OXBOW - Ian, Jo-Anne, Liam and Anna Cushon hosted a day-long tour on their Moose Creek Organic Farm north of Oxbow recently. Close to 60 farmers showed up.
The farm is about 5,000 acres. Several crops are raised, including flax, wheat, oats, alfalfa seed and hemp.
Most who attended, like Bill Armstrong, have been farming organically for a number of years and the day gave him the opportunity to acquire new wisdom in becoming an even more effective farmer. The Cushons have been raising crops organically since 1989 and are very innovative. They’re constantly trying out new ideas to raise better crops, and they’re willing to share their findings with farmers to save them the time and money required for experimenting.
Graham Pusch transitioned from conventional farming to organic farming because of concerns he has about the health impact of the chemicals being used. That concern became personal for Pusch.
His brother Rod, whom he farmed with, developed cancer shortly after the switch to organic farming and Pusch believes that the cancer resulted from working with chemicals. Rod passed away two years ago. Like Armstrong, Pusch saw the tour as being of great value in becoming a more productive farmer.
Several had given up on traditional farming because they saw an increasing portion of their income going to chemical companies. They, too, wanted to discover how organic farming could become more profitable to them.
Organic farming is considerably different than conventional farming. Because chemicals are not used, other means are used for weed control and soil nutrition. This is done naturally, using natural elements like chicken manure and clover to provide the necessary nutrition.
Three attendees came from the University of Manitoba. Martin Entz is a professor, Sarah Wilcott is a research co-ordinator and Michelle Carkner is working on her PhD in phosphorous use efficiency. They have a vested interest in the Cushon farm as they have research sites in their fields that they monitor closely.
Entz was sharing that the difference between conventional farming and organic farming is comparable to the difference between checkers and chess. In checkers, moves are reactionary, on the spur of a moment, where in chess, a player needs to look several moves ahead.
The Cushons cannot simply add synthetic fertilizers to add phosphates and nutrients to the soil. They need to give their fields the opportunity to replenish those things naturally and that means that on any given year, up to about 40 per cent of their land is unused for crop, allowing the fields to rejuvenate by letting clover and alfalfa grow and then plowing it down.
That is costly, resulting in new ideas being constantly tried out to make the years of planting even more productive.
The day was spent taking a bus from field to field to see the results. At each field, Cushon explained what was going on and then a question-and-answer session followed where farmers could speak with the Cushons and the U of M representatives. It also gave opportunity for all farmers to share their ideas with their peers to help them become better at what they do.
A break was taken where a lunch was served and many door prizes were given out.
