New Projects in 2026

Projects in place for the 2026 field season include:

Pulses:

  • Exploring the potential benefits of PGRs on Saskatchewan Pulse Crops: Pea, faba bean, chickpea & lentil
  • Response of chickpea to granular and foliar applied potassium
  • Chickpea demonstration trial: Investigating optimal seeding practices and cultivar selection
  • Demonstrating weed management options in chickpeas
  • Chickpea variety trial
  • Showcasing LVC faba bean varieties to encourage adoption of new varieties with improved traits
  • Field pea response to varying phosphorus forms and placement options

Oilseeds:

  • Canola response to enhanced efficiency nitrogen fertilizer products and blends
  • Evaluating and demonstrating best practices for glufosinate use: formulation difference and weather effects in prairie cropping systems in Canola
  • Nitrogen EEF’s in Northeast SK- Does the added cost ‘yield’ benefit in Canola?
  • Optimizing flax seeding rate for new brown and yellow seeded varieties
  • Enhanced Phosphorus uptake in flax through novel fertilizer formulations and biological inoculants
  • Demonstration of new brown and yellow seeded flax varieties to Saskatchewan producers
  • Flax variety trials

Cereals:

  • Do we need deep banding of phosphorus in no-till systems in the Canadian prairies (Wheat/Canola rotation)
  • Managing lodging and optimizing yield and quality in Wheat with PGR
  • 4R EEF Application in Fall- Right product and right application management in Wheat
  • Dormant vs. spring seeding of spring wheat in NE SK
  • Demonstration of different groups 1 and 2 herbicides in spring wheat
  • Improving the standability of wheat without PGRs
  • Strengthening CWRS Wheat: Evaluating Silicon, Zinc, and PGR strategies for lodging management
  • Nitrogen and sulfur fertility to improve CWRS Wheat quality
  • 4R Management of Urea and UAN with nitrogen stabilizer in winter wheat for better protein and yield
  • Oat variety trials
  • Using copper to mitigate diseases in oat
  • Evaluating the fertility package of newly available Oat Milling Varieties in SK
  • Volunteers might bring value: Oat volunteers as a cover crop option for sustainable post-harvest land management on Canadian prairies
  • On Farm Fall Applied Granular Herbicide Products for the Control of Wild Oats and Kochia after Oats
  • 4R Management: Can split applications be managed in malt barley to reduce risk and maintain yield and quality?
  • Beyond N Rate: Protein management in malting barley
  • Improving Accuracy, Reliability and Capability of the Fusarium Head Blight (FHB) Risk Forecasting Models for Western Canadian Cereals under a Changing Climate: Barley and Spring Wheat
  • Winter Cereal Demonstration Showcasing Winter Wheat, Winter Triticale, and Fall Rye

Forages and Specialty Crops:

  • How do variable fertilizer rates transform pea-oat intercrop performance?
  • Intercropping fall rye and winter camelina with hairy vetch for seed production
  • Underseeding tall fescue to canola for a diverse biennial cash and forage crop rotation
  • Do regenerative practices work as well as conventional herbicides for controlling wild oats?
  • Management of Septoria Leaf Mottle and Desiccation in Canary Seed
  • Demonstrating Fenugreek Adaption and Response to Nitrogen in Varying Environments

 

All reports will be posted as soon as they are available. Contact Brianne @ (306) 920-9393 or Ishita @ (306) 920-9373 for any questions regarding the above projects

NARF Annual Field Day 2025

The Joint Annual field day between NARF and Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) took place on July 23rd, 2025 at the Melfort Research Farm. The event was free of charge thanks to sponsorship from SaskPulse, SaskOilseeds, SaskBarley, SaskWheat and SaskOats. Registration began at 8AM, the tour began at 9AM and returned around 12:15. To register for the event please visit: NARF & AAFC Joint Annual Field Tour Tickets, Wed, 23 Jul 2025 at 8:00 AM | Eventbrite 

Tour Stops included:

  • Seeding dates for flax varieties – Ishita Patel, Northeast Agriculture Research Foundation and Bunyamin Tar’an, SK Ministry of Agriculture
  • Variety showcase for peas, faba beans, lentil and soybean- Dr. Tom Warkentin and Dr. Ana Vargas, University of Saskatchewan
  • Micronutrients in Canola- Kaeley Kindrachuk, SaskOilseeds
  • PGRs and Topdressing N in Barley- Mitchell Japp, SaskBarley
  • Banding Enhanced Efficiency N products in Wheat- Mike Hall, East Central Research Foundation
  • Grain Millers Oat Variety Trial- Olivia Kennedy, Grain Millers
  • Demonstrating the regional impacts of varietal traits and flowering timing in Wheat- Gazali Issah, SaskWheat
  • Linking Optimal N Management to soil moisture conditions- Dr. Patrick Mooleki, AAFC
  • Improving the survivability and maturity in malt barley- Dr. Hiroshi Kubota, AAFC
  • Internet of Things- Digital Field Agriculture- Dr. Haben Asgedom Tedla, AAFC

NARF also hosted a Niche/Minor Crops Field day in collaboration with AAFC on July 24, 2025 at the Melfort Research Farm. Registration with free coffee and donuts taking place from 8:30-9:25AM, with the first field stop beginning at 9:30AM and the tour concluding at 12PM. There was a free lunch provided following the tour. Link to Register to the tour: NARF & AAFC Minor/Niche Crops Field Tour Tickets, Thu, 24 Jul 2025 at 8:30 AM | Eventbrite

Tour stops included:

  • Enhanced Efficiency Nitrogen Fertilizer products in Hybrid bromegrass for third year seed production- Jo-Anne Relf-Eckstein, SaskForage Seed
  • Regenerative Agriculture (Cover Crops and Intercropping)- Brianne McInnes, Northeast Agriculture Research Foundation
  • Using oat volunteers as a cover crop- Ishita Patel, Northeast Agriculture Research Foundation
  • Seeding Dates for Winter Cereals (Winter Wheat, Fall Rye, and Triticale)- Aquielle Thorlakson, Conservation Learning Centre
  • Pea Leaf Weevil Control in Faba beans and Peas- Mike Brown, Sask Pulse Growers
  • Flax Varieties- Kade Kettenbach, SaskOilseeds
  • Chickpea PGR, K Fertility, and Weed Management- Mike Brown, Sask Pulse Growers

 

Dr. Kui Liu presenting on pea-oat, canola-oat, and pea-canola as intercropping options for Northeast Saskatchewan

 

SaskWheat Equipment Funding

Thank you to SaskWheat for selecting the 8 Agri-ARM sites to be the recipients of a total of 1.6 million dollars in equipment funding over the next two years!

This donation, among others, allows us to update and purchase new equipment we do not currently have. At NARF, a portion of these funds will be put towards the purchase of a new 120HP cabbed tractor. This new tractor will help us in completing many research related tasks at NARF such as spraying, seeding, mowing, lifting and moving fertilizer & seed, etc.

Thanks to SaskWheat for supporting crop research in the Northeast!