Two farmers from Norquay received an award for reaching the highest gross dollar per acre in 2016.
Effa-Toffan Farms from Norquay has been crowned this year’s Prairie Soil Services 2016 “Canola King Champion,” according to a release from Prairie Soil Services Ltd. The winners, Scott Effa and Justin Toffan, achieved a gross dollar per acre of $766.40, with a yield of 67.02 bushels per acre and a contracted price of $504.30 per megaton or $11.44 per bushel.
The Canola King Challengeentered its 10th year in 2016 after being created as an opportunity for local producers to test new management practices and strategies in order to achieve the highest canola yields possible. This includes, but is not limited to, genetics, seed treatments, chemistries, advanced fertility with the use of micronutrients, fungicides, enhanced technologies and agronomic consulting, said Mat Dennison, general manager.
The competition was updated for its anniversary from previous years and now combines the Canola Kingand Commodity King challengesrun by Prairie. Not only did the challengers have to combine all the best management practices to achieve the highest yield, they also had to market the bushels to achieve the overall highest gross dollars per acre. The winners this year were awarded the use of a new 2016 Chevrolet Silverado for one year.
Even though Effa-Toffan Farms won the challenge, Dennison said that all participants deserved recognition for their achievements and hard work that was put into their 2016 crops.
With the Saskatchewan provincial average at 40 bushels per acre in 2016, producers proved to the rest of the province that higher canola yields are very possible when maximizing productivity. The average yield in the challenge was 60.98 bushels per acre, which in turn reduces the per bushel cost of production, a concept that is aimed for in the annual “Field of Dreams” project conducted by Prairie Soil Services.
