Agronomy
Agronomic Articles
The Bourgault Farm
Yes, Bourgault Has a Farm! - Cutting Edge, Spring 2021
It comes as a shock to some that Bourgault operates a 2,500 acre commercial farm near their manufacturing plant in St. Brieux, Saskatchewan. Upon a bit of reflection, however, it makes sense that a company that designs and builds seeding equipment should have a comprehensive understanding of how the seeding system piece fits in to the entire farming puzzle. Also, from a practical perspective, the commercial farm serves as one of many field testing locations for new Bourgault equipment before it’s released to market. Field testing of new equipment has always been an important step in Bourgault’s equipment development process. This has been the approach since Bourgault’s inception in 1974.
As an Inventor, Farmer and Mechanic, Bourgault’s founder, Frank Bourgault, experienced first-hand what happens if equipment hasn’t been put through its paces early in its development. His insistence on relentless testing became one of the cornerstones of Bourgault design and product development; this approach continues to serve the company today.
Since the early days, Bourgault has had access to roughly 600 acres of farmland to perform both R&D endurance testing and small scale agronomic research. In 2018, an additional 1,400 acres of land was acquired by Gerry Bourgault from his brother Jos. (This land includes the Bourgault family homestead that was started by Gerry’s Grandfather years ago!) In 2019, an additional 500 acres were rented from Bourgault employees. To support the farming efforts, farm equipment, a bin yard and a grain drier system were purchased. There was now enough land and equipment to operate as a commercial grain farm.
The goals of the farm are to:
- provide land, equipment, and labor for internal testing of equipment and concepts;
- conduct agronomic trials for both internal and external purposes that consist of replicated strip trials and larger scale field testing;
- provide an opportunity for Bourgault Employees to learn about the equipment through observation or ride-alongs;
- evaluate and establish "Best Farming Practices" in all aspects of the farm operation, so that the entire scope of challenges facing the Producer can be better understood and integrated into the overall company mindset and approach;
- educate customers (Seeding is Believing Field Days).
In addition, the Bourgault Farm acts as a Co-operator for the Bourgault Research and Development Team. If there is a new design that needs to be tested, R&D will work with the Farm Team to book the land, equipment, product and provide the labor that is required to carry out the testing. Many times these are projects that are in the early stages of development. One example of this is the Air Planter™ option. The AP™ option was tested on the Bourgault Farm before it hit the Co-operators’ fields. A second example is the first fully functional TriMax™ Triple-Shoot equipped drill and tank that was tested on the farm to prove out not only the equipment’s structural integrity, but also the benefits of the TriMax™ concept itself.
2021 Field Scale Testing
Testing will continue at the Bourgault Farm in 2021. One test that is planned for this year is to pair a L7550 Air Seeder Tank to a set of XR770™ Harrow that have a distribution kit installed on it. This unit will be capable of broadcasting fertilizer at variable rates throughout the field. Another test (which is anticipated to be the more interesting one) involves broadcasting granular herbicide using variable rate technology to match application rates to soil characteristics. The concept of putting a distribution kit on a harrow may not be new in the industry, but the application of variable rate granular herbicide will be something that hasn’t really been tested on a large scale.
Testing will also be conducted using the main drill, a 3335QDA 66' ParaLink Hoe Drill™, coupled with a 91300 Series Air Seeder. This system will be set up to test two unique TriMax™ Triple-Shoot configurations. The drill, set up on 10" row spacing, will have one half equipped with the PLS™ Opener with a double-shoot tip, and the other half of the drill will be equipped with the PLDS™ Opener. The entire drill will be equipped with Mid Row Bander® Fertilizer Applicators, giving it triple-shoot capability. This will test out these two approaches of side-banding starter fertilizer while mid row applying N in side-by-side comparisons in our wide range of soil conditions and residue levels. Very few Co-operators would engage in this type of comparison on their farm due to the risk of producing an uneven crop and potential trash flow issues. The information gathered from this testing on the Bourgault Farm will be presented in reports to help Producers make future decisions.
In addition to the physical testing of equipment and how it handles trash, there will also be testing done on two different varieties of canola in the same field. The goal will be to seed a longer maturing variety on hilltops and areas that typically mature faster, and shorter maturity varieties in lower areas that typically take longer to mature. This will be accomplished with variable rate technology where a map is used that establishes zones in the field. Satellite and drone imagery will be used to evaluate if maturity can be evened out across the entire field.
Season Long Research
While the seeding equipment, and how you use it in any given situation, is arguably the most important puzzle piece in ensuring the success of your crop, other factors can play a synergistic role in your operation’s success.
As an example, high fertilizer rates applied with wheat at seeding time can typically result in lodging. We have evaluated the use of plant growth regulators on wheat seeded with various rates of fertilizer to determine if it is a viable option to minimize lodging, but still boost yields. Our testing has shown that the timely application of a plant growth regulator can successfully increase yield, while decreasing lodging compared to the control. Operating our own farm enabled us to evaluate if the added investment was justified in the returns at the end of the season. You, as a Producer, benefit because we share our results to help you determine if growth regulators, along with higher rates of fertilizer, will help manage your wheat stand through to a better harvest.
Replicated Field Trials
Test Plots
A 30' drill width is used so that 3 replications of all the treatments can be conducted in the same field, with statistical analysis performed.
In addition to equipment testing, replicated strip trials are conducted in canola and wheat every year using smaller, but real world seed drills. The equipment consists of a L7550 cart, and two 30' hoe drills that are configured with different spacing and options. A 30' drill width is used so that 3 replications of all the treatments can be conducted in the same field, with statistical analysis performed. This is important to ensure the results are due to the different treatments, and not due to chance.
Results from these trials are collected and analyzed using the same agronomic research practices employed at leading government and private research organizations. You can access the reports from these trials from the Agronomy section at: bourgault.com.
The Farm Crew consists of:
Curtis de Gooijer PAg, CCA - Agronomy Team Lead;
Jeff Strukoff PAg - Farm Manager with experience owning and operating a private crop input retail;
Allan Lefebvre - Seasonal Farm Technician with over 35 years experience working at Bourgault.
With a dedicated team, pride is taken to ensure that the crops grown are of the highest quality and that the farm is profitable each season.
The Bourgault Farm is a unique operation that has many goals; internally it serves the needs of Engineering and Marketing which ultimately fulfills its main goal of serving the end-user, the Producer. Using the right seeding equipment is critical, but as all Producers know, the success of the operation encompasses all activities throughout the entire year. The Bourgault Farm helps develop winning solutions, from the bag to the bin!