The Rural Voice, 1985-11, Page 62FARM ADVICE
Cereal production undergoes radical shift
Cereal production in Canada is
about to undergo a radical shift that
will increase yields and profitability,
the Intensive Cereal Management
(ICM) task force said in a news con-
ference recently.
Already popular and proven in
Europe, the new method uses
specialized farm equipment in-
tegrated with field tramlines, narrow
row spacing, and high plant popula-
tions. The ICM system also relies on
the optimum use of varieties, fer-
tilizers, disease control products, and
plant growth regulators to maximize
yield.
"The low profitability on cereals in
recent years and the need for rotation
in soybeans and corn drove us to in-
vestigate this new approach to
cereals," said Lou Murray, chairman
of the task force and regional
technical manager with Chemagro.
Murray, speaking on behalf of
some 20 of the best-known seed, fer-
tilizer, agrichemical, and equipment
companies and government interests
represented by the task force, likened
the introduction of ICM to major
changes in corn production 20 years
ago.
"With Intensive Cereal Manage-
ment, the grower has everything to
gain," Murray commented. "Sound
rotation, better soil structure, easier
harvesting, and better manure
management. But best of all, this
technique can mean lower cost per
unit of grain produced, and higher
overall net profits."
The ICM program requires good
field trash management and seedbed
preparation. It also calls for the
careful choice of cereal varieties that
can handle more intensive fertiliza-
tion — varieties that respond to inten-
sive management.
"Not all seed varieties respond
equally well to intensive manage-
ment," added task force spokesman
Pat L'Ecuyer, sales manager, Ag
Chemical division of King Agro Inc.
"Varieties, plus local soil and climate
conditions, have a great bearing on
crop density. We suggest planting on-
ly varieties that will respond to high
plant populations and fertility."
Each grower has to set his own pro-
tein goals related to the type of wheat
grown, and fertilize accordingly. But
tests have shown that split nitrogen
applications, carefully calibrated and
44 T'1E RURAL VOICE
timed in relation to protein goals, will
ensure the best results.
Plant growth regulators are impor-
tant to the narrow row spacing and
high plant density of the ICM pro-
gram. The regulators reduce plant
height and contribute to thicker stalks
and better standability. This produces
cereals with full heads, uniform
kernel size, and little or no lodging.
"Plant growth regulators make
harvesting easier, too," Don Wilkin-
son, supervisor of research and
development for BASF, remarked.
"Treated cereals have shorter straw
and stand better."
The ICM task force recommends
three-inch row spacing, thus increas-
ing the overall crop density and
reducing the land available for weed
infestations.
With ICM, plant health is critical.
The control of diseases allows better
nutrient uptake and utilization,
resulting in higher yields. Because the
same conditions that favour high -
yielding cereals also favour diseases,
growers following the ICM program
walk their fields regularly scouting
for signs of disease.
For maximum disease control,
growers must apply the fungicide at
the optimum stage of disease develop-
ment.
Specialized equipment and well
established field tramlines are essen-
tial to the ICM program. The
tramlines are pathways through the
fields that maximize crop area while
minimizing soil compaction from fre-
quent trips over the fields.
From the tramlines, spaced 40 feet
apart, the cereal grower can manage
all inputs with the correct equipment.
For seeding, seed drills capable of
seeding narrow rows and planting
precisely offer the accuracy the ICM
program requires.
Sprayer and spreader booms are
also fundamental to the ICM pro-
gram. Herbicides, fungicides, insec-
ticides, fertilizers, and regulators can
be evenly applied from the tramlines
by using boom -type equipment. Ap-
plication becomes more accurate, soil
compaction is reduced, and more
land is made available for crops.
The task force is working closely
with various levels of government to
ensure the introduction of new cereal
varieties suitable for ICM and to ad-
just the overall criteria. E
Forest renewal top priority
It is difficult to imagine Canada
with stunted forests where natural
disaster and decay have eroded great
expanses of growth. The truth is that
such a bleak picture isn't a generation
or more away — you can see it
already.
It is to face this need for a national
commitment to forest renewal that a
major congress will be held in
Ottawa April 8 to 10, 1986.
Spearheaded by the Canadian
Forestry Association and supported
by groups such as the International
Woodworkers of America, the Cana-
dian Pulp and Paper Association,
and the Canadian Institute of
Forestry, the National Forest Con-
gress will hear from industry
representatives and the federal and
provincial governments.
Only two other countries in the
world, the USSR and Brazil, have
greater areas of forest than Canada.
Though almost half of Canada's
9.9 -million square kilometres is
covered by forest, only a. portion of
this is stocked, productive forest land
available for harvesting.
But Canada still has one of the
world's most dynamic forest tracts,
containing 17 per cent of the world's
standing coniferous timber and sup-
plying one quarter of the world's
total forest production.
In fact, forestry's contribution to
the Canadian economy is conser-
vatively estimated at $28.6 billion a
year. Exports of lumber and by-
products account for a net trade
surplus of $11 billion per annum —
more than the combined net trade
surpluses of fisheries and agriculture,
coal, oil, gas, and electricity.
Canadians once thought — and
many still do — that Canada's forests
provided a boundless cornucopia
which would miraculously renew
itself. The plain truth, however, is
that it won't and can't.
More damage is done to Canada's
forests by natural causes than by the
activities of man. Fire, insects,
disease, and wind destroy two thirds
as much timber as is harvested an-
nually. The regeneration of forests
has to make up for loss through both
natural causes and commercial timber
harvesting. ❑