Hosted by AgSolutions
Presentations by Graeme Sait and Joel Williams
Winnipeg, Nov 26-29 2018

Review written by Liz DePape, Business Manager for Sustainable Grain

This was one of the most valuable courses I have taken to date.  The most insightful take away for me was to recontextualize plant and soil health.  

I came from conventional input management before joining Sustainable Grain, with its lens on treating the symptoms of the plant with traditional chemicals and fertilizers.  After learning the complex interplay of the micronutrients of the soil I quickly understood that traditional management methods are far too simplified to effectively and holistically aid in soil and plant health. Rather they address symptoms.  
 
Moving from a mindset of treating symptoms, to one of nurturing health, is a significant shift in ideology and methodology.  In my mind this is comparable to managing high blood pressure via diet, exercise and vitamins instead of through blood pressure medication.  

Consider it a spectrum, where we have conventional input agriculture with poor soil health on one extreme (taking blood pressure meds with no lifestyle modification) and regenerative organic agriculture on the other extreme of management practices (off the meds and managing through lifestyle choices alone).  As one moves away from the conventional extreme by incorporating various regenerative methodologies like conservation tillage, cover crops, intercrops, etc. the farm and the soil shift along the spectrum to a higher health state.  Understanding how to build soil health over time, through the increase in soil organic matter and humus, is critical not only to the health and sustainability of the soil and hence the farm, but also for the environment and human health.  

As it relates to short-term profitability, I now see soil health regeneration and plant health for optimum quality and yield as entwined but distinct. The first is something being worked on and built over time, the latter can be treated in-season to address deficiencies that will adversely impact quality and/or yield. The basis for decision making in this type of management system is testing: soil samples and plant tissue samples.  

Without these tests, one is simply guessing - which leads to over application, misapplication, or lost opportunity. This type of guesswork is expensive and unnecessary. By conducting inexpensive tissue samples you can see what nutrients the plant is deficient in and what foliar in-season nutrition application would be appropriate. This is a sound investment in the quality and grade of your cash crop for the season, while not diminishing your soil health or compromising your farm’s economic health. 

This course was well worth the time and monetary investment.  It helped me to re-learn agronomy and the importance of soil health.  And most important, this puts some discovery and fun back in farming.  

This past week, Brenda Caners called a large number of farms from Sustainable Grain’s contact list to introduce the company, and to talk about how we can help them sell their organic grain inventories. As Sustainable Grain's Sales and Origination Manager, Brenda C. stays on top of customers’ buying and selling interest, lines up freight, manages contracts and communicates expectations clearly to everyone involved, throughout each transaction. 

Here’s a snapshot of the organic wheat inventories shared with her so far. In addition to wheat, Brenda C. is logging information on all the other grains, oilseeds, pulses and special crops grown by organic and transitioning farms that we know. 



On behalf of Sustainable Grain’s buyer customers, we are taking back information to those same farms on selling opportunities for their crops, such as spot and deferred bids for organic crops, new-crop contracting opportunities, glyphosate-free and transition organic marketing programs. Brenda is careful in her communication with the growers, and working hard to build trust.