Land Resource Management Program

Overview

The Land Resource Management Program at Brandon Research Centre contains one of the largest groups of this type in the Parkland region of western Canada. The group of 11 scientists/biologists and term researchers, with their staff, has largely been brought together over five years, starting in 1995. This research program has a mandate to provide relevant scientific results for the Parkland in the areas of resource conservation and land, crop, and livestock management to ensure the safety, quality, and marketability of agricultural products.

Currently, the Land Resource Management Program maintains the following scientific expertise:

These scientific disciplines of study respond to changes in soil and crop management, including tillage systems and crop rotations, weed management, agronomy of crop varieties and new crops, effects of soil type, climate, and water, greenhouse gases, and soil carbon and soil fertility. The Land Resource Management Program addresses current problems related to management, economics, and environment; works to avoid or alleviate damage (ensure environmentally sustainable solutions); anticipates development of future problems; and identifies potential opportunities for agriculture. It has also responded quickly to national and regional priorities by forming teams to resolve problems with cadmium uptake by cereals and oilseeds and to find effective methods of handling livestock manures.

Current research priorities for the Land Resource Management Program include

• soil management practices that optimize yield, quality, and economics of cereal, oilseed, pulse, and forage production

• determining the impact of soil management and fertility on soil, air, and water quality

• reducing content of cadmium, a heavy metal, in cereals and oilseeds

• weed community dynamics for integrated weed management in conservation tillage systems

• conservation tillage systems for cereals, oilseeds, and pulses

• use of hog and cattle manure as a resource, not a problem

• enhancing the role of soil fungi and bacteria under different soil and crop management systems

• crop residue management in zero and conventional tillage

• use of strategic tillage in zero tillage systems

• precision farming to improve the economics of fertilizer use

• integrated disease management systems for crop production

• optimizing the micro-environment of crops by manipulating soil and crop management practices

• weed management strategies that reduce herbicide inputs in crop production and manage herbicide-resistant weeds

• identifying strategies to reduce greenhouse gas production and increase carbon sequestration.

The Land Resource Management Program is involved in several Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada networks providing advice, expertise, and leadership. These include the Prairie Soils and Crops Network, Cadmium Working Group, Manure Management Network, and Forage/Beef Network. Many of the scientists are adjunct professors and supervise graduate students. In addition, Brandon Research Centre scientists in this program cooperate and collaborate with scientists and extension experts working with Manitoba Agriculture and Food; Saskatchewan Agriculture and Food (Agriculture Development Fund and Agri-Food Innovation Fund); Indian Head Research Foundation; Alberta Agriculture, Food and Rural Development; Parkland Agricultural Research Initiative; and the Prairie Farm Rehabilitation Administration (Manitoba Crop Diversification Centre and Saskatchewan Irrigation Development Centre).

In order to deliver meaningful research results in an area the size of the Parkland, scientists in the Land Resource Management Program are involved with many research partners. Internal to Brandon Research Centre, the program scientists are directly involved in studies with the other two programs at Brandon – Barley Breeding and Beef Production Systems. Externally, Brandon Research Centre scientists in the Land Resource Management Program are involved in a wide array of studies with colleagues at other Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada research centres, universities nationally and internationally, provincial agencies, the Prairie Farm Rehabilitation Administration, and with industry. This has allowed scientists in the Land Resource Management Program to assume a lead role in co-operative research projects that have support from industry consortia and broad applicability across the Parkland.

In fulfilling Brandon Research Centre’s mandate to develop sustainable crop and livestock production systems for the Parkland, it is important that the research directions of the Land Resource Management Program reflect the diversity of problems facing the industry in this region. As the Land Resource Management Program matures, scientists will work toward the development of a systems approach to integrating their research across the Parkland. This will require ongoing interaction with the other Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada research centres in the Parkland to identify research priorities of regional interest and develop well-integrated teams of researchers with the range of expertise needed for each research project.