A bag of seed corn checks in at 80,000 kernels and typically weighs between 35 and 65 pounds. One bag will plant roughly 2.5 acres. But the job of producing that seed is very different than growing a commercial corn crop. On this episode of RealAgriculture’s Corn School, we kick off a three-part series on… Read More
Category: Seed
Sevita Genetics has received regulatory approval for Alinova, a non-GMO, high-oleic soybean variety, a food-grade soybean industry first for Canada. The variety, available for planting this growing season, is also tolerant to soybean cyst nematode, says Sevita. It is a mid- to late-season variety suitable for Ontario and Quebec growing conditions. Sevita says high-oleic soybean… Read More
A European corn borer (ECB) population in part of eastern Canada appears to have developed resistance to a Bt protein commonly used in North American corn hybrids for preventing damage from the pest. On April 27th, the Canadian Corn Pest Coalition reported a sample of ECB collected near Truro, Nova Scotia, showed reduced susceptibility to… Read More
Several government departments, consultations, and decisions are converging to clear a path for gene-editing technology to be approved as a breeding technique for conventional crops. That’s right, if the last hurdle can be cleared — approval of gene-edited plants for livestock feed — a variety or cultivar produced with gene-editing techniques would be considered non-novel… Read More
The Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food Marie-Claude Bibeau today announced how Canada will handle crop cultivars that contain gene-editing as part of the breeding process. Bibeau says the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) has officially published updated guidance for Part V(5) of the Seed Regulations to make it clear which plants — whether developed via… Read More
Canada’s seed industry is in the midst of modernizing the Seeds Act and Seeds Regulations, administered by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA). The review and modernization process, now several years in the works, is set to wrap up in 2024. The main purpose of the Seeds Act and Seeds Regulations is to protect producers… Read More
For many areas of Western Canada, the soil is still quite cool, or only just beginning to warm up. However, just because there’s not a lot of biological activity going on in the soil, doesn’t mean the risk for soil-borne disease goes away. As Shad Milligan of Syngenta explains in our latest Wheat School episode,… Read More
This spring, corn growers will be planting different seed sizes ranging from large rounds to flats and small rounds. Does the seed size impact the potential yield growers can expect to combine this fall? On this episode of the RealAgriculture Corn School, PRIDE Seeds agronomist Olivia Noorenberghe notes that all seed, regardless of size, carries… Read More
Syngenta Seeds’ NK conventional soybeans will be sold under a new brand for the 2024 growing season and distributed by two licensees – Hensall Co-op and Jackson Seed Service. The company says the move to a licensing model for its conventional, high-protein soybeans will help meet customer and end-use market demand more effectively. Syngenta will… Read More
Higher yields are always a top priority for plant breeders developing new crop varieties, but yield itself is the result of a combination of different factors, including resistance to disease threats, maturity timing, and harvestability. These characteristics are all taken into consideration when screening and developing new edible bean varieties, explains Anfu Hou, bean breeder… Read More
A program designed to provide Prairie canola growers with third-party data comparing different canola varieties will be terminated following the 2022 harvest, according to a notice issued to industry partners. The Canola Performance Trials (CPT) program, which dates back to 2011, was funded by the Saskatchewan, Alberta, and Manitoba canola grower associations and commissions. “After… Read More
Each year, corn hybrid selection is a balancing of growing conditions, field selection, and in-field management that can bring up some tough questions to navigate when chasing big yields. On this episode of The Sharp Edge, Maizex agronomist Greg Stewart tackles these questions with with help from Illinois-based Crop-Tech Consulting agronomist Ken Ferrie. Together, they… Read More
It’s time for Day 2 of Ontario Diagnostic Days! The annual Ontario crop diagnostic days were back in the field on July 20 and 21, 2022, but only at Ridgetown campus University of Guelph. Not everyone could attend these two field days, so the organizing committees of these highly successful in-field education and learning events are again… Read More
BASF is switching the main seed treatment package on its InVigor canola varieties for 2023, after determining “many, many factors” led to certain canola fields getting off to a noticeably sluggish start in 2022. The company, which has long held the largest market share in canola seed in Canada, published a statement in late June… Read More
Living in a world where everything from entertainment and fixes to problems are seemingly instantaneous, wheat breeding remains outside of these parameters, taking upwards of 10 years to have a concept come to fruition. This balance between what we know now and what may be needed in the future is what wheat breeders, like Richard… Read More