Fertilizer Efficiency and Strip Tillage Tour (FEASTT)

For Immediate Release:

FEASTT Offers Corn and Soybean Growers New Technologies

Local corn and soybean growers searching for new ways to drive crop yields higher and improve profitability should mark the FEASTT on their calendars – a Fertilizer Efficiency and Strip Tillage Tour being held on August 22.  

The FEASTT will demonstrate new tillage, planting, and foliar nutrition technologies – all on field-sized plots in the Drayton area that have been strip tilled and planted with corn and soybeans between strips of wheat stubble and corn stubble.

“Strip tillage is growing in popularity across Ontario as farmers focus more on soil conservation and reduced tillage to minimize compaction, lower their input costs, and improve fertilizer management,” says Ken Brett with Alpine Plant Nutrition, one of the companies hosting the field tour.

New technologies being featured at the FEASTT include:

• A four-foot root pit that Alpine Agronomist Rich Recker will climb into, giving a ‘pit talk’ that points out root zone activity and soil health issues, such as compaction layers, that farmers should watch for in their fields.
• The impact and cost efficiency of deep-placing liquid Alpine fertilizer while strip tilling in the fall – rather than broadcasting fertilizer across the entire field – spurring strong root growth in the spring.
• The results of seed-placing liquid Alpine Starter fertilizer in the spring, followed by foliar applications through the growing season with ALPINE SRN – a slow-release, plant-safe, liquid Nitrogen fertilizer that is tank-mixed and applied with fungicides, boosting corn yields by up to 11 bushels. 
• A Monosem twin-row planter that pushes plant populations and yields by spacing seeds with precision, staggering them along the twin rows to prevent plant competition.
• The Swinglet CAM, new technology developed by Ag Business and Crop Inc. This unmanned drone will fly over the FEASTT crops providing aerial images that allow farmers to monitor plant growth and address potential problems quickly during the growing season.

Five leading agricultural businesses have teamed up to present the FEASTT: Alpine Plant Foods, Clean Field Services Inc., MK Martin Enterprise Inc., Can East Equipment Limited, and Monosem.

Morning and afternoon sessions are available – at 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. – each with a meal to follow. Admission is $10/person with all proceeds donated to charity. For more information or to register, email Marli at engelandm@nachurs-alpine.com or call 1-800-265-2268.