Plenty of tests lined up for research station

The Emo Research Station will be bustling with activity once again this year, with nearly every bit of available lot space taken up with crop trials.
Station manager Kim Jo Calder said in addition to the regular batch of cereal and forage crops, new trials will be done on peas and edible beans, not to mention trees.
“A big study we’re working on is the hybrid poplar trees, which will mature within 10 years,” Calder said, noting she had to plow an additional field for that test.
The economic potential on such a trial would be very valuable if it’s found one could sell these trees in 10 years, she added.
Lots of interest remains with forage oats, Calder said, which some farmers are thinking of using as a higher energy source in feed for livestock, not to mention hemp.
A fairly big study also is being done on hulless barley, which is a fairly high protein source, plus one on dwarf corn for cereal silage.
“And some of our pasture trials haven’t been chosen yet,” Calder noted. “They get planted anytime next month.”
Except for a few crops which get planted late in the spring to avoid frost, Calder said the land is ready for seeding, with much of it already worked up.
“I’m a little worried about the dryness,” she admitted, noting a bit more rain this spring would be nice. “I’m trying to work the land as little as possible to keep moisture in.”
Calder also said the research station is in “decent shape” for funding this year–decent enough to allow her to hire two university students to run things.
In addition to money received from the government, Calder said the station also has been able to get funds from other sources. “A lot of our studies we’re doing because someone is paying us,” she noted.
“But we still have to keep our focus,” she stressed. “Grow what interests our local people.”