FALL 2015
The farm demonstation portion of the project is LOCATED ON A WORKING DAIRY FARM IN AGASSIZ, B.C. The farm has two sites, one on Tuyttens Road, and the other on Agassiz Avenue. On each site, corn is grown with winter annuals in a multi-year rotation. Plant, manure, and soil samples are used to investigate nutrient dynamics and yields.
Tuyttens Road Site: This site demonstrates early maturing corn (CHU 2350) with a number of winter annuals in a multi-year rotation. The main winter annuals grown on this site are Hollandaise winter wheat with Italian ryegrass, Hollandaise winter wheat with Cypress winter Peas, Hollandaise winter wheat with Italian ryegrass and Cypress winter Peas. There are also a number of smaller plots investigating a number of other winter annual combinations.
Agassiz Avenue Site: This site demonstrates later maturing corn (CHU 2500) with a number of winter annuals in a multi-year rotation. The main winter annuals grown on this site are Hollandaise winter wheat, Yukon winter wheat, Dawson winter wheat, and a winter triticale. There are also a number of smaller plots investigating a number of other winter annual combinations.
October 2, 2015 – Planting winter annuals on the Agassiz Avenue site.
October 2, 2015 – Winter annuals emerging on the plots
December 9, 2015 – Winter annuals emerging on the Agassiz Avenue site.
Our winter annuals are planted in a field where the producer has planted a mixture of Italian ryegrass and winter wheat. The stakes show the trial area. Flags show the separation between rows. To the left are two rows of small plots investigating a number of winter annual combinations. The next four rows of crops are winter triticale, Dawson winter wheat, Yukon winter wheat, and Hollandaise winter wheat. The large plots are doing well. Some of the small plots on the very left contained vetch which had poor germination and coverage.
December 9, 2015 – Winter annuals emerging on the Tuyttens Road site.
Our winter annuals are planted in a field where the producer has planted a mixture of Italian ryegrass and winter wheat. The stakes show the trial area. Flags show the separation between rows. To the left are two rows of small plots investigating a number of winter annual combinations. The next four rows of crops are winter triticale with Italian ryegrass, Hollandaise winter wheat with Italian ryegrass and Cypress winter Peas, Hollandaise winter wheat with Cypress winter Peas, and Hollandaise winter wheat with Italian ryegrass.
SPRING 2016
Photo above: Agassiz Avenue site in mid-March of 2016. The stakes show the trial area which is surrounded by Italian ryegrass. On the far left are large plots of Hollandaise winter wheat, Yukon winter wheat, Dawson winter wheat, and winter triticale. These all over-wintered well and were showing growth by February. By the end of March the Hollandaise and Dawson winter wheats were showing signs of rust, although the yields did not appear to be affected. On the far right of the trial area are small plots containing fall rye, Italian ryegrass, and vetch in addition to winter wheat. The vetch did not over-winter well and these plots were overtaken by weeds. The vetch was sparse and small. These are the plots that appear quite a bit shorter on the right of the trial area. On April 7 we collected quadrat samples of all the plots. By April 16 the producer harvested the field.
Photo above: Tuyttens Road site in mid-March of 2016. The stakes show the trial area which is surrounded by Italian ryegrass. On the far left are four large plots. The first plot contains Hollandaise winter wheat mixed with Italian ryegrass. The second plot contains a mixture of Hollandaise winter wheat mixed with Cypress winter peas. The third plot contains a mixture of Hollandaise winter wheat, Italian ryegrass, and Cypress winter peas. The fourth plot contains winter triticale with Italian ryegrass. The Cypress winter peas did not over-winter well. Although they germinated and seemed to be getting established in the fall, by January 2016 they seem to have all but disappeared from the plots. The small plots on the right side of the trial area contained vetch, Italian ryegrass, fall rye, and Hollandaise winter wheat mixed with Italian ryegrass. As in the Agassiz Avenue site, the vetch did not over-winter well and these plots were overtaken by weeds. On April 7 we collected quadrat samples of all the plots. By April 16 the producer harvested the field.
Photo above: Agassiz Avenue site April 7, 2016. The winter annuals other than vetch and Cypress winter peas on both the Agassiz Avenue and Tuyttens Road sites appeared to be doing well. There was noticeable rust on the Hollandaise and Dawson winter wheats. Quadrat samples from both sites are currently being analyzed. The producer appeared to have a substantial harvest of winter annuals from these fields on April 16.
FALL 2016
Winter Annual Planting at Schwichtenberg’s Farm
- The Tuyttens Road site (early planting – early harvest) was harvested mid-September. In the subsequent days manure was applied, and it was disced and culti-packed. On October 3, the site was seeded with 13 different mixtures.
- The Agassiz Avenue site (late seeding – late harvest) was harvested in the first week of October. Unfortunately rain delayed manure application until October 10. The producer was able to seed the area with Italian Ryegrass on October 12, 2016. We felt that preparing the area for seeding different varieties was too late in the season and we will analyze the producer’s Italian Ryegrass planted on the site instead.
Photo above: A Kincaid seeder was used to seed sixteen 25′ by 5′ plots with four different mixtures of seeds on the Tuyttens Road site. The photo was taken on November 29, 2016 (Mount Cheam in the background). The mixtures seeded were Hollandaise Winter Wheat, Pintail Winter Wheat, Tapper Radish, and Terralink Fall Rye. All have emerged and are growing.
Photo above: A drill seeder was used to plant nine strips 10′ wide and 200′ long on the Tuyttens Road site. The photo was taken on November 29, 2016. The mixtures from left to right are:
- Terralink winter wheat
- Pintail winter wheat
- Red Tag winter wheat with Italian ryegrass
- Yukon Brand winter wheat with Italian ryegrass and winter peas
- Yukon Brand winter wheat with Italian ryegrass and hairy vetch
- Trical Brand winter triticale with Italian reygrass
- Yukon Brand winter wheat with Italian ryegrass
- Hollandaise Brand winter wheat with Italian ryegrass
- Hollandaise Brand winter wheat
All have emerged and are growing. The Italian ryegrass shows better growth than the winter wheat at this stage.
Photo above: Hairy vetch (the plant with pinnate leaves) emerging along with Italian ryegrass and winter wheat on the Tuyttens Road site.
Photo above: Winter peas (the small plant with the tendrils) emerging with Italian ryegrass and winter wheat.
FALL 2017 – Agassiz Avenue Location
Ten types of winter annuals were planted on October 6, 2017 at the Agassiz Avenue location.
From left to right:
- Premier Pacific Fall Rye
- Premier Pacific Winter Wheat
- Richardson Fall Rye
- Hollandaise Winter Wheat + Italian Ryegrass
- Fraser Yukon Winter Wheat
- Terralink Oats
- CDC Austenson Barley
- Fraser Trical Winter
- Italian Ryegrass Relay
- Northern Brand Italian Ryegrass
This order was repeated in an adjacent area in the field.
The picture above was taken on November 22, 2017. All crops germinated well, and are comparable to the surrounding Italian Ryegrass that the producer planted in the field. There were no clear winners among the varieties.
FALL 2017 – Tuyttens Road Location
On September 21, 2017 nineteen 10′ by 200′ strips of cover crops were planted at the Tuyttens Road location.
From left to right the plantings were:
- Premier Crimson Clover
- Northern Blend Italian Ryegrass
- Fraser Trical Winter
- Austenson Barley
- Fraser Hollandaise Winter Wheat+ Italian Ryegrass+ Vetch
- Fraser 83% Trical Winter + 17% Northern Brand Italian Ryegrass + Vetch
- Fraser Winter Wheat and Ryegrass and Peas
- Premier Winter Wheat
- Richardson Fall Rye
- Austenson Barley
- Fraser Trical Winter
- Northern Blend Italian Ryegrass
- Premier Crimson Clover
- Alexis Nitrocoat Berseem Clover
- Fraser Hollandaise Winter Wheat+ Italian Ryegrass+ Vetch
- Fraser 83% Trical Winter + 17% Northern Brand Italian Ryegrass + Vetch
- Fraser Winter Wheat and Ryegrass and Peas
- Premier Winter Wheat
- Richardson Fall Rye
(Alexis Nitrocoat Berseem Clover was the only seed not duplicated in two strips – we ran out of room in the field).
The photo above was taken on November 22, 2017. All strips had germinated. The seeding at this site was 15 days earlier than the Agassiz Avenue location and the plants were noticeably more developed. The strip of tall, yellowish plants is of Austenson Barley. This was quite a bit more developed than any of the other varieties.
The photo above was taken on November 22, 2017. It shows the clovers planted at the Tuyttens Road location are doing well.
The photo above was taken on November 22, 2017. It shows the vetch in the mixtures at the Tuyttens Road location has germinated.
The above photo was taken on November 22, 2017. It shows the winter peas in the mixtures have germinated at the Tuyttens Road location
