This summer, we didn’t just talk agronomy - we pulled back the curtain and invited our Independent Ag Retail and industry partners to join us for an Answer Plot prairie crop tour to put agronomy on full display. The Answer Plot site is located just east of Saskatoon and provides first-hand relevant data for the Independent Ag Retails on the Prairies who want to see it to believe it.
Answer Plot has been a fixture to the Prairie crop tour season since first launching in 2018. These tours have always been unique – providing actual demonstrations of various products and symptomology along with bringing new products and hybrids to the field. With a motto of “we fail here so you don’t have to”, the demos shown provide both new and seasoned agronomists an opportunity to explore different tank-mix combinations and application variations. It’s where we push the limits to see what actually works in Prairie soil, not just in a sales guide.
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Another participant was already locked in for next year, saying "We’re in. Just let us know the date. We learned so much about the importance of water quality as well as how MasterLock and StrikeLock® offer benefits over InterLock®”.
The new soil pit and blackout tent demo stole the spotlight, earning top marks from both veteran agronomists and first-time visitors. With lessons this relevant, it’s no surprise people are already marking their calendars for a return in 2027.
Answer Plot has been a fixture to the Prairie crop tour season since first launching in 2018. These tours have always been unique – providing actual demonstrations of various products and symptomology along with bringing new products and hybrids to the field. With a motto of “we fail here so you don’t have to”, the demos shown provide both new and seasoned agronomists an opportunity to explore different tank-mix combinations and application variations. It’s where we push the limits to see what actually works in Prairie soil, not just in a sales guide.
What was on the lineup?
The Root Seller Soil Pit
Perhaps the most ambitious undertaking in Answer Plot’s history, a six foot pit was dug to showcase the difference in root development with and without the use of the Ascend® SL plant growth regulator, applied as a seed treatment. Getting the opportunity to see the roots clearly, at eye level, in their natural environment, left no room for doubt that particularly on the corn and lentil strips the Ascend treatments had noticeably more advanced root systems.
Supplier partner showcase
Events like Answer Plot are not possible without the generous support of our industry partners, including Koch Agronomic Services®, Corteva Agriscience™, ADAMA®, UPL Corp., Gowan®, and Nufarm®. Each brought forward the products they offer that have the biggest potential impacts for Prairie farmers, with demos and storyboards to showcase not just what exists today, but also what is coming down the pipeline. Some of the highlights included learning about the brand new phosphorous fertilizer mobility enhancer, PHOSFORCE™, at the KOCH stop; refreshing on herbicide layering at UPL; updates on brand new products like Bifecta® EZ and Fierce® MTZ at Nufarm; symptomology and tank-mix safety with CAZADO™ at ADAMA; a detailed mode of action demo highlighting soil applied extended control products at Gowan; and looking for differences in hail recovery with biologicals at the Corteva stop.
Agronomy Demos
The WinField® United Market Development team put demos to work to answer the most common questions they get asked from retail, including things like “does water quality really make a difference with glyphosate” (yes), “does droplet size really have a difference for different types of pesticides?” (also, yes), and “are there ways to reduce antagonism when graminicides are added with Express®?” (in short – it depends). These sites let participants see for themselves the difference that can be made with small adjustments to standard application practices.
The Blackout Tent
First launched at Answer Plot in 2026, this tent was created to show differences in droplet size uniformity and canopy penetration on canola treated with dye + water only vs. dye + water + MasterLock®. Armed with blacklights, this ingenious hands-on-application demo gave participants a unique way to see how MasterLock truly alters spray patterns to improve coverage. There was no arguing with what your eyes were seeing!
CROPLAN Canola Trials
Heavy hitters were in the ground with the canola variety tours showcasing the four new CROPLAN® hybrids. - CP26T3C as well as CP2603C (formerly B4022), CP26L2P (formerly B3060), and CP23L3C (formerly B3022). With these great hybrids expanding the comprehensive CROPLAN canola lineup, there is truly a CROPLAN for every region for the 2027 growing season.
What Stuck After the Dust Settled
The mornings brought an abundance of donuts, fuelling laughter, straight-talk agronomy, and the kind of conversations you can’t get from a webinar. As one attendee shared, “It’s clear to see the work that’s put into the site, and that WinField United is addressing real issues we deal with most years”.Another participant was already locked in for next year, saying "We’re in. Just let us know the date. We learned so much about the importance of water quality as well as how MasterLock and StrikeLock® offer benefits over InterLock®”.
The new soil pit and blackout tent demo stole the spotlight, earning top marks from both veteran agronomists and first-time visitors. With lessons this relevant, it’s no surprise people are already marking their calendars for a return in 2027.
