Crop Management Decision Making: Information Used and Required By Manitoba Crop Producers

As part of the project entitled "Management Options for Grain Production in the 1980s and 1990s", a farmer survey was conducted during the fall and winter of 1988-89. A total of 234 Manitoba crop producers were interviewed, and asked questions concerning the information used and required in making specific crop management decisions. The survey respondents were asked questions pertaining to the following management decisions : 1. fertilizer rates, and method/timing of nitrogen application, ii. method/timing of pesticide application, 111. varietal selection for wheat and canola, and iv. canola acreage decisions. In each case, farmers were requested to provide actual practices, information used in making decisions, and perceived information gaps. Producers were also asked questions in two other areas relating to crop production. First, feedback concerning the degree of use and usefulness of several Manitoba Agriculture publications was requested. Secondly, farmers were asked to comment on two current issues in crop production; the dry conditions that were experienced during 1988, and the prevalence of soil conservation practices. The survey respondents indicated that most of the information that is available to them is put to use in making crop management decisions. However, the producers indicated, through their responses, that further information is required in order to make the proper decisions. This conclusion was consistent for all of the various management decisions that were addressed in the survey. The primary recommendation arising from this study is that information required for crop management decisions should be more specific. The specificity may be for regional differences, soil type differences, crop/varietal differences, or climatic differences, depending upon the type of decision being considered.