CWRC commits over $22.6 million to AAFC wheat breeding activities

mca2022dev on October 19, 2020

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

October 19, 2020 (Calgary, Saskatoon, Carman) – The Canadian Wheat Research Coalition (CWRC), a collaboration of the Alberta Wheat Commission, Saskatchewan Wheat Development Commission, and Manitoba Crop Alliance, has committed more than $22.6 million over five years to a core breeding agreement with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) for the development of wheat varieties. The agreement ensures that farmers will benefit from new premium wheat varieties and associated genetics from AAFC’s breeding program for many years to come.

The CWRC assumed responsibility for producer funding of wheat varietal development from the Western Grains Research Foundation, which includes working with AAFC to provide the capacity needed to deliver improved genetics and profitability to producers. The $22.6 million commitment of producer funding is an increase of $2.6 million over the previous agreement. The funding will provide further support for plant breeders, technicians, and specialists who are working to deliver field-ready wheat varieties to western Canadian farmers.

“The activities being conducted by Canadian researchers and wheat breeders such as those at AAFC have led to major innovations over the past few decades, including the development of several new wheat varieties with improved genetics and more desirable traits,” said Fred Greig, CWRC board chair and a director with the Manitoba Crop Alliance. “Building on the work funded by farmers through organizations such as the Western Grains Research Foundation, this investment will ensure Canadian farmers benefit from new wheat varieties that improve and enhance the competitiveness of their farming operations while maintaining Canada’s reputation for providing quality wheat for markets around the globe.”

This agreement will contribute to the development of wheat cultivars that provide farmers with greater yield potential, resistance to priority diseases such as fusarium head blight, rusts, and common bunt, and resistance to pests such as the orange wheat blossom midge and wheat stem sawfly. AAFC will be concentrating on the development of wheat varieties in the Canadian Western Red Spring, Canadian Western Amber Durum, Canadian Prairie Spring Red, Canada Western Soft White Spring, and Canada Western Red Winter classes.

CWRC core breeding agreements are funded proportionally by province based on the previous year’s production with 53 per cent coming from Saskatchewan, 32 per cent from Alberta, and 15 per cent from Manitoba based on the 2018-19 production year.

Quotes

“The research and plant breeding conducted by AAFC over the past few decades brought needed innovation and economic benefits to Canadian grain farmers. Farmer funding committed by Sask Wheat and our fellow commissions in Alberta and Manitoba through the core breeding agreement will help support AAFC’s ability to bolster their technology and attract and retain top researchers and breeders. Public wheat breeding is crucial to Canada’s agriculture sector and the wheat varieties AAFC has produced are a tremendous return to the farmer investment in this program.” – Brett Halstead, Saskatchewan Wheat Development Commission Chair

“Manitoba Crop Alliance is proud to be a part of this collaborative initiative with our sister organizations in Alberta and Saskatchewan. This is an investment that will benefit our western Canadian wheat producers by providing them with competitive new varieties.” – Fred Greig, Manitoba Crop Alliance Chair

“This is an exciting and historic investment by Prairie wheat farmers. Investing collaboratively in this core breeding agreement ensures that farmers will continue to have access to wheat varieties with desirable traits, higher yields and strong disease packages, further enhancing our long-term profitability.” – Todd Hames, Alberta Wheat Commission Chair

For more information, contact:

Erin Tateson
Interim Communications Manager
Alberta Wheat Commission
403-219-7902
etateson@albertawheatbarley.com

Dallas Carpenter
Communications Manager
Saskatchewan Wheat Development Commission
306-801-2643
dallas.carpenter@saskwheat.ca

Pam de Rocquigny
Chief Executive Officer
Manitoba Crop Alliance
204-745-6661
pam@mbcropalliance.ca

CBRC commits $2.7 million to USask CDC barley breeding activities

mca2022dev on September 15, 2020

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

September 15, 2020 (Saskatoon, SK) – The Canadian Barley Research Coalition (CBRC) announced today it will invest $2.7 million over five years in the University of Saskatchewan’s Crop Development Centre (CDC) through a core breeding agreement to develop barley varieties with improved agronomics, disease resistance and end-use quality.

The CBRC is a collaboration among the Saskatchewan Barley Development Commission (SaskBarley), Alberta Barley and Manitoba Crop Alliance (formerly the Manitoba Wheat and Barley Growers Association).

“The agreement with the CDC ensures that western Canadian barley farmers can expect new and improved barley varieties from a world-class, multi-million dollar breeding program over the next five years,” says CBRC Interim Chair Jason Skotheim and SaskBarley Chair.

“This investment into the CDC breeding program will produce deliverables that will allow our farmers to stay competitive,” Skotheim says. “The last round of producer funding provided to the CDC saw the registration of two new malting varieties, one feed variety and one hulless variety. In the next five years we expect another three varieties to be released. This will have major benefits to our farmers.”

The CDC, which is known for research excellence in developing high-performing crop varieties, is uniquely set up to deliver effective results for western Canadian agriculture. The new agreement will enable the program to expand and capitalize on new opportunities.

“The keys to past success within the CDC barley breeding program have been the skilled staff, the in-house malt and molecular marker labs and the ability to evaluate large numbers of breeding lines,” Skotheim says. “This CBRC funding will support these pillars moving forward.”

Investment in CDC plant breeding activities has helped create new markets and opportunities for a wide variety of crop producers, said CDC barley breeder Aaron Beattie.

“We are very pleased with the long-term funding from the CBRC and appreciate the confidence they have in our program,” he says. “We look forward to continuing to deliver improved varieties to the Canadian barley industry and providing value to all within the value chain.”

Finalizing this agreement with the CDC was the first order of business for the CBRC, officially formed earlier this year, and is in line with the organization’s goal of facilitating long-term investments aimed at improving profitability and competitiveness for western Canadian barley farmers.

The organization will also provide funding for qualifying regional projects that align with variety development and agronomic priorities.

For more information:

Delaney Seiferling
SaskBarley Communications Manager
306-321-7533
dseiferling@saskbarleycommission.com

Erin Tateson
Interim Communications Manager
Alberta Wheat and Barley Commissions
403-219-7902
etateson@albertawheatbarley.com

Kate Menold
MCA Communications Coordinator
204-807-1912
kate@mbcropalliance.ca

Victoria Dinh
USask Media Relations
306-966-5487
Victoria.dinh@usask.ca

Quotes

“Collaboratively investing in barley’s varietal development is key to keeping barley farmers competitive. This core breeding agreement with the CDC will lead to enhanced barley varieties and secures our future with access to competitive and profitable varieties. Stronger agronomic packages and higher yields combined with quality traits that meet the needs of the brewing and malting industry will be the return on this barley breeding investment.” – David Bishop, Alberta Barley Chair

“Manitoba Crop Alliance understands how important it is for breeders to secure long-term funding when developing new varieties and considers programs aimed at improving the competitiveness and profitability of barley farms in western Canada a major priority. We are thrilled to be doing our part to help make this possible through this collaboration with our sister organizations in Saskatchewan and Alberta” – Fred Greig, Manitoba Crop Alliance Chair

Frost: When is Corn “Safe”?

mca2022dev on September 8, 2020

A killing frost is a risk at any point during September. Of course, that risk increases the later into the month it gets. Nonetheless, being able to identify maturity staging is key in also knowing the risks of a killing frost prior to physiological maturity.

As seen in the table below, you generally do not want to see a killing frost before 1/2 milkline to avoid major yield losses. Of course, best case scenario is R6, or physiological maturity/black layer, when the grain has filled completely and there will be no penalty to yield or quality (weight).

Table 1: Measurements for each reproductive stage of corn development and how a killing frost would affect yield at that stage.

A killing frost occurs when temperatures dip to 0 Celsius for four hours or -2 Celsius for minutes. However, a killing frost can still occur with temperatures above freezing, especially in low and unprotected areas when there’s no wind. When grain at early to mid-dent experiences a killing frost, yield will be penalized, test weights will be low and these plants will require a long in-field drying period.

A visual inspection of frost-damaged corn should be made the morning after the frost, after the sun has risen and the crop has begun to thaw. At this time, cell contents will begin to leak out and can be seen and smelled. Determine how much of the leaf tissue has been damaged and if the ear shank is frozen. If the shank is frozen, there will not be further movement of sugars to the grain.

For details on how to move forward after a frost during each reproductive stage of corn growth, read this excellent paper from Purdue University.

Fields that have reached the dent stage (R5), days to maturity can be estimated using the chart below from Iowa State University. Estimate a corn field is at ¼ milk line (R 5.25). It will take approximately +/- 30 days to reach physiological maturity (R6), depending on temperature, available moisture and hybrid maturity.

To estimate using current daily temperatures, use the following GDD calculation:

Daily Corn GDD (°C) = ((Daily Max Temp °C + Daily Min Temp °C)/2) – 10 °C

With the following constraints:

If daily Max Temp > 30 °C it’s set equal to 30 °C;

If daily Max or Min Temp < 10 °C, it’s set equal to 10°C.


Table 2: Progression of milk line during R5 with approximate percent moisture, dry matter, growing degree day and days for each substage. Iowa State University.

Depending on current staging, we could be looking at anywhere from 20-30 days until black layer is reached, but a number at the latter end is most likely for many grain corn producers in Manitoba. While we are concerned with how long until each crop reaches physiological maturity and beating the first killing frost, keep in mind the challenges that may arise as a result of drying a wet crop.

“Reaching maturity is important as it means that the crop has maximized the amount of weight that it has packed into its kernels. However, reaching maturity is only part of the issue, as the crop must dry in the field to the point that it can be harvested and be economically dried for storage and marketing. Predicting the rate of drying in the field is more complex than predicting corn development. Factors that affect the rate of field drying include: the initial moisture content of the grain, air temperature, relative humidity, rainfall, dew, wind speed and kernel characteristics.” Joel Ransom, NDSU Crop & Pest Report, September 12, 2019

 

Article written by Morgan Cott, Agronomy Extension Specialist – Special Crops with Manitoba Crop Alliance

Frost Impact on Sunflowers

mca2022dev on September 8, 2020

Frost anytime before the sunflower crop reaches physiological maturity (R9) can cause damage. Once sunflowers reaches the R7 stage (ray petals have dropped, back of head starting to turn yellow), sunflower can withstand temperatures as low as -4° C, but temperature, duration and crop stage will influence the type and amount of damage. A killing frost in sunflowers is considered to be -4 to -5° C for 6 or more hours, as this low temperature for the extended period is required to penetrate the thick layer in the back of the sunflower head and start the dry down process. The following will attempt to describe what happens when a frost occurs prior to the R-9 growth stage.

How Much Time is Needed to Reach R9? Sunflower development is driven by temperature and accumulation of temperatures during the day/night. The formula to convert the daily max/min temperature to a sunflower GDD is ((Tmax + Tmin)/2) – 6.7° C. If the Tmax or Tmin is at or below 6.7° C, then use the 6.7 temperature in the formula instead of the real number. For example, with a 17° C max and a 4° C min temperate = ((17+6.74)/2 – 6.7) = 5 sunflower GDD. From Table 1, the development model indicates it needs 79 ‘sunflower GDD’ to reach R9 from R8 and 157 ‘sunflower GDD’ from R7. On average, throughout September most sunflower growing areas are accumulating on average 7 ‘sunflower GDD’ per day, meaning: R7 (start) to R9 = 22 days R8 (start) to R9 = 11 days

Table 1: Sunflower Growth and Development Model based on GDD from www.ag.ndsu.edu Link to document PDF here Information from this article was provided by Manitoba Agriculture and Resource Development and National Sunflower Association of Canada

Manitoba Crop Alliance Officially Launches Operations

mca2022dev on August 3, 2020

On behalf of its interim board of directors and staff, Manitoba Crop Alliance (MCA) is pleased to announce to their membership and industry stakeholders that operations officially launched August 1, 2020.

Manitoba Crop Alliance represents over 8000 farmer members who grow and market wheat (spring & winter), barley, corn, sunflower and flax. Manitoba Crop Alliance has set goals to maintain and strengthen the mandates of the five founding organizations in areas including research and agronomy, market access and development, and communication with membership.

Manitoba Crop Alliance can be found online at mbcropalliance.ca where a fresh, innovative website shares information on research projects, agronomic resources for all six field crops, market development/advocacy, recent news and events, and more. The website will be a hub for the organization, updated regularly with relevant information to keep MCA farmer members and other industry representatives engaged. Contact information for Manitoba Crop Alliance’s interim board of directors, crop committee delegates, and staff can also be found on the website.

“The MCA website is a valuable resource for our farmer members, agronomists and industry stakeholders to stay up to date on activities happening with the organization,” says Fred Greig, MCA chair. “In addition to our website, we also are working to build up Manitoba Crop Alliance’s following on popular social media platforms, Twitter, Instagram and Facebook to help keep members informed.”

Members of the agriculture community who use any of the above-mentioned social media platforms are asked to please follow @mb_cropalliance on Twitter and Instagram, and like/follow Manitoba Crop Alliance on Facebook. Farmer members are also encouraged to sign up for MCA’s e-newsletter – Heads Up. There will be monthly agronomic updates to provide subscribers with timely agronomic information such as scouting activities and risk of pests for wheat, barley, corn, sunflower and flax crops. This local, unbiased, science-based information is very important to aid members in making crop production decisions. MCA will also use e-newsletters as a resource to inform subscribers on recent news and events that are relevant to MCA and the crops represented by the organization. There is a link to sign up to receive MCA’s Heads Up e-newsletters at the bottom of the page at mbcropalliance.ca. MCA is also looking forward to sharing several other initiatives, including factsheets, research magazines, and bi-annual newsletters with the agriculture community in the coming months.

Manitoba Crop Alliance will be holding the first delegate elections at the crop committee level this fall with the nomination period opening September 1, 2020. Information on the roles and responsibilities of MCA crop committee delegates, eligibility requirements for nominees, the nomination procedure and election process can be found under About/Governance at mbcropalliance.ca.

“I encourage farmer members to consider running as a delegate with one of the four committees, which are wheat & barley, corn, sunflowers, and flax,” states Robert Misko, MCA’s vice-chair. “Having the crop committees within the MCA governance structure ensures crop specific focus and allows farmer members with an interest and passion for a specific crop type to be involved in the organization,” adds Misko.

With the amalgamation process into Manitoba Crop Alliance completed, the board and staff recognize that there will continue to be a transitional phase over the next few months but are excited to start this new chapter off strong. MCA is looking forward to better serving their farmer members with a more streamlined, quality approach to meet the goals laid out in their mandate.

Manipulator PGR Available for Use on Barley

mca2022dev on May 5, 2020

Starting this growing season, plant growth regulator (PGR) Manipulator will be available for use on barley in Canada. The PGR, which was previously only registered on wheat, can help increase yield by reducing plant height an improving straw strength. Regarding the Keep It Clean program, it’s important for farmers to note that Manipulator will carry a ‘no recommendations/ green’ classification for feed and silage barley, but a ‘be informed/ amber’ classification for malt barley. Belchim Canada recommends that farmers who are growing malt barley under contract should discuss the use of Manipulator on barley with their grain buyer. Farmers who are growing barley without a contract, but intend to sell it as malt, are also encouraged to discuss use of Manipulator with potential buyers. For more information regarding Manipulator and barley market access, see the Keep it Clean website at: https://keepingitclean.ca/cereals.

Staging and application rates

Manipulator (active ingredient: clormequat chloride) should be applied prior to the stem elongation stage. Application of a PGR at this stage will signal the plant to begin redirecting resources from stem elongation to other processes, allowing for reduced height and potentially thicker stems and roots. Label directions for Manipulator on barley outline two application strategies:

  1. A single application between growth stages (GS) 30-39 at a rate of 0.9 L/ac. GS 30 is the beginning of stem elongation. To correctly stage your crop, fold back the leaf sheaths and count the ‘bumps’ caused by each node. By GS 33, all three nodes will be detectable, and by GS 39, the flag leaf will be completely visible. This is similar to the recommendations for a single application on wheat, where the optimal window is between GS 30-39 at a rate of 0.7 L/ac.
  2. A split application with the first pass between GS 12-32 and a second between GS 32-39, at a rate of 0.45 L/ac. GS 12 represents the two-leaf stage. The second leaf is considered completely emerged when its leaf collar is completely emerged from the sheath of the first leaf. The window for the first application is open until GS 32, when two nodes can be felt on the main stem. The second pass can be made between GS 32, and GS 39, when the flag leaf is completely visible and unrolled. Split application recommendations for wheat outline a first pass at GS 22-23 at 0.3 L/ac and a second pass at GS 37-39 at 0.4 L/ac.

Label directions also indicate that a total of 0.9L/ac should not be exceeded in a single year, and that a full rate of Manipulator should NOT be applied if your crop is stressed from water-logging, drought, or nutrient deficiency. For full label directions, see the 2020 Guide to Field Crop Protection: https://www.gov.mb.ca/agriculture/crops/guides-and-publications/

Effect of PGRs on yield and other agronomic characteristics

Research on agronomic practices to maximize feed barley yield and quality found that application of Manipulator increased both grain yield and starch. The research project, led by Laurel Thompson of Lakeland College, found that starch was increased by an average of less than 1%, while yield was increased by an average of 2.2%. The yield increase was attributed to higher test weight at lower plant densities (22 plants ft-2) but was attributed to longer spike length at higher plant densities (32 plants ft-2). It was also observed that the decrease (1.3%) in plant height from the PGR application did not reduce lodging, even under different plant densities. However, a significant yield increase of 9.3% was observed when a PGR application was combined with post-emergence nitrogen fertilizer and a dual fungicide application. The study suggests that genetic resistance to lodging is the most effective method for Canadian barley producers. Other research from around the world has reported both increases and decreases in grain yield from PGR use, indicating that performance is dependent on many factors including crop type, variety and the environment.

Similar results were discovered by Dr. Breanne Tidemann of AAFC-Lacombe, Alberta. The study looked at agronomic traits, yield and quality effects of a various PGRs on malting barley at sites across Western Canada. In some cases, a PGR application did decrease plant height and lodging, but results were inconsistent and not significant. In general, Tidemann indicated that the inconsistent results of Manipulator suggest that the product is not suited for use on malting barley.

Information for this article was sourced from:

  1. Belchim Canada Manipulator Brochure: https://www.belchimcanada.com/Brochure/59/E/2.pdf
  2. Tidemann et al. 2020. Effects of plant growth regulator application on the malting quality of barley. J. Sci. of Food and Agric. 100: 2082-2089. http://www.barleycanada.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/P26-Tidemann.pdf
  3. Perrott et al. 2018. Advanced agronomic practices to maximize feed barley yield, quality and standability in Alberta, Canada. I. Responses to plant density, a plant growth regulator and foliar fungicides. Agronomy Journal 110(4): 1447-1457.
  4. https://doi-org.uml.idm.oclc.org/10.2134/agronj2017.12.0683
  5. Thompson et al. 2018. Effect of cultivar and agronomic management on feed barley production in Alberta environments. Can. J. Plant Sci. 98(6): 1304-1320. https://www-nrcresearchpress-com.uml.idm.oclc.org/doi/pdf/10.1139/cjps-2018-0042
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