. Nels grew both Intermediate and Crested Wheatgrass for the first 25 years, and then took on production of Slender Wheatgrass for the past 5 years.

In June 2013, 0.22 lb/ac of foliar EDTA chelated copper was applied at the flag leaf to established timothy (3 locations) and hybrid bromegrass (1 location) on replicated miniplots in the Choiceland, Nipawin, and White Fox, SK regions.

The SFSDC Annual General Meeting was held on December 2, 2014 in Nipawin, SK.

Adger Banken, Director Export and Procurement with DLF-Trifolium in The Netherlands used a webcast link to provide his presentation and speak to the group.

SFSDC is pleased to announce our speaker line-up for the upcoming Forage Seed Grower Workshop on December 2, 2014 in Nipawin Saskatchewan.

The SFSDC held their annual field day on July 23, 2014 at the Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada Research Farm south of Melfort, SK.

Canada is recognized worldwide as a leading producer, processor and exporter of high-quality seed for a wide range of crops. It is a diverse sector that contributes billions to the Canadian economy and provides jobs for thousands.

The Clover Casebearer Research Project carried out at the University of Alberta was partially funded by Saskatchewan Forage Seed Development Commission for 3 years.

In June 2013, 0.22 lb/ac of foliar EDTA chelated copper was applied at the flag leaf to established timothy (3 locations) and hybrid bromegrass (1 location) on replicated miniplots in the Choiceland, Nipawin, and White Fox SK regions.

Weed control is critical in the establishment year for forages grown for seed production. With that in mind, in the spring of 2013, we initiated a research trial at the Northeast Agriculture Research Foundation near Melfort, SK to identify herbicides that provide adequate weed control while posing acceptable risk of crop damage for selected forage species.