Ontario Grain Farmer February 2021

8 continued from page 7 “I was actually thankful for the tornado because as I was driving, I could see all of the wheat fields turning white really prematurely,” he says. “I knew it was going to be a horrible crop, so I quickly called the companies who sponsored the destroyed plots. I asked them if they would reinvest in Fusarium research so we could learn as much about the current epidemic as possible. That’s how it started.” The change in course led Schaafsma and his team to visit 100 Ontario farms to sample wheat before and during harvest. They asked farmers for specific information about the management of each sampled field. “A fungicide emerged from that research and we got an emergency registration for the following spring. We learned a lot about the agronomy from the data set we collected and developed a model to predict Fusarium,” he says. “Art’s work on wheat variety disease screening, FHB model development, fungicide timing, and sprayer application, for example, have led to effective Fusarium management programs and helped to prevent another 1996,” says Albert Tenuta, field crop plant pathologist with the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA), who worked with Schaafsma for more than 25 years on various applied research and extension related projects. While Deen will still be involved in some N management research in 2021, he is looking forward to dedicating more time to his broiler and crop farm now that he is retired. He knows he wants to give back to the industry in some way and plans to explore service options in the future. While he has yet to map out what a retirement role could entail, there’s no doubt Ontario agriculture will benefit from any knowledge and expertise he shares. DR. ART SCHAAFSMA Passionate, practical, and the go-to resource for field crop pest management are a few of the ways Dr. Art Schaafsma is described by his colleagues in Ontario agriculture. A past director of the University of Guelph Ridgetown Campus and a professor in the department of Plant Agriculture for more than 30 years, Schaafsma was celebrated as a valued faculty member upon his retirement. He studied at the University of Guelph as a student and worked for two agricultural companies before joining his alma mater as a researcher and instructor in 1987. Between completing his PhD in 1990 and retiring last fall, his job description did not see many changes but his research focus continually shifted to adapt to new pest challenges. “My main area of research was insect and disease management in field crops,” he says. “My work was quite varied over the years, but Fusarium is one of the main topics I’ve been involved with since the beginning.” FOCUS ON FUSARIUM Although never problematic in the same year during his tenure, Schaafsma spent significant time researching Fusarium head blight (FHB) in wheat and Gibberella ear rot in corn. He has seen Fusarium cause major problems for farmers and tells the story of how Mother Nature played a role in making FHB a research priority in 1996. He was driving to a meeting in Illinois when he received a phone call that advised him a small tornado had hit Ridgetown Campus. Although his research plots were scattered across the campus, the tornado seemed to follow the same path and all of his research was destroyed. • Dr. Art Schaafsma was a professor in the department of Plant Agriculture for more than 30 years. • Schaafsma's main area of research was insect and disease management in field crops. He spent significant time researching Fusarium head blight (FHB) in wheat and Gibberella ear rot in corn. • Recently, Schaafsma and his team studied western bean cutworm (WBC). • Schaafsma has trained a significant number of people who now work in government, industry, and academia. WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW “His recent work to engage farmers, agronomists, and research colleagues in the ongoing development of an improved N decision support tool has kickstarted a unique research path that is already showing its value,” he says. LOOKING AHEAD Going forward, Deen hopes systems level research continues to be encouraged and supported. “It’s important that we continue to evaluate this concept of system complexity and try to better understand what level of system complexity we should be aiming for,” he says. He also stresses that recent N management research, including using the delta yield approach to generate farm data, should be continued because it has the potential to be transformative. DR. ART SCHAAFSMA. PHOTO COURTESY OF UNIVERSITY OF GUELPH.