Farmers and agrologists are invited to give feedback for the Agronomy Resources Survey.
Richard Gray, professor in the College of Agriculture and Bioresources at the University of Saskatchewan and Canadian Grain Policy Research Chair at the University of Saskatchewan, together with Michelle Ross, research assistant at the University of Saskatchewan College of Agriculture and Bioresources, have been commissioned by the Western Grains Research Foundation (WGRF) to conduct a benefit-cost analysis evaluating the Integrated Crop Agronomy Cluster (ICAC).
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“With the overall study, we’re hoping to better understand the value and impact of research in the cluster,” said Ross.
The ICAC is an agricultural research cluster created to address the gap in multi-crop and systems-based agronomy research. From 2018-2023, nine million dollars were invested in ICAC research, with funding from WGRF, industry partners and Agriculture and Agri-food (AAFC) Canada’s AgriScience Cluster funding under the Canadian Agricultural Partnership (CAP).
With ICAC, most of what has been generated in the cluster is general agronomic knowledge that has built up over time to help producers,
“We’re focussing on three separate tools in the cluster, and those are the Fusarium Headblight Maps, the Prairie Crop Disease Network and the Test Monitoring Network,” she said.
All three are free for producers.
Building awareness
“The kind of questions that we’re asking is overall awareness of these public resources for both producers and agrologists and where producers and agrologists access this information,” she said.
The survey will improve understanding about how these resources are used, and if they affect farm decisions, she said.
“What initiated the research is that AAFC is making this a requirement under the next round of funding agri-science clusters with the SCAP (Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership) model for funding,” she said.
“We need to understand the impact of the funding, and while there are a lot of studies on how there are high returns overall to agriculture research, more research is needed to quantify those benefits, including research of the agri-science cluster,” she said.
Tough decisions
Ross said tough decisions need to be made when public and producer dollars are spent.
“Having evidence-based decision making is needed to best serve everyone; the industry and the public,” she said.
The survey is looking to gauge farmers and agrologists’ awareness of the Prairie Pest Monitoring Network, The Fusarium Headblight Maps, and the Test Monitoring Network.
Ross and Gray also want to find out whether producers and agrologists are using these tools to make decisions on farms.
Ross said participating in this survey is good for farmers, because while ICAC is publicly funded, but also funded through industry groups, and groups like the WGRF.
“Producer money has been used to do this research and create these resources,” she said.
“This goes back to due diligence, because there’s a very long wish list on what money could be spent on, so we need to understand the impact of this research,” she said.
The survey is quite short and will take a producer about 15 minutes to fill out. The survey can be completed on the phone, or on the web.
Ross said she hopes many producers and agrologists fill out the survey, so the research team can get a clear picture across the prairies.
The survey is open until December 31, 2025 and can be found here- https://www.surveymonkey.ca/r/AgronomyResourcesSurvey
