On-Farm Research Trials

Top Notch Farming Trials Overview

In its inaugural year (2023), SaskOilseeds' Top Notch Farming trials marked a milestone with a dedicated focus on field-scale research. This investment of levy dollars directly benefits canola farmers by addressing on-farm challenges and questions they may have specific to their farm. By investing in research applicable at the farm level, SaskOilseeds emphasizes its commitment to growing producer prosperity.

The goal of our program is to actively seek input from farmers and agronomists to shape future projects, and cultivate a collaborative network between SaskOilseeds, farmers, agronomists, and research specialists. We recruit cooperators each year prior to seeding. If at any time you have an idea for a future research project, please contact SaskOilseeds to let us know.

2024 Trial Protocols

  • Foliar Applied Nitrogen Fixing Biological in Canola - The objective of this field-scale trial is to determine if there are agronomic and economic benefits of applying a commercially available, foliar-applied N-fixing bacteria product in canola under various management, soil and weather conditions in Saskatchewan.

  • Seeding Rates - The objective of this field scale trial is to determine the range of canola survivability rates on commercial farms and the optimal seeding rate to achieve adequate plant densities and maximize yield under various management, soil and weather conditions in Saskatchewan.  

  • Enhanced Efficiency Fertilizers - The objective of this field scale trial is to examine different ratios or proportions of treated and untreated N fertilizer using an EENF product of choice, compared to 100% untreated N fertilizer, on canola establishment, yield, and quality under various management, soil, and weather conditions in Saskatchewan.  

  • Split Nitrogen/Top Up Nitrogen Application - The objective of this field scale trial is to determine if there is an agronomic and economic advantage to using a split N application or top-dressing N compared to applying all nitrogen at seeding on canola yield, quality and economic return under various soil and weather conditions in Saskatchewan.

The reel below highlights our seeding rate trial, one of the protocols of our 2024 Top Notch Farming Research Trials! This on-farm trial examines three different seeding rates and their survivability. WARC is leading and managing this project by Unity, SK.

The trial showcased in the reel below is the Foliar Applied Nitrogen Fixing Biological in Canola project. This initiative aims to evaluate the agronomic and economic benefits of applying the producers choice of product under different management, soil and weather conditions in Saskatchewan. Sara Olexsyn is the trial site manager for this project at Wakaw, with the entire project coordinated by Kayla Slind at WARC.

Research Support

SaskOilseeds will be working closely with the Western Applied Research Corporation (WARC) to assist with development of the project, implementation, measurement, harvest and analysis of the data. SaskOilseeds and WARC will engage as needed with local agrologists to support the projects.

Why Participate in On-Farm Research?

  • Join a network of growers and agronomists who are interested in field-scale research and sharing on-farm results

  • Results are established with your equipment under your farm conditions and management practices to help you make decisions on your farm

  • A research specialist or agronomist will help support you through every step of the research process and collect data throughout the season

  • Gain primary access to the results of other on-farm, field scale trials in Saskatchewan

This program is available to registered canola growers in good standing.

Frequently Asked Questions

What differentiates these trials from other trials?

These trials differ from regular strip trials as they are both replicated and randomized to account for any field variability. This makes the trials quite large, however having adequate data to properly analyze after harvest is crucial to being able to provide the cooperator and other farmers with results they can be confident in.

Who is eligible to participate?

All farmers who are in good standing with SaskOilseeds are eligible to participate. This means they must leave their levy with SaskOilseeds to invest back into research and policy initiatives.

I’m a farmer and want to be involved, what's the process?

Signing up is easy! You’ll need to provide a few things to us throughout the registration process, including your agronomist’s information. To ensure that implementing the trial is as easy as possible for you, we will contract your agronomist to help with flagging during seeding, data collection and taking samples during harvest. Our hope is that the entire research process is smooth for you. If you don’t have an agronomist, that’s okay too. We are building our network of agronomists to help with the trials as well and may be able to connect you with one if you’d like. We also need you to have a grain cart or calibrated combine yield monitor. If your agronomist has a weigh wagon, that will work too.

In January each year, a registration form will be available on our website. This form ensures we have all of the correct information for you, and gives you a chance to tell us what protocol you’re interested in. Keep an eye on our newsletter or sign up for our texting service to receive any updates to your phone. You can call us at any time if you have any questions!

I’m an agronomist and want to be involved, what's the process?

Contact us! If you work with a farmer who would like to do a trial, you can fill out the registration form on their behalf, or have them fill it out. If you do not have a farmer that wants to do the trial but you’re interested in being a contracted agronomist to help, that’s great. We will take your contact information, and pass it along to the trial coordinator (Kayla Slind at WARC), who will be the person you are in contact with the most.

What kinds of protocols can be written?

We can create protocols for most new practices. We don’t trial specific products, though if there’s interest, we can provide a protocol- we just won’t be involved beyond that. Until now, we’ve got protocols looking at using nitrogen fixing biological products, enhanced efficiency fertilizers, split nitrogen applications and seeding rate. These focus specifically on the practice, while allowing the farmer cooperator to choose whatever product they’d like to use.

How do I suggest a protocol for a trial?

Text, email or call us. There’s no limit to the time of year we accept ideas. If we receive them throughout the growing season or fall, we’re able to get feedback from other farmers about these specific ideas. If we have enough interest, we’ll write a protocol. We also collaborate with other crop commissions in Saskatchewan to write joint protocols as some farmers may want to trial a practice on multiple crops.

How much time does it take?

We’ll be honest, it takes a bit of time- mainly during harvest as each treatment strip needs to be harvested separately and weighed. Feedback we’ve received from past and current cooperators is that seeding and spraying are usually easy. We write the protocol in a way that will allow for that; however, we still need to take a bit of extra time at harvest to make sure that all your hard work and effort during the growing season are worth it when the final samples are collected.

What's in it for me?

1.     You get to trial a practice on your farm, using your equipment, and you’ll have access to a research specialist the entire time. This means that the analyzed data will be specific to your farm- not a farm or research station miles away.

2.      You get to join a network of like-minded farmers who are interested in on farm, field scale research. We partner with the other crop commissions to host a field tour during the summer, and a winter wrap up banquet. At this banquet, you will get the first access to all of the trial results. This means you’ll not only see your trial results and the combined results of the protocol, but you’ll also see the results from all other crop trials. These results will also be packaged in a booklet for you to take home.

For more information, or to participate in the program, contact:

Kaeley Kindrachuk
Agronomy Extension Specialist, SaskOilseeds
Office: (306) 975-0273
Cell: (306) 260-2531

Top Notch Farming Trials Producer Application

Please complete this application as it allows us to collect initial information and what type of project you may be interested in. Applications for the 2025 program are due by Feb 15, 2025. SaskOilseeds will follow up with applicants after this date. Required fields are noted.

View the 2023 Trial Results Now: Foliar N-Fixing Biological Trial for Canola