With the Canadian Spud Congress coming up on March 22 and 23, we’re highlighting the sessions happening at it on Spud Smart. In this story we’re taking a closer look at the “A Sustainable Future for Potato Production” session.
At last year’s Canadian Spud Congress, we spoke with potato growers from across Canada who have been experimenting with tillage equipment and minimal tillage. This year we have invited back some of those growers, along with a new face to update on what’s happening on their farms. In the last year we’ve saw a push for regenerative agriculture in potato production, we will discuss how this is impacting the way these growers farm.
Moderator: Marcel Bruins, Spud Smart European correspondent
Time: 2:30 p.m. CDT on March 22
Panelists
Chad Berry is a partner in Under the Hill Farms, Over the Hill Farms, and Pleasant Valley Golf Course. He’s also chair of the Keystone Potato Producers Association. Berry grows processing potatoes and 11 other crops across 13,000 acres. His farm’s always trying new techniques to make it more efficient and sustainable.
Harold Perry is a fourth-generation farmer. He farms with his brother Chris, father
Gerald, some fifth-generation enthusiasts, and an unbelievable crew. The Perry’s farm 5,000 acres with 4,500 of them irrigated in the Chin-Taber area of Alberta. The main crop they grow is potatoes for FritoLay and McCain Foods, as well as peas, grains, seed canola, silage corn, cover crops, and experimental mix cropping. The Perry’s make their own compost and run an anaerobic digester which generates electricity for the farm with extra power sold to the grid.
Homer Vander Zaag farms in Alliston, Ont. and is the president of H. J. Vander Zaag Farms Ltd. He has farmed since 1990, and in the last five years his daughter Karen and son Garrett joined the farm. They farm 1,900 acres of potatoes for the chip market and an additional 1,500 acres of cereal rotation crops.
To watch this session live register for the Canadian Spud Congress for free.
Thank you to our session sponsor Corteva Agriscience
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