The clubroot story in Western Canada continues to be written as researchers are finding additional strains of the pathogen that are capable of overcoming genetic resistance. So far, 13 new variants have been identified since the breakdown of resistance was first confirmed in 2013, explains Stephen Strelkov, plant pathology researcher at the University of Alberta. “We think resistance… Read More
Pundits have said the leaders of the next agricultural revolution – the digital revolution — will be big data-powered researchers, with a universe of information in hand to help make farming more efficient than ever. But no one said those researchers would be found in the labs, fields, and classrooms of some of Canada’s main… Read More
The producer-funded Western Grains Research Foundation has renewed its wheat breeding partnership with the University of Alberta’s Faculty of Agricultural, life & Environmental Sciences, committing $811,587 to the program over the next five years. “The wheat breeding program at the U of A’s Faculty of ALES is an important piece of the western Canadian wheat… Read More
Edmonton’s Prairie Urban Farm has an ambitious goal. They hope to convert a shipping container into a traveling food factory — a project that will require $100,000 to complete. Prairie Urban Farm has been running on the University of Alberta’s south campus for two years now. It was developed out of a growing concern that… Read More
Despite minimum size requirements and increasing license fees, it seems trophy hunting of bighorn sheep may have some rather alarming, and unintended consequences. David Coltman, a professor of biological sciences at the University of Alberta, alongside his colleagues from the University of Sherbrooke, has been studying data collected on bighorn sheep on Ram Mountain, near Nordegg, Alberta. The… Read More
With great sadness I found out this morning that Dr. Lloyd Dosdall has passed away after a long battle with cancer. See Dr. Dosdall’s bio on the University of Alberta’s website I remember back in July 2010 when I first met Dr. Lloyd Dosdall. It was at the Farming Smarter site on the east side of… Read More
Wild oat control is, like it or not, an increasingly costly issue in Western Canada. Not only is herbicide expensive (costing growers over $500 million annually), we are also seeing an increase in resistant wild oat populations. There are several fields with confirmed resistance to both Group 1 and Group 2 products. Farmers do and… Read More
Purebred cattle operations rely largely on DNA for parentage verification and identifying potential genetic defects, but where is the rest of the industry at with genomics? Is there a role for genome mapping in commercial herds? How will it help the industry as a whole? “There’s genomic tools for every sector of the value chain… Read More
Most people think, with wet, cool conditions, cutworms are not a problem. For the most part that’s true, but the cutworm is a very diverse insect with many different species and types. This makes it difficult to typify their behaviour as a whole and risky to ignore them just because of the weather. They can… Read More
With the wet weather across the prairies getting all the media attention, you would assume that most farmers would be dealing with pests that come with an over abundance of moisture. With the majority of the west being wet except for the Peace, pests that love moisture will become a real problem. The interesting thing… Read More
Canola research continues to receive a lot of attention from the breeding programs around the world. In Canada canola is a very important crop for seed companies, processors and most of all farmers. Due to the fact canola is an accepted biotech crop in Canada researchers are working very diligently to increase the traits available… Read More
As if the Western Canadian canola fields have not had enough challenges this year but now we also have to deal with the presence of the diamondback moth. The diamondback moth is really causing havoc this season in comparison to prior years. In this episode of the Canola School, I speak to University of Alberta, Associate Professor… Read More