ONTARIO GRAIN FARMER RURAL LIVING 32 The tour was an excellent opportunity for North American growers to engage with like-minded farmers in the UK, learn more about growing great wheat, and understand the challenges faced by UK farmers. It also provided an opportunity to bring back information, tools, and resources that could help them on their farms in North America. “The YEN started in the UK 13 years ago,” says Alexandra Dacey, Grain Farmers of Ontario’s agronomy projects coordinator. “The Great Lakes YEN is modelled after their program, and we wanted to learn more about why their farmers have such great success growing wheat—particularly from Tim Lamyman, a British farmer who, in 2022, was the Guinness World Record holder for the largest wheat yield, an astonishing 17.95 tonnes/hectare (286 bushels/acre).” District 11 (Dufferin, Simcoe, Halton, Peel, York) farmer-member Alan Thompson says he joined YEN to “move the needle” on wheat production, and learning from other farmers has been integral to making that happen. In addition to the UK tour, he participated in previous tours in Ontario and Michigan. “Getting over there, learning, seeing what they're doing differently, what is it that they're doing that we're not doing,” says Thompson of his reason for joining the tour. “They've been able to figure it out, but I haven't been able to get it right.” Thompson says the weather and the type of soil in the UK have a lot to do with their success growing wheat. “But, I think there is a lot of learning for us to come back to Ontario and put into practice,” he says. “What they really do is understand the wheat stages and time of application. I think that's where I'm really going to try hard to do the little things.” Mary Feldskov Globetrotting farmers Learning from farmers abroad brings new perspectives In June, 28 farmers and extension staff from Ontario and the U.S. travelled to the UK to tour farms, research facilities, and attend the annual Cereals conference as part of this year’s Great Lakes Yield Enhance Network (YEN) networking tour.
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