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Agri-ARM Sites: Providing Knowledge Transfer and Demonstration

By Shalyn McKenna, Communications Consultant, Communications Branch, Regina

The Agriculture-Applied Research Management (Agri-ARM) program provides funding to producer-led groups/sites to support in delivering agricultural research and demonstration activities. These Agri-ARM sites deal with all of Saskatchewan’s crops from bright yellow canola, golden cereals, pulse crops and irrigated vegetables that blanket the province in the summer. The Agri-ARM sites provide demonstrations, host field days and share information on a variety of topics. These include, but are not limited to, irrigation, intercropping suitability, pest management, 4-R soil sustainability practices, and more.

There are currently eight Agri-ARM sites:

  • Conservation Learning Centre (Prince Albert);
  • East Central Research Foundation (Yorkton);
  • Indian Head Agricultural Research Foundation;
  • Irrigation Crop Diversification Corporation (Outlook);
  • Northeast Agriculture Research Foundation (Melfort);
  • South East Research Farm (Redvers);
  • Western Applied Research Corporation (Scott); and,
  • Wheatland Conservation Area Inc. (Swift Current).

The focus of the Agri-ARM Program is to increase the adoption of new agricultural production technologies and practices through knowledge transfer and demonstration activities aimed directly at producers and Indigenous communities.

Individuals taking part in a field day at SERF, checking out a lupin crop.
Individuals taking part in a field day at
SERF, checking out a lupin crop.
(Courtesy of Lana Shaw, SERF Research Manager)

The sites provide producers with more tools for agronomic, environmental and economic decision-making and offer a unique regional insight to challenges.

The Agri-ARM sites support new and established producers, including Indigenous communities interested in growing crops. Currently, several sites are busy establishing relationships with communities, identifying their needs and goals in order to plan specific events. Two of those sites are the Indian Head Agricultural Research Foundation (IHARF) and the South East Research Farm (SERF).

Danny Petty, Executive Manager of the IHARF, points out that their work connects with the nearby First Nation community with the possibility of planning knowledge transfer activities for them next year. The site is busy with quite a few projects. Currently, they’re focusing on specialty crops like hemp, mustard and chickpea-flax intercropping. The related projects will support the development and demonstration of best practices for producers interested in growing these crops or trying new production practices such as intercropping.

Another study area of interest is related to 4R (right source, right rate, right time and right place) fertility to support producers in making informed fertilizer application decisions. Lana Shaw, Research Manager at SERF, is just as passionate about agriculture research and education. Currently, SERF is focusing on developing novel and diverse cropping system solutions such as intercropping, under-seeding and cover cropping. The site is also developing methods and strategies for converting marginal land—often wetland adjacent/saline annual crop areas—into diverse perennial crop lands. They extensively test novel crops and typically grow 20 species of grain crops in trials in any given year. They’re also working with companies such as PepsiCo to connect them with producers using these enhanced growing practices.

Agri-ARM sites host field days and tours for the public to learn more about the work they’re doing. These are great opportunities for producers and Indigenous communities to see different agriculture practices and management strategies first-hand. Some tours are very hands-on and have individuals standing in the very fields being grown for trials. For example, SERF had a live demonstration in 2023 of a double-shoot disk drill, soil probe in waterlogged saline zone, food trucks and a bake sale from grain grown at the site.

On top of field days, Agri-ARM sites also offer events such as the Ministry of Agriculture’s Crop Diagnostic School, which was hosted at IHARF last summer. This is a popular event where ministry and other industry specialists speak to producers, agrologists and others on crops, disease, pests, soil health and more. Events like these bring producers and agriculture specialists across the province together to learn about growing, managing and protecting their crop operations.

These sites are funded through the Sustainable Canadian Agriculture Partnership, which is a five-year, $3.5‑billion investment by federal, provincial and territorial governments to strengthen competitiveness, innovation and resiliency of the agriculture, agri-food and agri-based products sector.

For more information on the work these sites do, to discuss your agriculture knowledge gaps and needs, or if you’re interested in an upcoming field day, contact your nearest Agri-ARM site. Contact details of the Agri-ARM sites and information on the Agri-ARM are available from the Ministry of Agriculture’s Research Branch at 306‑787‑6566.