AGnVET RURAL Agronomist Jacob Foster recently completed an incredible three-week agronomy exchange hosted by AgLink Canada.
Jacob Foster an Agronomist based in Wee Waa, NSW, recently returned from an incredible three-week agronomy exchange program through the Western Prairies of Canada, an opportunity Jacob was fortunate enough to be nominated for and sent on by AGnVET RURAL.
The trip was organised and hosted by AgLink Canada, and attendees across the AgLink group had the opportunity to travel through a range of agricultural regions and experience first-hand the scale, diversity and challenges of one of the world’s major agricultural powerhouses.
The group started the trip at Calgary, Canada with horse riding across the mountains followed by a visit to the Calgary Stampede before getting into the educational part of the exchange.
There were four Australian agronomists on the program, representing different AgLink Australia member companies including Spencer Weir from Western Ag, Steven Rouch from AGnVET Services, Charlie Oates from Pursehouse Rural and Jacob Foster from AGnVET RURAL. Throughout the trip, the group were split up and hosted by different AgLink Canada member companies.
Part One: Canada Tour with AgLink
The group spent three to five days with a local agronomist at each company they visited. This involved tours around the region and insights into the business and day-to-day agronomy. According to Jacob these were the best parts of the trip as it allowed the group to experience how the locals operate daily which gave the group the opportunity to quiz the locals about their farming systems, businesses, products, chemistry and agronomic decision-making.
Jacob started the trip with All In Agro, where he was partnered with Conor and based around Lloydminster towards the North Canada. During his time in Lloydminster, Jacob checked crops for fungicide timing, played softball, experienced tornadoes and even managed to fit in some ice hockey.
Canadian Crops
Across Lloydminster, Biggar and Edmonton, Jacob witnessed a broad range of crops including canola, wheat, barley, lentils, field peas and faba beans. For Jacob this was a great opportunity to see the crops growing in a completely different environment and compare the varieties, agronomy and growing conditions with what we see back in Australia.
The group then travelled south to Taber, where they got to see interesting horticultural crops, including spearmint, catnip and potatoes.
After visiting Taber, the group travelled East to The Rack, headquarters at Biggar, where I spent time with Madelena. It was particularly interesting to see the different ways they successfully integrate research and agronomy to help make better management decisions.
The Last of the Canada Agronomy Exchange Program
Ag in Motion was next on the list, a large agricultural and machinery field day with just about everything you can imagine, located near Saskatoon.
During the final leg of the trip, Jacob was partnered with Matt from Sturgeon Valley Fertiliser's, who took Jacob north-west of Edmonton. They toured a Hutterite community and visited a local dairy operation running Fleckvieh cattle, a dual-purpose meat and dairy breed.
A major topic of conversation throughout their travels was how wet the season had been across the Prairies. Edmonton was particularly wet, with some paddocks significantly flooded. There was also discussion around fungicide decisions and the cost-benefit of applications, which provided some great comparisons with the decisions made in Australia.
Another thing that really stood out to Jacob was the focus on soil nutrition. The soils across Canada are generally better than what we deal with in many parts of Australia, there is still a strong emphasis on replacing nutrients removed by the crop and ensuring nutrition isn't becoming a limiting factor. The companies Jacob visited has on site fertiliser blending and storage to better tailer their grower nutritional requirements.
A Message From Jacob
“I came home having learnt a huge amount - not only about Canadian agriculture and agronomy, but also about different approaches to decision-making, research, farm businesses and the people behind them.
A huge thank you to AGnVET RURAL for giving me the opportunity to be part of this exchange, and to everyone at AgLink Canada and the member companies who hosted us, fed us, showed us around and made the trip such a memorable experience.
It was an unreal opportunity, and one I’m very grateful to have been part of.
I look forward to returning the favour and hopefully hosting some Canadians when they make the trip to Australia in the future.”
