When it comes to achieving reasonable profit levels on the farm many factors play a role.
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A number of those factors are largely beyond the control of the producer. They cannot control the weather, and while they can do things to mitigate the impact or prices, they are not able to greatly affect what they get for what they produce.
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So focusing on production is rather critical in terms of potential profits, and the flipside of that are potential losses.
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Profitability is not as simple as growing more bushels. It does come down to knowing what each bushel costs to produce. The dollars generated needs to be in excess of the costs associated with production.
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But it also means producers need to be keenly aware of what they need to invest in in terms of production which will generate the most additional bushels at the lowest cost.
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That is where following good research is critical.
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Producers can鈥檛 afford to do on-farm experimentation with every new crop, new variety, seeding options, fertilizer rates, seed inoculants and when to spray for weeds and bugs and when not too. The options are frankly immense, and the cost of trying each option is far in excess of what individual producers can effectively do.
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That all said it is important when looking into research done by others, government agencies, corporations, universities, etc, that the data relate as closely as possible to a producer鈥檚 own farm.
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While neighbouring farms will have similarities, the farther away the research is carried out, the less relevance it may have to a farmer.
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Soils types, growing days, weather conditions, and similar factors are not the same in Swift Current as they are in Indian Head, and both of those will be different from farms in the Melfort area.
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So good local research is important in farming, and that is where an organization such as the East Central Research Foundation centred in east central Saskatchewan can be a huge asset.
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The Foundation has recently posted new videos (at www.ecrf.ca ) on research into such varied areas as nitrogen use in canola, seeding dates for winter wheat, and inoculations in soybeans.
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The key to such research, at least in terms of area producers, is that the numbers were generated locally, which means they should translate most directly to farms in the area the research was carried out.
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It is information such as that contained in the reports which local producers can use to best tailor their approach to production to achieve production levels which equate to profits at the end of the day.
Calvin Daniels is Editor with Yorkton This Week.
