Features Other Crops
From the Editor: Planning for success

It’s planning season at Top Crop Manager, and as this issue went to press, our team was at the height of planning for Fall 2021 and beyond. It’s an exciting process – we discuss ideas for the coming year, reflect on what’s working and where improvement is necessary, and share reader feedback we’ve collected. 

Earlier this spring, I received a phone call from a long-time subscriber named Linda, who suggested we consider including recipes for some of the more non-traditional crops being grown in Canada, as sharing the versatility of the end-use product could show producers the value in growing these important crops. We had a great chat about how crop production has evolved so much and how these “newer” crops may one day be as common as growing wheat or canola.  

Linda’s call had me thinking back to the early days of Top Crop Manager. The magazine started in 1973 as a series of editions, including Beans in Canada, Corn in Canada, Canola in Canada and Potatoes in Canada – the last of which still exists today. These editions, collectively part of what became Agri-Book Magazine, aimed to bring third-party crop production research to specific crop producers in Canada, before officially becoming Top Crop Manager in 1989. While our delivery methods have evolved to incorporate a website, weekly eNewsletter, social media accounts, live and virtual events and a podcast, we remain true to our mandate to provide well-researched and written articles about third-party crop production research and technology – these are the pillars of the Top Crop Manager brand. 

Behind the scenes, our team discusses growth strategies almost daily. Some are a hit – look at western field editor Bruce Barker’s new Agronomy Update column, which we introduced in our September 2020 edition, or the many posters and resource guides we’ve developed over the years. Each new idea is carefully discussed (and sometimes heavily debated) before we decide to more forward, table it for another time, or scrap it altogether. I loved Linda’s idea, but I wasn’t able to convince the team to include recipes that use flax or quinoa. However, her suggestion was a good reminder to think outside the box and embrace the non-traditional as we plan for next year. As it so happens, the continued COVID-19 pandemic has given us a push in that direction as well. With that in mind, we’ve decided our 2022 Top Crop Summit will be held virtually again, as it was in 2021, out of an abundance of caution and given the continued uncertainty.

I can’t reveal all of the good stuff we have in the works just yet, but much like your strategy for each farm season, the recipe for success at Top Crop Manager includes a strong foundation, a lot of planning, open minds and a few calculated risks. We hope the articles in this issue, combined with your own methods, contribute to a successful season.   

Editor’s note: Due to an unfortunate error, Top Crop Manager’s 2021 Fungicide Guide, published in April 2021, did not feature accurate information for certain products. We have corrected the Fungicide Guide online to include the most up-to-date information possible. Please visit www.topcropmanager.com/2021-western-fungicide-guide for the most recent version. We apologize for the error.