It’s been five years since the Prairie Cover Crop Survey looked into farmers’ thoughts on the practice, and it’s time for an update.
Researchers from the University of Manitoba, Manitoba Agriculture, and the Ontario Cover Crop Steering Committee are teaming up for a new survey now open to all farmers and crop advisors across Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta.
The last round of surveys, held in 2020 and 2021, was “the first Canadian survey looking at cover crops,” shares Callum Morrison, who was a PhD student involved with the project at the time and is back again for this new round, this time in his role as crop production extension specialist with Manitoba Agriculture
“Dr. Yvonne Lawley [head of the previous study] at the U of M has continued to study cover crops, but this group as a whole, it’s been five years since we met up and put [results] out.”
Cover crops are those grown when the land would otherwise be left bare, often during the shoulder seasons of spring or fall when the cash crop is not on the field. They’re planted mainly for environmental benefits such as improving soil health or preventing erosion.
“Five years ago when I was talking to Prairie farmers, I quite often had to explain what a cover crop was,” Morrison said, noting it was a relatively newer practice in North America. “I haven’t found myself having to do that now.”
Still, cover crops are much more popular in Ontario than on the Prairies, he observed.
“There are definitely a lot more people utilizing cover crops out there, just because they have longer growing seasons, they tend to have more moisture in the fall, whereas out here we’re kind of at the edge of where it is possible.”
The survey five years ago found that of the 150 or so Manitoba respondents about a third had been growing cover crops for three to five years, while 24 were planting their first such crop. Thirteen per cent had been growing cover crops for more than 10 years.
Most producers were putting their cover crops in after spring wheat. Oats was by far the most popular choice for a crop, followed by peas and clover.
Many producers at the time reported an increase in their profits thanks to cover crops, though most identified our province’s short growing seasons and a lack of moisture as major obstacles.
Morrison is curious to see how things may have changed in the intervening years—have more producers embraced the practice? What benefits do they see? What challenges?
“This is your opportunity to tell us what you’ve actually experienced, what works, what doesn’t work, what barriers exist on your farm for this integration,” Morrison said. “And we want to hear from anyone, just your honest feedback.”
To that end, the survey is open to any type of producer or crop advisor, whether they’ve grown or advised on cover crops or not.
“We’re not trying to promote or say that you should or shouldn’t be growing cover crops,” Morrison explained. “We’re here to allow farmers to share what they’ve actually done, to inform other farmers as to what happens so they can benchmark and know what the industry is doing.
“We have some questions specifically for people who used to cover crop by no longer do,” he noted. “We need to also understand that there are limitations which make integrating cover crops a challenge and we need to identify what they are … we want to tell the whole story.”
The data will be invaluable to researchers and policy makers as well, he noted, ensuring work they do under the scope of cover crops takes into account what’s actually happening out on the fields.
To take the survey, head to gfo.ca/cover-crop-survey.
