Funded by Gouw Naturals & Penergetic Canada Objective
The objective of this trial was to quantify the effects of Penergetic KTM soil treatment and Penergetic PTM foliar fertilizer on crop (Wheat) production, crop health and soil health in the Peace Country region of Alberta. This report provides progress on the first of this three-year field project in a Wheat-Canola-Wheat rotation.
Methods
The project was implemented at the Fairview Research Farm (820059 Range Rd, 35 Fairview, AB). Site soil information from the surface soil (0-6" soil depth) before seeding: pH = 5.8, organic matter = 6.1 electrical conductivity = 0.42 dS/m, while the nutrient analysis of the soil gave N = 42 ppm, P = 17 ppm, K= 155 ppm and S = 5 ppm. The crop history of the site: Canola (2020), Wheat (2021) and Canola (2022).
Experimental design includes randomized complete block design using four replications in small plots measuring 8 m x 1.14 m. Seeding was carried out using a 6-row Fabro Plot Drill equipped with disc-type openers on 23 cm row spacing complete with mid-row banding.
Results
The results obtained testing the various treatments are provided in Table 1.
Wheat Head Counts
There was a non-significant variation in head counts with a range of 24 - 30 heads recorded.
Grain Yield
Grain yield ranged between 87 – 101 bu/acre and varied non-significantly between treatments. There was a trend to increase grain yields with the addition of both soil and foliar treatments.
Grain Attributes
Bushel weight and thousand kernel weight (TKW) ranged from 70 – 72 lbs/bu and 35 – 40 g/1000 seeds respectively and varied significantly between treatments. Protein content of treatments narrowly ranged between 15 – 16 %.
Soil Health Indicators
Results of the main soil health indicators sampled in the fall of 2023 are shown in Table 2. The soil wet aggregate values at 0-3” and 3-6’’ for the treatments varied between 70-89 % representing soils of good to excellent physical quality. Soil active carbon ranged between 281-420 mg AC/kg soil at 0-3” and 308-420 mg AC/kg soil at 3-6”. Soil organic carbon (SOC) levels narrowly ranged between (2.86-3.26 %) at 0-3” and (2.90-3.25 %) at 3-6”. Total bacterial levels varied between 2566-4092 ug/g at 0-3” and 3008-3980 ug/g at 3-6” while fungal counts varied from 380-895 and 184-782 #/g at 0-3” and 3-6” respectively.
Conclusion
Though no significant differences existed between treatments, there was a trend showing higher grain yields with the addition of both Penergetic Soil and Foliar treatments. No clear trends were observed for bushel weight and TKW. Also, no distinct trends were apparent in the soil health indicators but these will be monitored again next fall (2024) with Canola.
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