Starting in May, Prairie farmers will have access to an up-to-the-day fusarium head blight forecasting tool for winter and spring wheat, durum, and barley.
The new forecasting tool is based on over five years of research and field-level proof-of-concept work supported by Alberta Grains, SaskWheat, SaskBarley, the Manitoba Crop Alliance, the University of Manitoba and the three Prairie Province governments.
It also draws data from multiple weather stations across the Prairies, but there’s a gap in some areas of Saskatchewan that organizers are hoping to fill ahead of May 1, when data begins to be collected.
Paul Bullock, senior scholar with the University of Manitoba’s department of soil science, says that Saskatchewan farmers in specific areas may be eligible for a free Metos weather station, if they are willing to host the station and share the data and are located in one of the areas where data coverage is lacking.
Bullock says that any farmer on the Prairies with a Pessl/Metos station can also volunteer to share their data with the forecasting tool. Interested producers can contact Metos directly to share their data. For those looking to see if they qualify for a free station, Bullock says they can email him at [email protected].
Listen on for background on the project, how forecasting will work, and more!
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