SARDA Ag Research Newsletter April, 2023

April 2023

Table of Contents

Newsletter Information page

Greetings from the Chair

Water Quality Sampling Program Summary - 2022

Managing Herbicide Resistant Wild Oats

Most Popular Wheat Varities in the Alberta Peace Sown at Various Rates

Contact Information For Board And Staff

Greetings from the Chair

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ON THE COVER

The no-till plot seeding drill has many options. It has dual fertilizer/seedboxes and cones, an air delivery system, a liquid application kit, variable row spacing, depth adjustments, and a dual knife opener system for precise fertilizer and seed placement. An RTK navigation system combined with auto steer directs where plots are placed with an accuracy within 1 inch.

Spring is in the air

I want to start by saying a big thank you to the exhibitors and to everyone who attended the trade show. The trade show was a great success, and a big part of that was because of Nolan Lavoie. He stepped up to the challenge, and with the help of the SARDA Ag Research staff and board members, we had a great show after a 4-year break. Rock Bremont did a great job documenting previous trade shows, giving Nolan a great foundation to start. On a different note, we are excited to move into our new building east of Donnelly Corner. Keep your eyes open for this summer’s crop walks with SARDA Ag Research and the Grande opening of the New SARDA Ag Research building.

I hope everyone has a great seeding, be safe and take care of each other.

Sincerely,

Simon Lavoie

Water Quality Sampling Program Summary - 2022

prepared by Aquality Environmental Consulting Ltd.

SARDA Ag Research (SARDA) began a water quality monitoring program in 2011, with the assistance of Aquality Environmental Consulting Ltd (Aquality). Of the three sites selected, one is more pristine with little upstream agricultural activity (Little Smoky River), one primarily drains areas dominated by livestock-based agricultural activities (New Fish Creek), and one primarily drains areas dominated by cropland (Peavine Creek).

Preliminary sampling commenced in 2011, with more comprehensive data being collected annually in subsequent years. Semi-annual water sampling continued in 2022. In 2022, sampling occurred in the late fall (May 30) and again in the fall (October 31). Both sets of samples collected were analyzed for nutrients, bacteria, herbicides, pesticides, and metals.

The study area is located within the MD of Greenview and the MD of Smoky River. All sampling locations fall within the Smoky River watershed, which is itself part of the Peace River Basin. The area is located within the northern portion of the Dry Mixedwood natural subregion associated with the Peace River.

Climate conditions in 2022 were generally hotter and drier than the 30-year norm. Flows within the Little Smoky River (the only watercourse in the study with a gauging station present) were generally below normal except during elevated spring runoff and later season storm events.

The Province of Alberta released new water quality guidelines in 2018 (Government of Alberta, 2018), updating those previously available from 2014 Government of Alberta, 2014), though guidelines for the parameters investigated in the current study remained unchanged. Where possible, the newer guidelines will be used in this report.

Measured Parameters

Concentrations of Total phosphorus (TP) were highest and exceeded the 1999 guideline (0.05 mg/L) at Sites A and B in the spring but were below the guideline at all sites in the fall. Concentrations in 2022 were below historical averages both overall and at each site individually.

Dissolved phosphorus concentrations were highest at Site B and the lowest at Site C, which differs from the historical trend in which the highest oncentrations have generally been observed at Site A.

Concentrations of Total Nitrogen (TN) exceeded the 1999 guideline (1.0 mg/L) at Peavine Creek in both the spring and fall and were below the guideline for all the other samples. Concentrations at all sites were highest in the spring, in agreement with the historical pattern. Concentrations of TN had shown an increasing trend over time, dominated by extremely high concentrations at Peavine in 2016, 2018, and 2020, but the trend has weakened due to lower concentrations in the past two years, with the majority of samples falling below seasonal historical averages from 2021 onwards.

Dissolved fractions of nitrogen (nitrate, nitrite, and ammonia) have generally been a minor contributor to TN concentrations. This indicates that most of the nitrogen in the system is in particulate form, either bound to suspended sediment or in particulate organic matter. This continued to be the case observed in 2022, with an absence of the extraordinarily high concentrations of nitrate that have periodically been observed at Peavine Creek.

Total Suspended Solids (TSS) and turbidity measurements are related to the concentration of particulate matter suspended within the water column, generally due to erosion and sedimentation from upland sources, or erosion within channel. Samples collected from the present study show a very strong positive correlation between TSS and turbidity (linear regression r2 = 0.96).

Although there was substantial variation between sites from season to season, overall average TSS concentrations and turbidity measurements were comparable between sites on an annual basis, and below their historical averages over the course of the monitoring program. There continues to be no significant correlation between either turbidity and TSS and either annual precipitation or winter snowpack.

In 2022, total coliforms exceeded the guideline (1000 CFU/mL) in the spring at site A and were below the guideline for all other samples. Total coliform concentrations continue to show inconsistent patterns, with high degrees of variability both seasonally and between years. Historically, site A has exhibited the highest concentrations, with the overall average exceeding the guideline for irrigation (CCME, 2022), while averages for sites B and C have fallen below the guideline.

E. coli concentrations counts were higher in the spring than in the fall at all sites in 2022, and were below guidelines for all samples analyzed. Historically, site B has exhibited the highest overall average concentration, but averages for all sites fall below the guideline.

Samples were analyzed for one hundred different pesticides; however, no pesticides were detected in 2022. There have been no pesticide detections at any of the sampling locations since 2015, with a total of 13 detections from 2011 – 2015, indicating substantial improvement in these parameters.

Samples were analyzed for 34 different metals and ions, for both total and dissolved forms. In 2022, 5 metals exceeded the 2018 guidelines, including aluminum, chromium, iron, mercury, and zinc. Six total guideline exceedances were observed, of which 4 occurred at site B in the spring, and 2 occurred at site A in the fall. Historically, the greatest number of exceedances have occurred for zinc, chromium, lead, mercury, nickel, and iron. Over the entire course of the study, exceedances have been most frequent at site B, followed by site A, and then site C. The overall number of exceedances has varied substantially from year to year but has been generally trending upward, continuing to be primarily driven by the high number of exceedances at site B.

River Water Quality Index Site Ranking

In 2013, Aquality modified Alberta Environment and Parks’ (AEP) River Water Quality Index to include the parameters sampled by SARDA while keeping the same methodology and statistical formulas. The modified index considers the number of times a parameter exceeded guidelines and the magnitude of those exceedances, broken down across four categories of parameters:

• Bacteria,

• Metals,

• Nutrients and Related Variables, and

• Pesticides

The results from the sub-indices are averaged to provide an overall water quality index score for each site, with 100 being the best water quality and 0 being the poorest. The index has been updated annually to reflect any changes made to provincial guidelines. When changes have been made, results from the past sampling periods were updated with the new guidelines, allowing for direct comparisons between current and past years.

The water quality index was calculated by season for all sample sites. In 2022, the poorest water quality index value (78%) was observed at site A in the spring, while the best values (100%) were observed at the site B in the fall and site C in both the spring and fall. Overall average values for the year were similar to or greater than the historical averages for each site, and for all sites the WQI value in the spring was poorer than or equal to the value in the fall.

Water quality sub-indices for each of the four parameter groups (Bacteria, Metals, Nutrients & Related Variables, and Pesticides) show a generally similar pattern. Pesticides were not a problem at any of the sites, while Metals and Nutrients & Related Variables have had the greatest detrimental impact to overall water quality. The only exception to the seasonal pattern of improvement from spring to fall was for the metals subindex at site A, which fell from 100 to 56% over that period. This pattern matches that observed for TSS and turbidity, which also peaked in the fall at site A.

Seasonal Water Quality Index values, 2022

The ranking of the scores corresponds to their landscape position within the watershed, with Little Smoky the highest and Peavine Creek the lowest. This in turn relates to the degree of landscape development that has occurred within the catchment of each, with the greatest development lower and least development higher in the watershed. The spatial distribution of the landscape pattern in a watershed is often linked with the process of non-point source pollution.

Given that nutrient and metal exceedances are the primary drivers of impaired water quality within these systems, it is clear that particulates within the water column are a key underlying issue for aquatic ecosystem health. Particulate pollutants enter aquatic systems suspended in surface water runoff, from the erosion of banks of water courses, and from erosion of the bed of the watercourse itself. All of these processes occur naturally and contribute to the development and maintenance of the aquatic system. However, they can all be exacerbated through human activities that impact vegetation cover and the amount of exposed or erodible soils within the watershed, as well as factors that impact the volume and timing of surface water runoff.

dense riparian vegetation will assist in settling and act as a filter. For areas where particulate-based pollutants are a primary concern, mitigation should focus on the protection and restoration of riparian areas within areas carrying surface runoff into the watercourses from developed landscapes. In addition to a focus on headwater and ephemeral streams, this should also include areas of the landscape where historical ephemeral flows may have occurred, which now experience accelerated runoff due to grading, channelization, or wetland infilling.

Potential mitigations for erosion and sedimentation around channels include bank stabilization, riparian plantings and setbacks, erosion and sediment control in ditches feeding into watercourses (e.g. at watercourse crossings), and off-site watering of livestock. The restoration of natural flow patterns to channelized streams and the restoration of ditched or filled wetland areas is also likely to have substantial benefit, especially in areas of extensive historical recontouring. The restoration of these areas serves to slow flows and allow particulates to settle out of the water column.

Historical Water Quality Index Values, 2011 - 2022 Summary and Conclusions

In 2022, seasonal and spatial patterns water quality were generally comparable to historical trends; the overall Water Quality Index was comparable to historical values at site A and B, and higher (better) than historical values at site C. Throughout the entire course of the study to date, water quality has been highest at site C (Little Smoky River, 95.9% overall WQI score), followed by site B (New Fish Creek, 89.5% overall WQI score), then site A (Peavine Creek, 79.9% overall WQI score). The Bacteria and Pesticide subindex scores were 100% for all sites and seasons, largely in keeping with historical trends. There have been no pesticide detections at any of the sampling locations since 2015, with a total of 13 detections from 2011 – 2015, indicating substantial improvement in these parameters. Nutrients and metals continue to be the greatest impediments to water quality within all of these sites.

The correlation of water quality and landscape position, with poorer water quality generally observed at lower landscape positions in the watershed and in areas of higher development, suggests that human activities are having a substantial impact on the health of these aquatic ecosystems. Within the catchment upstream of site A, approximately 82 % of the land base is under agricultural development, compared to 3 % for site B and <0.1 % for site C. Road development is similarly higher upstream of site A compared to sites B and C (1.1 km/ km2 compared to 0.56 and 0.61 km/km2, respectively), as is the footprint of oil and gas development (1.0 % compared to 0.7 % and 0.6 %, respectively).

The primary driver of these patterns of poor water quality appears to be largely suspended sediments present due to in-channel erosion as well as sedimentation from surface runoff carrying soil into the streams. The majority of pollutants of concern including Total Phosphorus, E. coli, Total Coliforms, metals exceedances, and most total metal parameters continue to exhibit positive correlations with total suspended solids concentrations.

Particulate pollutants can be mitigated to an extent through the maintenance and restoration of riparian areas, as has been suggested in previous years, as

Mitigation of dissolved pollutants (e.g. nitrate and total dissolved phosphorus) requires that flows be slowed to allow infiltration and uptake by plants, breakdown by soil microbes, or immobilisation by adsorption onto soil particles. During the spring when vegetation is limited, the efficacy of removal of dissolved pollutants by riparian vegetation is substantially reduced; therefore management of dissolved pollutants by identifying sources and preventing application in the first place is generally more effective.

For areas where dissolved pollutants are a primary concern, the source of the pollutants needs to be identified prior to determining appropriate mitigations. Wetlands may be effective at retaining dissolved pollutants and preventing them from entering watercourses, when the source is through surface runoff and overland flow, such as application of soluble fertilizers or run-off from pastures or confined feeding operations. However, where dissolved pollutants are directly entering a watercourse through wastewater or stormwater releases via an outfall, then controls such as additional treatment or polishing wetlands are required to remove them. Further landscape studies can be undertaken to address these issues.

Managing Herbicide Resistant Wild Oats

and removed the material to prevent adding herbicideresistant wild oat seed to the weed seed bank.

Wild oat resistance to Group 1 and Group 2 herbicides in Peace Region is increasing. Poorly competitive crops due to extreme weather amplify the issue. In 2020, SARDA Ag Research identified a uniform area of wild oats resistant to Puma Advance. Sample seed collected from the patch showed 97% resistance to Puma Advance (fenoxaprop-ethyl), 31% resistant to Axial (pinoxaden) and 5% resistant to Centurion (clethodim). While this is not good, it allowed SARDA Ag Research to demonstrate different options to control herbicide-resistant wild oats.

SARDA Ag Research staff staked 2m X 8m plots using a Randomized Complete Block (RCB) design with four replications. Pre-seed and in-crop wild oat herbicides were applied with a 2m hand-held boom. During the season, staff took visual wild oat ratings. Following numerous ratings, staff cut the wheat early

Pre-seed treatments were applied May 6 following label recommendations. Staff seeded wheat on May 7 over the entire demonstration area. Three in-crop herbicide applications were used on June 11 when the wild oats were at the 2-5 leaf stage.

Pre-seed Herbicide Treatments

All pre-seed herbicides provided some suppression/control of wild oats. The effectiveness of pre-seed products on wild oats was Avadex>Focus>Fierce>Olympus. The degree of wild oat control with these products will vary depending on precipitation following application, soil type, crop residue in the field, application rates and water volumes.

In-crop herbicide applications of Everest provided reasonable control of wild oats. Axial provided some control, and Puma Advance did not provide any control. The results collected from the in-crop herbicide application were similar to “Herbicide Resistance Assay Results” on wild oat seeds collected from the demonstration area in 2020.

If you suspect a field has herbicide-resistant wild oats, collect seeds and send them to a lab to determine if and what herbicides they may resist. Incorporate multiple weed management strategies to reduce wild oat populations effectively. Wild oats are not the only weeds developing herbicide resistance. Other weeds, such as annual sowthistle, chickweed, common groundsel, stinkweed, shepherd’s purse, and kochia, which are all present in the Peace Region, are documented as being able to develope herbicide resistance. While these herbicide-resistant populations may not be present in the Peace Region, it is vital to use multiple strategies to control weeds and protect the effectiveness of herbicides.

Strategies to manage herbicide-resistant weeds:

• use different groups of pre-seed and in-crop herbicides to manage or prevent herbicideresistant weeds in annual crops.

• prevent all weeds from dispersing viable seeds.

• use diverse crop rotations,

• use higher seeding rates to increase the competitiveness of the crop,

• choose competitive crops,

• Sow later to allow control of early weed flushes,

• cut annual crops for green feed or silage, and

• incorporate perennial forages into crop rotations.

Prepared by Calvin Yoder, Forage Seed Specialist (SARDA Ag Research/ Peace Region Forage Seed Association) and Kristina Polziehn (Axiom Agronomy Ltd.)

In-crop Herbicide Treatments

** Average of 4 reps

Spraying the Plots

Most Popular Wheat Varities in the Alberta Peace Sown at Various Rates

by María Angélica Ouellette PhD

Background

Several varieties of wheat were sown at different seeding rates to evaluate plant height, protein content, yield, thousand kernel weight and test weight. It was expected that differences in varieties of either cereal as well as sowing rates based on number of plants per square foot might influence the outcome of grain production as well as influence the other wheat parameters previously mentioned. For this project AAC Brandon, AAC Redwater, AAC Viewfield and AAC Wheatland were chosen as the most popular

wheat varieties among growers and subjected to four seeding rates such as 25, 30, 35 and 40 plants per squared foot.

Materials and methods

The experiments were conducted in Alberta by SARDA Ag Research in Falher, Peace Country Beef and Forage Association in Fairview, Mackenzie Applied Research Association in Fort Vermilion and North Peace Applied Research Association Research in North Star in the growing season of 2022. Figure 1 through 5 show the weather and precipitation recorded during the growing season.

Experimental set-up

Trial experiments were set up as a random complete block design with four replicates. All research was conducted in the research farms of all associations except SARDA Ag Research, whose treatment plots were set in High Prairie. Plot areas varied were 0.0013 High Prairie, 0.0022 acres in Fairview, 0.0018 acres in Fort Vermilion and 0.0032 acres in North Star. Seeding occurred in May 25, May 24, June 10 and May 22, 2022, in High Prairie, Fairview, Fort Vermilion and North Star. Seeding depth was 0.75 inches in High Prairie and Fairview whereas in Fort Vermilion and North Star, wheat was sown 1.5 inches below surface. In Fort Vermilion seeding occurred on May 31st, but emergence was poor. Moreover, due to a logistics error, AAC Redberry was re-seeded on June 8 as seed was confused with a lentil variety (CDC Redberry) instead of that of wheat.

Fertilizer

In High Prairie, wheat was fertilized with an NPKS blend (101-25-35-5) at 50 pounds per acre. In Fairview the fertilizer was a blend of NPKS at 304 pounds per acre pounds per acre. Fertilization in Fort Vermilion consisted of a mixture of urea, MAP (11-52-0), potash (0-0-60) and Sulphur ME15 at 22.74,2.5, 2.2 and 38,6 pounds per acre respectively. In North Star wheat was fertilized with urea and S15 (13-33-0-15S), each at 100 pounds per acre.

Maintenance

Maintenance sprays varied across sites as well. In High Prairie, glyphosate (RoundUp WeatherMax) mixed with a pre-packaged blend of pyraflufen-ethyl and bromoxynil (Conquer II) was broadcasted pre-seed at 0.67 and 0.242 L acre-1 respectively on May 26. Applications in-crop at the same site were MCPA and pinoxadem (Axial) at 0.189 and 0.5 L acre-1 respectively as well as a mixture of halaxfem and florasulam (Paradigm) at 10 g acre-1 on June 15. At Fairview, maintenance spray performed on June 24 consisted of pre-mixed fluoroxypyr and MCPA (Prestige XL) at 0.81 L acre-1. Glyphosate (RoundUp) was broadcasted pre-seed and in crop in Fairview at 0.67 L acre-1. In addition, a pre packaged mix of pyrasulfotole and bromoxynil (Infinity) was used for weed management in wheat at 0.33L acre-1. Wheat in North Star was maintained with saflufenacil (Heat LQ) and glyphosate (RoundUp) on May 20 and fluoxypyr, clopyralid and MCPA (Esteem) on June 14.

Harvest

Harvest was conducted on September 16, 24, 26 and 27, 2022 in High Prairie, Fairview, Fort Vermilion and North Star, Alberta. Harvested areas varied from 0.0013 to 0.0019 acres in High Prairie, from 0.0018 to 0.0022 acres in Fairview, 0.0018 acres in Fort Vermilion and 0.0032 acres in North Star.

Statistics

Data was computed as an analysis of variance with three fixed effects and three random effects. Fixed effects were wheat variety and seeding rate as well as its interaction. Random effects were research location site, replicates and its interaction. Parameters for analysis included plant height, protein content, thousand kernel weight (TKW) and test weight. Parameters like emergence and stand count were not included as only two out of the four sites recorded these values. To procure normality, and independence among data research points taken, thousand kernel weight and test weight were transformed to the square power.

Results Height

Wheat stands were affected by an interaction effect between variety and seeding rate. As such, taller in AAC Redberry seeded at 40 plants foot-2 compared to stands found in plots seeded at 40 plants foot-2 from the AAC Viewfield variety (P=0.0198). In fact, AAC Redberry wheat stands at 40 plants foot-2 was 11% greater than average of all wheat varieties at the same seeding rate (P=0.0022) and AAC Viewfield at 40 plants foot-2 was 12% shorter than the average of all other varieties under the same seeding rate (P=0.0003). Individually, wheat variety plays a role in plant height (P=0.0018) but not

seeding rate (P=0.5590). According to wheat varieties, AAC Viewfield wheat in total, grows 6% shorter than the other varieties (P=0.0013). Stand heights found in AAC Brandon at 30 plants foot-2, AAC Redberry and AAC Wheatland at 35 plants foot-2 as well as AAC Wheatland at 40 plants foot-2 were statistically similar to those heights found in wheat seeded at 40 plants foot-2 from AAC Redberry variety. In contrast, AAC Viewfield at any rate can grow as tall as AAC Brandon at 40 plant foot-2 and AAC Redberry and AAC Wheatland at 25 and 30 plants foot-2. Short stands from AAC Viewfield were likely as a response to heavy intraspecific competition would rather switch to use its energy for reproductive development rather than height during the vegetative stage. Contrary to AAC Redberry, where stand growth is promoted as a response to intraspecific competition.

Protein content

Protein content was affected by the Interaction between these two main effects (P=0.0.0043). In fact, AAC Brandon wheat sown at 25 plants foot-2 and AAC Redwater sown at 30 plants foot-2 had 6% (P=0.0003) and 5.5% (P=0.0006) respectively more protein content than other varieties sown at the same rates (P=0.0003). AAC Viewfield seeded at 25 and 30 plants foot-2 had 4.2 (P=0.0145) and 5% (P=0.0061) less protein content respectively than the other wheat varieties sown at the same rates.

Thousand kernel weight, test weight and yield

Wheat varieties had significantly different TKWs (P<0.0001). In fact, AAC Brandon and AAC Redberry had 5.4% and a 1% heavier TKWs respectively, than average values from the other varieties. On the other hand, AAC Viewfield and AAC Wheatland had 5% and 2% lighter TKWs respectively, in comparison to average values from other varieties. Test weight was the same across all varieties (P=0.5053) and seeding rates (P=0.3779), as well across the interaction values of these two main effects (P=0.2544). Yield in contrast to TKW and test weight varied depending on wheat varieties (P=0.0001). AAC Redberry was 7.2% less yield than average of other wheat varieties (P=0.0008) whereas AAC Viewfield had 8% more yield that average value of the other wheat varieties (P=0.0001). This may support the argument that short stems in AAC Viewfield are likely because energy from the plant is directed towards seed development rather than vegetative growth, possibly at an earlier stage

than other wheat varieties. In contrast, energy that individuals from the AAC Redwater variety is directed to stem growth rather than seed development.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the interaction effect between wheat variety and seeding rate only influenced main stem height. Seeding rate influenced content of protein in wheat, where lowest and greatest protein content values were found at 25 and 30 plants foot2 respectively. Wheat varieties was the factor that impacted most parameters. Thousand kernel weight and yield were affected depending on the wheat variety being seeded. As such, AAC Viewfield was found to have the lightest TKW and the most yielding wheat variety. Finally, no matter the wheat variety and how much seed are placed in the ground on a plant per squared foot basis, test weight has will be the same regardless.

Thank you to our Program Sponsors

2022 Board of Directors

Simon Lavoie Chair St. Isidore t. Isidore

Leonard Desharnais Vice Chair Falheralher

Whitney Boisvert Secretary hitney retary Girouxvillexville

Mathieu Bergeron St. Isidore St. Isidore

Kenny Stewart High Prairie

Lionel Gauthier McLennan

Alain Anctil Jean CoteGirouxville

Neil Maisonneuve Falher Valleyview

Luc Levesque uc Levesque Falheralher

Dave Berry MD of Greenviewnview

Garret Zahacy Big Lakes Countyes County

Bob Chrenek County of Grande

Paula Guindoin MD of Smoky Riveriver

Jason Javos Northern Sunrise County

Staff

Vance Yaremko Vance Yaremko Executive Directorector manager@sarda.ca

Shelleen Gerbig, P.Ag. Extension Coordinator extension@sarda.ca

Calvin Yoder, P.Ag. Forage Seed Specialist

calvinyoder123@gmail.com

780-864-7663

Surendra Bhattarai, PhD Research Scientistientist surendra@sarda.ca

Victor Gauthier Field Technicianian field@sarda.ca

Amber Fennell-Drouin Administrative Assistant admin@sarda.ca

Nolan Lavoie Trade Show Coordinator smokyriveragtradeshow@gmail.com