b'THE RESULTS OF A BIG PRAIRIE WATERSHED STUDY OFFER GOOD NEWSResearchers say the findings will help policymakers craft sound regulations regarding the use of crop protection products.Marc ZienkiewiczA MAJOR ALBERTA watershed studyAlberta Crops, a working collaborationability and government relations lead for has wrapped up and will soon issue abetween five of Albertas agriculture asso- the Alberta Pulse Growers, who played a report showing Alberta farmers are goodciations: Alberta Grains, Alberta Canola,major role in the study.stewards of crop protection products andAlberta Pulse Growers, Alberta SugarA lot has gone into it: hundreds of Albertas watersheds are not in dangerBeet Growers, and the Potato Growers ofthousands of dollars in funding has from the use of these important tools. Alberta. allowed researchers to screen 21 Alberta The Alberta Wetlands StewardshipThe project also has the support ofwetlands adjacent to agricultural land for and Water Monitoring Project embarkedResults Driven Agriculture Research,127 different pesticides. The data will be on a three-year mission that not onlythe Canadian Agricultural Partnership,stored in an online portal which will be delved into the depths of private wet- Bayer, Syngenta and BASF. available for consideration in pesticide lands but also aimed to bridge the gapWe spent a lot of time examiningre-evaluations and inform risk assess-between real-world data and the regula- the effectiveness of mitigating pesticidements completed by Health Canadas Pest tory landscape. runoff into wetlands using vegeta- Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA).The project strategically focused ontive filter strips, buffer zones, and bestThis study will provide useful infor-private wetlands, acknowledging thatmanagement practices. Also, understand- mation that the PMRA can consider in these smaller, less explored areas present aing the pesticide use adjacent to thesea national water monitoring framework more accurate reflection of pesticide con- wetlands was crucial for a comprehensivethat the PMRA is developing in collabo-centrations. It is spearheaded by Teamanalysis, says Nevin Rosaasen, sustain- ration with partners across the country.34 SEEDWORLD.COM/CANADA JULY 2024'