The mycorrhizae inoculate trials first began at Pine River Ranch in Pinewood because owner Amos Brielmann cannot use chemical or mechanical fertilizer on his certified organic farm.
But the tests recently have expanded to the agriculture research station in Emo.
Eric Busch, an agriculture intern with the Soil and Crop Association, noted oat, barley, and wheat were planted with (and without) the mycorrhizae inoculate earlier this month.
“I’m excited to see the results,” Busch remarked, though conceding they won’t see any until harvest time—sometime between mid-August and mid-September.
The mycorrhizae inoculate is like a fertilizer used to promote growth, but it is a live organism instead of mechanical and chemical input.
“You rarely see the use of a live organism for fertility in fields,” Busch explained, adding synthetic fertilizers are more commonly used.
But since soil ecosystems are so complex and diverse, mechanical and chemical input can have negative affects on them, he noted.
“The soil in the natural ecosystem would be altered,” he stressed, saying the chances for disease and problems are more probable.
“But with the mycorrhizae inoculate, there is a symbiotic relationship, meaning the two different species live together and benefit from each other,” he explained.
“The organism is helping the plants and the plant helps the organism.”
Busch noted it will help with fertility, and he also is expecting less susceptibility to disease and less drought stress.
However, he is not expecting a noticeable boost in growth. Rather, that’s something that most likely would be realized over several years.
“They’ve been trying to solve biological problems with mechanical or chemical solutions,” Busch indicated. “A living organism will help with the natural balance.”
He said the “whole world under our feet” is mostly unknown.
“But the health of this soil ecosystem is vital to agricultural productivity,” Busch stressed, adding it’s important for farmers’ to control their resources.
“We’re only scratching the surface of agri-ecosystem knowledge. There’s so much to know,” he remarked. “And testing things is the first step to understanding.”
Mycorrhizae inoculate can be purchased from suppliers in Canada and the United States in liquid and granular form. If the trials prove positive, it could be used more widely in the district.
To his knowledge, said Busch, there has never been a trial such as this in Rainy River District before.
“We’re going to wait and see what happens,” added research station technician Kim Jo Bliss.
In related news, Bliss said other field trials at the station are seeded and in the ground. And she is finishing up larger blocks to be used for demonstrations when people visit there.
“The pasture crops are really advanced for the end of May,” she enthused. “It’s awesome and exciting.”
Bliss noted last week was their best week of the season thus far.
“It was dry and warm—we accomplished a lot,” she explained. “Things are coming along.”
(Fort Frances Times)
Fort Frances Times
Local News from Across the Rainy River District
