Pesticide Free Production Trials

REGINA - Feb 10/04 - SNS -- Trials involving the Pesticide Free Production (PFP) production system have migrated from Manitoba to Saskatchewan and the economic analysis of the first trials at South East Research Farm at Redvers are nearly complete.

Pesticide Free Production Canada (PFPC), a team of researchers and farmers dedicated to researching ways to reduce the use of pesticides within cropping systems, defines PFP as non-GMO crops that have not been treated with pesticides from the time of crop emergence until the time of marketing. These crops cannot be grown where residual pesticides are considered commercially active, but fertilizers can be used as they would on conventionally grown crops.

Fertility-oriented seed treatments, such as inoculants, are also allowed, as well as some pesticides that are applied to the field during the year of crop production, provided they are applied prior to crop emergence and do not have any commercial activity during the crop year.

PFP differs from organic farming in that there is no commitment to the system. If, during the cropping year, the field is overwhelmed by a pest outbreak that requires treatment with a pesticide, PFP growers market their product as they normally would. The grower can attempt PFP the following year.

"The PFP field-scale study was initiated in the spring of 2003, a year following a small plot trial at the South East Research Farm," explains Joan Raimbault, the research farm's administrator. "Flax was seeded on a field donated for our use by the District 5 ADD Board. Flax was chosen because of the previous cropping history on the parcel of land, and because producers had reported that a premium for PFP flax had been attained for their 2002 production."

Seeding was delayed until early June to permit control of spring weed growth. After a pre-seeding treatment of glyphosate, fertilizer was side-banded at the time of seeding. CDC Bethune was then grown under two cropping systems and three treatments: one treatment was conventional and the other two were PFP.

The conventional treatment, treatment one, was seeded at a rate of 45 pounds per acre. Treatment two was seeded according to PFP guidelines of an increased seeding rate of 56 pounds per acre. Treatment three was seeded in two passes, one perpendicular to the other, for a total seeding rate of 56 pounds per acre.

"Treatment three was cross-seeded to increase the seed-bed utilization and thus increase the competition with weeds. This action increased the cost of seeding, but did not increase the yield," says Raimbault.

The farm manager for the South East Research Farm, Bryan Briggs, analyzed data on the project. He found that, despite the application of herbicide control with the conventional system, the differences in net yields between the three treatments were not significant. The net yield was 24.2 bushels per acre for the conventional and single-seeded PFP treatments, and 23.8 bushels per acre for the cross-seeded PFP treatment. The conventionally grown flax was delivered to a conventional elevator, while the PFP grown flax was binned for sale in the PFP market.

The PFPC Web site - www.pfpcanada.com, a subsite of the University of Manitoba, Plant Science Department - states, "One of the aims of PFPC is that, by developing a core of participating growers, marketing opportunities will arise for crops produced within these guidelines. It has not been determined if, or how much, PFP crops will command a market premium. The first objective of PFPC is to enable growers to produce crops with less inputs and so reduce costs of production and increase returns."

Raimbault, who says the final economic analysis for the each of the three treatments in the study won't be completed till this spring, takes the same cautious approach to a discussion of the market for PFP crops.

"Last year's prices for PFP flax were reported to be near $17 per bushel, compared to $10 per bushel for conventionally grown flax. So there may be premiums paid for a PFP crop. This may be holding true for the 2004 market as well. The buyer who is currently marketing our PFP flax says the interest in our product appears to involve a price premium," she says, emphasizing the words "may be."

The PFP flax field study at the South East Research Farm was supported by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada's Canadian Adaptation and Rural Development Fund in Saskatchewan (CARDS.) A presentation by PFP Canada will be part of a winter conference agenda scheduled for Redvers March 3. The conference will be hosted in partnership with the Saskatchewan Flax Development Commission.

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