Grain on the Brain Karen Klassen, Scott Beaton

Scott talks about the diversity and importance of compost with Rob Wunder, a fourth generation farmer, who has been exploring the world of biology on his farm through a number of different practices including livestock integration and creating his own compost on his farm. They will also be discussing fertility practices, soil nutrient, making and applying compost, and much more.

After weathering the drought conditions in 2021, farmers all over were wondering how to increase resiliency on their farms. This panel discussion from the 2022 Prairie Organics Conference, led by Scott and featuring Ryan Canart (Assiniboine West Watershed) and Henry Wilson (AAFC Research Scientist), covers ways to improve water infiltration and carbon sequestration on organic farms.

In today’s episode Scott talks to Dale Overton from Overton Environmental about EcoTea. A lot of organic farmers are already using EcoTea on their farms, so we wanted to find out more about the science behind EcoTea. We’ve included some of the results from their results trials in our Resources section on our website.

This episode we have guest host Allison Squires, from Upland Organics, speak with Curtis Cavers, from AAFC, about some of the things to think about before we take the discer to the fields. They also talk about the kinds of tillage that can lead to water and wind erosion and how to balance tillage needed for weed and green manure management and soil health.

Transitioning your grain farm to organics, whether you do it field by field or all at once, can have its ups and downs. In this episode, Scott talks to Nic Podoll from the Rodale Institute about how to successfully transition your farm to organics and some of the support available for you along the way.

Intercropping, i.e. growing two or more crops together on the same field, can improve fertility and yield, reduce disease and the increased diversity can help build resilience. Not all crops grow well together, though, so it takes some work to figure out how to be a successful intercrop farmer. Scott Chalmers from WADO started trying out different intercrops in 2009 and gives us some good tips on what to try and how to work out if and when intercropping can work on your farm.