Talon Gauthier & Susie Lefferson
On February 25th and 26th, 2020 forage seed growers, researchers, extension staff and agribusinesses will congregate for the first Canadian Forage Seed Conference since 2006! The conference will be hosted at the Fantasyland Hotel which is attached to the West Edmonton Mall in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
The goal of this conference is to unite the industry throughout Canada and increase awareness and interest in forage seed production. With the current challenges in Canadian grain markets, we have a great opportunity to increase awareness of the benefits of incorporating forage seed crops into any cropping system. Perennial forage seed crops can offer these growers market diversity and dispersal of timing in terms of workload. For the faithful forage seed grower, it will be an opportunity to hear about new technologies in the industry and where research is headed. As Bruce Coulman recently said, “It is an exciting time to be involved in research on forages as there is more money invested now in Canada than there ever has been”!
Conference planning has been underway for almost a year and some great speakers have been confirmed to join us in Edmonton! We are very excited to have speakers traveling from Oregon, Minnesota and hopefully beyond to bring an international perspective to the conference. Below is a draft agenda for the two days that is still being developed.
February 25th, 2020
| 8:00 am | Breakfast | |
| 8:50 am | Welcome & Housekeeping | |
| 9:00 am | Seed Yield & Seed Shattering with Different Swathers – Nicole Anderson, OSU* | |
| 9:30 am | International Market Report – Turf Grasses – TBA | |
| 10:00 am | Remote Sensing for Pest Management – Chris Neeser, AB Ag & Forestry | |
| 10:30 am | Coffee & Snack Break | |
| 11:00 am | Forage Breeding in Canada – Bill Biligetu, University of Saskatchewan | |
| 11:30 am | International Market Report – Forage Legumes – TBA | |
| 12:00 pm | Lunch | |
| Grass & Clover Sessions | Alfalfa Sessions | |
| 1:30 pm | Perennial Ryegrass Production Systems – Dave Grafstrom, University of Minnesota | Western Canada Alfalfa Weevil Project – Boyd Mori, University of Alberta |
| 2:00 pm | Lesser Clover Leaf Weevil Project – Dan Malamura, University of Saskatchewan | Parasite Control in Leafcutter Bees with Cinnamon – Danica Baines, AAFC* Lethbridge |
| 2:30 pm | Insects in Grass & Clover Crops – Jennifer Otani, AAFC* Beaverlodge | Lygus in Alfalfa – Hector Carcamo, AAFC* Lethbridge |
| 3:00 pm | Growth Regulators in Grasses & Clovers – Calvin Yoder, Roger Burak, Nicole Anderson | Innovations in Irrigation Technology OR World Trends in Hay Exports OR Legume Breeding |
| 3:45 pm | Coffee & Snack Break | |
| 4:00 pm | PRFSA Annual General Meeting | |
| 5:30 pm | Supper (On Your Own) | |
| 7:30 pm | Wine & Cheese | |
*OSU = Oregon State University, AAFC = Agriculture & AgriFood Canada
February 26th, 2020
| 8:00 am | Breakfast |
| 9:00 am | Technology to Monitor Crop Health – Matthias Loesken, Blackbird Environmental |
| 9:30 am | International Market Report – Forage Grasses – TBA |
| 10:00 am | Virtual Farm Tour – Brett Rudd, Idaho |
| 10:30 am | Coffee & Snack Break |
| 11:00 am | Crop Rotations, Economics & Benefits – Nityananda Khanal, AAFC Beaverlodge |
| 11:30 am | Prairie Pesticide Minor Use Consortium Overview & Representative Grasses Project Update – Ron Pidskalny, Strategic Vision Consulting Ltd. |
| 12:00 pm | Lunch |
| 1:30 pm | Crop Protection Options – Calvin Yoder or panel |
| 2:00 pm | Cover Crops: Mixes & Opportunities – Mike Schellenberg, AAFC Swift Current |
| 2:30 pm | Carbon sequestration in Forage Seed Production OR Legume Inoculants in Canada |
| 3:00 pm | Conference Ends |
We hope that you now feel as excited about the conference as we are and have marked the dates in your calendar to join us in Edmonton next February. Registration is CAD $250/person and more information will continually be posted on the conference webpage: www.peaceforageseed.ca/fsconference/.
Please feel free to contact Talon Gauthier at coordinator@peaceforageseed.ca or 1 877 630 2198.
IHSG 