COUNTRY LIFE IN BC • DECEMBER 2019
25 Students showcase on-farm research projects
Projects open eyes to future possibilities
by ANGELA ABRAHAO
WILLIAMS LAKE – Upwards of 30 people came out to see research projects presented by second-year Applied Sustainable Ranching students during an On-Farm Research Forum at Thompson Rivers University’s campus in Williams Lake on October 29. These research projects
have been in the works for the past year on home or host ranches throughout the Cariboo region and beyond, with one in Victoria and one as far away as Manitoba. After adding a research component to the program, students and host ranches have worked together to design their research projects so that the projects would be relevant to each student’s interests and the needs of the ranching operation. Oversight on student projects was carried out by Catherine Tarasoff, the instructor for the ranching program’s On-Farm Research module at TRU. Projects titles included,
Investigating Spent Barley as an Alternative Feed, The Effects of Chemical and Grazing Suppression on Winter Annual Establishment, The Effects of Winter Bale Grazing on Soil Compaction and Comparing Yields in Dry Bean Varieties.
Students learned they have to be flexible and not all research will go to plan. Many faced challenges in what for many were their first research projects. Surprises and outside forces showed them that sometimes they may need to change projects midstream.
Sarah Gunter had planned
a research project that focused on apples but after a spring frost destroyed the blossoms on the trees she was studying, she had to design a new project. She settled on the potential of spent barley as an alternative
feed for cattle after a local brewery offered her free spent barley if she could pick it up.
Gunter finished her 4-H steer off with the spent barley. “Grading is really important to me so I really wanted to see if I could keep my grading the same or improve it,” she says. “I suspected the barley would be a nutritious feed source, and it would reduce the cost. My grading results improved with the spent grain. The steer’s quality improved from a grade AA class to an AAA class, and the quality of marbling increased. This put up my costs by a dollar or two but it increased the steer’s value. Because I saved on spent grain, I made a $937 profit per steer, which is quite significant.” Student Lara Agapow
explored the effects of winter bale grazing on soil compaction. “My hypothesis was that
my soil compaction would decrease over time,” she explains. “I had 45 cows in the area I bale fed for approximately 20 weeks, spaced 40 feet apart, leaving 15% residue. Once I moved the cattle out, I started doing soil compaction measurements with a soil penetrometer. I did 10 tests in hills and depressions bi- weekly. When we kicked the residue off you could see moisture was retained in the ground. We could start to see a small decrease in compaction.” Agapow believes that if she
had more time to research she would see more changes to compaction. She first designed her
project to research other aspects such as forage yields and moisture content, but also ran into climate-related problems. With a hay shortage in the area, horses from the ranch were turned
Sara Gunter changed her on-farm research project mid-term due to weather but the results of using spent barley to feed her 4-H steers was money in the bank. ANGELA ABRAHAO PHOTO
out onto her research site. “We know in ranching that things don’t always go as planned so we changed and worked through it and found even the small results in decreased compaction were exciting,” she said. Witnessing the results of
the research as well as actively participating in research has been positive for students. Agapow is sold on the idea
of on-farm research. “It opened my mind up to
research on the farm. It makes me want to test more and different things. With all the new industry advancements and research out there, I want to see how it affects me and my soils at my ranch,” she says. “What can I do to lower emissions, what can I do to lower costs, make it more economical, sustainable and try new things?”
Students have begun to ask themselves important questions about the challenges they may face in their operations. By changing or shifting existing practices, they learn how the environment or the livestock may respond. The projects confirm for students that putting in the effort to learn how to do on-farm research will have long-term benefits as they enter their fields.
Professional Services: Beef Nutrition and Ration Balancing Nutrient Management Planning Forage and Soil Testing
Forage and Cover Crop Seed Serving the Southern Interior Region
www.rollinsmachinery.com
info@rollinsmachinery.ca
Authorized Dealer for:
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48