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Rose Valley Colony, harvest 2019. Photo: Dean Kitchen
Located about 40 kilometers (25 miles) east of Assiniboia, Saskatchewan, Rose Valley Colony farms just over 15,000 acres, growing spring wheat, durum, lentils, chickpeas, and yellow peas. William (Willy) Hofer is the farm boss, with 2021 being his second growing season in the role. Being the farm boss on a large operation comes with its own set of challenges but Willy doesn’t do it alone — he receives support from the previous farm boss, Ben Wipf, and his trusted team of agronomists and on-farm support, including Decisive Farming by TELUS Agriculture Territory Manager, Dean Kinchen.
“I have some good, good support that I can lean on for advice.”
Rose Valley Colony spring wheat field, 2021. Photo: Dean Kinchen
See the difference for yourself
Rose Valley Colony began working with Dean in 2016, when then farm boss Ben decided to trial Optimize RX® for variable rate applications. That first year, Rose Valley used Optimize RX on 1,200 acres, to get a sense of what value Optimize Rx could bring. Dean recalls that Ben saw value right away with a difference in production in the five field zones, and appreciated the high level of customer support received from Decisive Farming. The following season, Rose Valley decided to move to full-farm Optimize RX.
Since 2017, Rose Valley has employed Optimize RX variable rate across all 15,000 acres. Willy knows that every field has its own high producing zones, and he really likes that he can be confident they are putting nutrients and seed where they’re going to get the most benefit. In 2021, Willy could see the benefits right in his spring wheat fields; “You can definitely see downhill, uphill, and it’s so even; I think it’s due to the variable rating.”
“There’s no point putting a bunch of fertilizer on areas that won’t produce no matter what you do.”
What advice does Willy have for those considering Optimize RX?
Try it out on your own farm and see for yourself, just like Rose Valley Colony did in 2016. “We did a partial farm and we liked what we saw. And here we are five, six years later, and we’re doing the whole farm.”
“Do a couple thousand acres and see for yourself. Then you’ll see the difference.”