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One might argue Prairie farmers are spoiled for choice when it comes to the canola hybrids they could potentially grow. But deciding between the wide range of options is far from easy or straightforward – especially without reliable data sources to lean on.
Helping farmers make informed decisions season after season is one of the main reasons why BASF Agricultural Solutions Canada Inc. has a large-scale hybrid trialling program, says Clint Jurke, the company’s regional technical sales manager.
With more than 150 trial plots spread across just about every geography and soil type in Western Canada – from Peace River, Alta., to the Red River Valley in Manitoba – the program serves farmers, retails and agronomists to provide the most comprehensive information on a given hybrid and ultimately guide purchase decisions.
The trialling program is made up of a three-tiered system as hybrids move from small-plot trials to real-world, commercial conditions, creating a dataset that’s accurate, objective and predictive.
“We want to have the best understanding possible of how a hybrid is likely going to perform across a whole mix of conditions – and, most importantly, how it will live up to grower expectations when we put that hybrid in their hands,” Jurke says.
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