The length of time it takes to a new technology to clear regulatory approvals is often seen as a barrier to innovation. In the case of a new wheat variety, for example, there are multiple pieces of federal legislation (ie. the Canada Seeds Act and the Canada Grains Act) and government departments involved in bringing… Read More
Search Results for: wheat breeding
Ontario’s corn crop is showing high vomitoxin levels and growers are being urged to harvest as quickly as possible to preserve corn quality. Last week, the OMAFRA Field Crops team revealed that 26% of the samples taken in its annual vomitoxin survey had DON concentrations of 2.0 ppm or greater. At these levels, vomitoxin produced… Read More
There are revolutionary developments happening in the world of molecular biology that could soon make their way to the farm or field. That is, if society allows it. Chances are you’ve seen a headline containing the terms ‘gene editing’ or ‘CRISPR’ in the last year or two. It likely involved a scientist excited about how this new… Read More
Barley grower organizations from the three prairie provinces and the Western Grains Research Foundation are investing $2.4 million over the next five years in the barley variety development program at the University of Saskatchewan’s Crop Development Centre. The funding from Alberta Barley, the Saskatchewan Barley Development Commission, the Manitoba Wheat and Barley Growers Association and… Read More
Canada’s largest distributor of certified seed is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year. Likely ahead of its time in bringing together industry, universities, government and producer partners, the not-for-profit member association known as SeCan was started in 1976. “The roots are tied very closely to the Canadian Seed Growers Association — seed growers, seed trade,… Read More
A red spring wheat variety that accounted for more than 20 percent of wheat acres in Western Canada in the early 2000s has been chosen as the 2015-16 Seed of the Year West. CDC Teal was developed by Dr. Geoff Hughes and Dr. Pierre Hucl at the University of Saskatchewan’s Crop Development Centre and supported… Read More
Winnipeg-based Canterra Seeds and Limagrain were in Saskatoon, Sask., Thursday to announce the establishment of a new cereal breeding and development partnership, Limagrain Cereals Research Canada. The joint venture will be located in Saskatoon. Limagrain Cereals will bring “significant added value to western Canadian agriculture by developing new varieties of cereals, with a specific focus on… Read More
After a 41 year career with Agriculture & Agri-Food Canad, and building his reputation as a world-class wheat breeder, Dr. Ron DePauw has joined SeCan in the position of Science Advisor. DePauw recently retired from AAFC, a career marked by the successful breeding of prairie-farm-staple AC Barrie. DePauw was also a co-developer of AC Lillian,… Read More
Ergot (often refered to as “Ergot of Rye”) is a disease caused by the plant fungus Claviceps pururea. It’s history with humans is rich and painful, believed to be a contributing factor in the Salem Witch Trials, and the diagnoses of “Holy Fire,” later termed “St. Anthony’s Fire.” Today, it is regarded as a highly… Read More
The Canadian International Grains Institute (Cigi) is receiving $2 million from the governments of Canada and Manitoba to purchase new equipment for applied grain research. Manitoba Agriculture Minister Ron Kostyshyn announced the funding on Friday. It’s part of both governments’ larger commitment of $20 million over five years to a “Grain Innovation Hub” in the province. “We… Read More
The Western Grains Research Foundation (WGRF) is aggressively increasing the amount of money it’s investing in field crop research. The board for the producer organization recently passed a budget of over $18 million for 2015 — up from a projected $14.8 million in 2014 and $7.3 million spent in 2013. “WGRF member organizations have encouraged… Read More
Welcome to the first episode of an exciting new four-part series on Real Agriculture — Beyond the Bushel. In this series, we’ll take you on an in-depth exploration of the wheat and barley value chain in Western Canada. While wheat is a very familiar crop, and one that grows well over much of the world,… Read More
Plant breeding takes time. Significant amounts of it, in fact. While genetic resistance to things like diseases or pests or even built-in agronomic traits like standability are the ideal, a new wheat variety may take a decade to produce, and even then, still not meet all the needs of every farmer who grows it. In… Read More
There are those who would rather not put extra funding towards varietal research, but to Steve Tomtene, a Saskatchewan-based farmer, the return on research and development is entirely worth the investment. “Our farm started back in the late sixties,” Tomtene explains in an interview with Shaun Haney, “and I think when we look back over the course… Read More
The Alberta Wheat Commission (AWC) announced today its plans of investing $1.5 million across ten agronomic and breeding/genetic research projects. This funding commitment is part of the Agriculture Funding Consortium (AFC), a group of 14 funding organizations that have partnered to collaborate on agriculture research funding. Kent Erickson, chair of AWC’s board of directors, says… Read More