University of Manitoba student seeking cover crop survey participants

By Jordan Parker
jordanparker339@gmail.com

A study on cover crops and their uses by a University of Manitoba Ph.D. candidate could provide much-needed context and knowledge for the Prairies.

Callum Morrison, a second-year student focusing on plant science, wants to capture and encapsulate Saskatchewan’s unique experiences and other provinces but needs farmers’ help.

“I want to see the current state of cover cropping in the Prairies. We want to see what has been done, why it was done that way, and what’s leading farmers to their decisions,” he said.

“I’m looking at how cover crops are used, the benefits farmers have seen, and any trends over time. We also need to look at the challenges farmers face. This can allow farmers, researchers and policymakers to mitigate issues, find better support, and research what the future holds.”

This marks the first cover crop survey across the three Prairie provinces – Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba – and a similar project in Ontario.

“A cover crop can be grown to provide cover to soil, and they’re usually grown when cash crops aren’t. Any crop that provides a farmer income is a ‘cash crop,’ “he said.

“Cover crops are also grown in the shoulder season and are often done by organic and livestock farmers.”

Morrison said the information he’s been seeking just wasn’t there before, so he made a choice to try to gain it.

“We knew there were innovative farmers doing cover crops, but we didn’t know the results of their work. We needed specific regional data. We have diverse climates, moisture and season changes,” he said.

“It wasn’t enough to just rely on numbers from the U.S. We needed local stats. We needed numbers good enough for our local farmers.”

The survey began in 2019, and it was the first across the prairie provinces. It became imperative when – due to COVID-19 – no field studies could be conducted.

They currently have over 400 respondents from the Prairies – with 225 who did cover crop in 2020.

“We want to expand participation. We asked farmers questions they’d like answers to as well, and we want to extend a survey to those who didn’t do cover crops and ask why,” he said.

“The possible adoption of cover cropping can be gauged, as well as what is limiting cover crop use. We can attempt to reduce barriers to doing it and gain all sorts of necessary data.”

To learn more about the survey, please visit https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/prairiecovercrops2020.