It was a crop tour of a different kind at Agriculture and Agriculture Agri-Food Canada in Portage la Prairie. Tuesday saw the Canola Council of Canada and Manitoba Canola Growers host CanolaPALOOZA at the site, providing a variety of information to canola producers in a casual environment. While some of the province's top canola experts were on site, they kept presentations relatively short, interactive, and some even featured demonstrations and games. Canola Council agronomy specialist Justine Cornelsen helped organize the day, and says they chose to take that approach to create a more engaging information-based event.

"People learn in different ways. We do a lot of events where there's a PowerPoint, pictures on the screen, and someone is speaking. This way, it's a little more hands on and interactive with the instructors."

Hundreds of producers attended the event, with crowds gathering at each presentation, asking questions, and getting feedback on best practices. Cornelsen calls the day a success, noting canola growers seemed very responsive to the layout.

"People enjoy it. They enjoy the free-flowing structure, which is really a key component to CanolaPALOOZA. They really like to go to a station they're interested in, say stand establishment, talk to instructors and have those one-on-one conversations. We find that people ask a lot more questions with one-on-one. If they're in a big group, people don't want to ask those questions."

One of the booths to draw attention was the set up for insect management. The display featured preserved species of pests and even a full display of live bees. Canola Council agronomy specialist Gregory Sekulic manned the pollinator portion of the booth, which focused on the vital relationship between canola producers and beekeepers. While that mutual relationship is important, Sekulic says it's not only the pollinators that can help improve crop yields. He says many species of wild insects can also play an important role, and that's something canola growers should work to promote.

"It's a very strong economic message for producers to preserve or even enhance those natural spaces close to their cropland for their own benefit, because they're actually going to increase their yield. The parasitic wasps will help control their pests, and the beetles that will help eat a lot of the pest species. One of the more fascinating things that you'll see is carabid beetles in a feeding frenzy on some of the pest species, like diamondback moth and cutworm, for example."

Overall organizers says the event was great success, and thank all those who helped make it a great day.