Agri-Arm Research Capacity Funding-SERF

Summary

South East Research Farm is a non-for-profit agricultural research organization that has been operating near Redvers, Saskatchewan since 2001. SERF is a part of the Agri-ARM organization, which consists of eight producer directed research and demonstration sites located throughout Saskatchewan. SERF has been operating in as a regional demonstration and research outpost since before 2001. Much of the equipment in use by SERF prior to 2023 dated back to the inception and infrastructure funding in 1998 and 1999. To continue to operate as an internationally-recognized station for agronomy, crop development, and cropping systems research, SERF badly needed to modernize its equipment for seeding, harvesting, and general field operations. Research trial funding generally excludes infrastructure purchases as an allowable expense category. Financial support from outside sources is a great help in maintaining and expanding our equipment inventory. The investment by SWDC to help SERF expand their equipment inventory will help Saskatchewan wheat producers by allowing us to efficiently conduct variety and agronomic trials in wheat and other rotational crops.

Research Results

The 34.8 HP Kubota tractor that was purchased with SWDC funding will be used for spraying, soil sampling, mowing, and operating our older Fabro seeder. We have not had a spraying tractor with a cab previously and this tractor with a cab will improve operator safety and comfort.

The 6-row Fabro plot drill purchased with SWDC funding and a donation of double-shoot disc openers from CNH was used during the 2024 seeding season. It is capable of bulk metering from six boxes and has two metering cones, which allows us incredible flexibility in conducting agronomic trials on a smaller land footprint. It has far more capabilities than our existing Fabro four-row seeder, allowing variety by fertility trials to be done efficiently. The double shoot disc openers allow us to operate in heavy residue conditions with negligible soil disturbance.

The 2009 Wintersteiger combine was used in September 2023 to harvest wheat agronomy trials. This new research harvesting unit expands our ability to conduct research trials on wheat and other crops. It has capabilities for weighing and subsampling on the combine, which could improve efficiency of operations.