Blog: Meet a Researcher

Rob Graf is a winter wheat breeder with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) at the Lethbridge Research and Development Centre. Rob completed his bachelor of science in agriculture at the University of Saskatchewan (USask), specializing in agronomy, and earned his PhD under the supervision of Gordon Rowland at the USask Crop Development Centre. Rob began his career in 1987 as a wheat breeder with the Saskatchewan Wheat Pool and was there for 12 years. During that time, he was part of a team that developed three Canada Western Red Spring (CWRS) wheat varieties, including McKenzie and Prodigy. In 1999, Rob joined AAFC as a winter wheat breeder. He currently lives in Lethbridge with his wife, Linda, and is looking towards retirement in October.

Tell us a bit about what you’ve worked on at AAFC throughout your career.

Our mandate is to develop improved winter wheat varieties for Western Canada. In the AAFC breeding program, we’ve concentrated on varieties for the Canada Western Red Winter (CWRW) milling class and, to a lesser extent, feed varieties for the Canada Western Special Purpose class. In a general sense, the objectives of the breeding program are to improve agronomics, disease resistance and end-use quality. The agronomic issues we focus on are increased yields, improved winter hardiness (both prime considerations), increased lodging resistance (strong straw in a range of height options), a range in maturity and good test weight.

As for disease resistance, in Western Canada there are five priority-one diseases that must be addressed for variety registration. These include the rusts (stem, leaf and stripe), Fusarium head blight (FHB) and common bunt. Disease resistance was one of the objectives I felt really needed to be concentrated on. In 1999, disease resistance was only starting to be deployed in the winter wheat varieties being registered. Farmers had to make the choice to grow a variety with leaf and stem rust resistance (important for Manitoba), or a variety with bunt resistance (particularly important in southern Alberta). At that time, FHB wasn’t on the radar for winter wheat, but it was a major issue in spring wheat. That’s one of the reasons why winter wheat acres in Manitoba exploded in the 2000s (the escape from FHB and orange wheat blossom midge) along with the variety CDC Falcon, which had short, strong straw, early maturity and high yields; farmers liked it. Today, we have varieties that have good resistance to all five priority-one diseases and are also working on resistance to other diseases and pests. It took about 20 years, but we’ve been able to get there through some really excellent collaborations with nurseries and testing sites across Western Canada.

A key element to developing varieties that work well in Manitoba was a collaboration with Anita Brûlé-Babel at the University of Manitoba. Her team planted a large leaf-and-stem-rust screening nursery for us that I rated and made selections from every year. We don’t normally see leaf and stem rust in Alberta, so that made a huge difference for Manitoba farmers. The other critical aspect of our collaboration was the provision of an FHB screening nursery. Without that, we couldn’t have made the advances that we did. For example, Emerson, which is still a popular variety in Manitoba, was identified as an FHB-resistant line in those nurseries. Without that nursery, we wouldn’t have known. It’s collaborations like these that are so crucial to the success of any breeding program.

Quality is the third pillar of our breeding program. When I started, the major improvements CWRW needed included increased protein concentration, gluten strength and flour water absorption. Over time, we’ve gradually increased protein concentration and gluten strength, and we’re finally starting to make progress on flour water absorption. My hope is that over the next few years, we will see a substantial increase in winter wheat flour water absorption.

Upon my retirement, Harwinder Sidhu will be taking over the winter wheat breeding program. I’ve been mentoring him for the last year, getting him up to speed on the program, and I think he’ll do an excellent job. He is a recent PhD graduate from the University of Guelph, where his PhD project was focused on genomic selection for FHB resistance in winter wheat.

What got you interested in this area of work?

I grew up on a farm near Humboldt, SK. I remember when my dad changed varieties from Neepawa to Napayo and then Sinton. It was intriguing to me that Napayo had awns (most varieties at the time were awnless), as I thought only barley was awned. A couple of years later, we grew Sinton, which was interesting because it had better leaf rust resistance, which I could actually see in the field. I also remember a wet harvest period in the mid-1970s when Sinton sprouted in the swath and Napayo didn’t. It was those genetic differences in the varieties that got me intrigued, and I guess the rest is history.

What is the best part about your job?

There are a lot of things! I really enjoy seeing the genetic variability when we cross various parents. I also like the interaction with farmers and the industry to hear what their problems and concerns are, and then trying to come up with breeding solutions to address them. When I’m able to deliver a variety that addresses at least some of those concerns, and it becomes accepted and farmers like the variety, it’s a great feeling.

What can you say about the value of farmers providing funding and support to your organization?

The funding farmers provide to breeding programs is absolutely vital to their success. When an industry group approaches AAFC with issues they need to have addressed and are willing to invest, it means a lot. Governments have many priorities for funding, and that goes for farmers as well. The funds received for breeding and pathology programs, and some of the more basic research, are absolutely vital to the successes that we’ve had and to the continued success and prosperity of the industry and Canada.

How does that farmer funding and support directly benefit farmers?

The funding support has hugely impacted the number and size of populations that I can handle as a breeder. Breeding is a numbers game. You need large numbers to find those rare segregants that bring together all of the traits that are needed by the industry. It allows us to handle a lot more material, gives us the ability to put trials at important locations, and it supports disease screening nurseries and quality analysis. From a Manitoba perspective, that has been crucial in developing varieties with resistance to FHB, stem rust and leaf rust.

What is one of your major accomplishments over your career?

Within the winter wheat program, one of the major wins was the registration of Emerson. Essentially, we moved from most winter wheat varieties being quite susceptible to FHB, to the first wheat in Canada that was rated resistant. That was certainly a bit of good luck, but as breeders we need to be able to set things up to identify those advances.

What opportunities lie ahead for winter wheat breeding?

Winter wheat has a bright future. From the standpoint of climate change over the medium term, it’s likely that our winters will get milder. Winter wheat provides the opportunity to use early spring moisture that farmers are waiting to dry off prior to spring seeding. Why not use that moisture to build yield? With the possibility of hotter summers, because the crop matures earlier, it may also be able to escape some of the heat stress we get in late July and August. It certainly has an excellent opportunity to fit into our environment, perhaps somewhat better than it has in the past. Not to say that it doesn’t fit now, but I think as time goes on, farmers will see it as a more attractive option. Or at least I sure hope so!

What are you looking forward to most about retirement?

There is a number of things. I am looking forward to taking a break, visiting more with family and friends, and my wife and I enjoy camping and plan to do more of that together. Our granddaughter just turned one, so we look forward to spending more time with her, as well. We’d also like to do some travelling in Canada and the United States, and longer term in Europe and other places.

Who or what inspires you?

There are a lot of people who inspire me! My colleagues and all of the important work that they are doing inspires me every day. Young people and their optimism for the future also inspires me.

What is the best piece of advice you’ve received?

There are a couple of things, both from my dad. “Pray and live like you’ll die tomorrow; work like you’ll live forever.” The other was, “If you see something that needs doing, don’t wait for someone else to do it.” Those are gems of wisdom I can’t argue with.

Follow @grafwheat on Twitter!

To meet other researchers involved in winter wheat breeding and agronomy, check out our profiles on Curt McCartney and Brian Beres!

Eric Johnson is a Research Officer for the Agronomic Crop Imaging Lab in the Department of Plant Sciences at the University of Saskatchewan (USask). He is also a member of the Resistant Wild Oat Action Committee. Eric earned his Bachelor of Science and his master’s degree from USask. He lives in Battleford with his wife Trish.

Where did you work before USask?

I started my career working with Sask Agriculture in extension as an agricultural representative (now obsolete), and then I became a regional crop specialist. In 1996, I moved to the Scott Research Farm with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada where I started doing weed control research, and was also the test site manager for the Pesticide Minor Use Program until 2015. After that I joined the weeds lab with Dr. Chris Willenborg at USask until 2019 when I moved to the Agronomic Crop Imaging Lab.

What got you interested in this area of work?

Because I worked in the Battleford area with Saskatchewan Agriculture, I had a very close working relationship with the research scientists at the Scott Research Farm. Once they were nearing retirement, an opportunity to work on research became available and I was ready for a new challenge. I’d spent 15 years or so working in extension and I always felt that it would be much easier to do extension if I was actually doing the research myself. The change to research seemed like a new challenge and opportunity where I could combine the best of both worlds.

Tell us a bit about the Resistant Wild Oat Action Committee.

The idea of the Resistant Wild Oat Action Committee came forward to the Canadian Weed Science Society from a farmer from central Alberta, Ken Espheter, and Neil Harker, a retired weed scientist. There was an active Wild Oat Action Committee in the 1970s which originally did all the work on dormancy and the ecology and biology of wild oat that we know today. In the 1990s we ended up with quite a number of effective herbicides at controlling wild oats and, at this time, although there was some resistance developing, the perceptions were that there would be a never-ending pipeline of new wild oat herbicides, so the committee came to an end.

Today, the Resistant Wild Oat Action Committee includes 12 members of farmers, agronomists, industry as well as research and extension people. Our mission is that “we are a cross-industry committee devoted to developing herbicide resistant wild oat management solutions through producer engagement, knowledge transfer and research.” What we are trying to do is not only conduct research and extension, but engage producers in the process so they are involved in developing the solutions.

We received funding from Manitoba Crop Alliance, Alberta Wheat Commission, Saskatchewan Wheat Development Commission and Saskatchewan Forage Seed Development Commission for a two-year pilot project to engage producers in developing solutions for resistant wild oats. We have developed a producer group in central Alberta who are conducting field projects and meet periodically to discuss resistance testing with growers who haven’t done it before. The Resistant Wild Oat Action Committee has developed extension materials in the form of infographics that are available on our website. We have also initiated a testing project with selected producers who are suspicious that they have resistant wild oat but have never tested for it. The producers are asked to fill out a short questionnaire. The testing project will involve 30 to 40 producers across Western Canada. At the end of the project, we will conduct a follow-up evaluation on the producer’s perspective of the value of testing.

Unfortunately, we’ve had to deal with COVID-19 and I think we could have had a lot more momentum by having face-to-face meetings rather than trying to do everything virtually. We will be doing an evaluation of the impact of this pilot project after the second year to find out what impact it has had, and what other things could be done to increase that impact or make a difference.

If farmers are interested in resistance testing or want to learn more about it, they can watch this videoabout understanding resistant wild oats on the Canadian Weed Science Society website, email wildoataction@gmail.com or follow @RWildOat on Twitter.

What can you say about the value of farmers providing funding and support to your organization?

Farmers provide funding and support two ways. They provide funding through the producer groups, and through direct support from those who are volunteering their time on the committee. We have some extension people from the producer groups that are providing human resource support by volunteering on the committee. We wouldn’t be able to address some of the current research gaps or engage more farmers without this support.

How does that farmer funding and support directly benefit farmers?

I think the main benefits from this funding are hopefully to raise the profile of resistant wild oats, develop farmer-led solutions to manage herbicide resistant wild oats and produce readily available extension materials. If we can get farmers engaged in the research and development of solutions, they will benefit greatly. The long-term benefit from this pilot project for farmers will be to have an ongoing Resistant Wild Oat Action Committee.

How do you spend your time outside of work?

I really enjoying gardening, and I golf a little bit in the summer and curl in the winter. I’m getting close to retirement, so I’m going to have to develop some more hobbies!

What is your favourite crop?

I’ve worked on 60 different crop types in my career. I haven’t done any work on it in awhile, but I really liked working with hemp when I was working with it. I’m fortunate that I’ve had the opportunity to work with just about every crop that we can grow in Western Canada.

What get’s you most excited about your work?

Right now, the fact that we are starting to work in the digital age of agriculture is exciting. When I joined the Agronomic Crop Imaging Lab, I thought using satellite/drone imagery was way beyond me. But, because we have some really brilliant post-docs and have attracted some really bright students, I’ve been able to actually understand how they do things. It’s really interesting and it has been quite exciting to see the types of applications we’ve been able to make use of with that type of research.

Follow @ericusaskweeds on Twitter!

Based in Saskatoon, Raju Soolanayakanahally, Ph.D., is a Research Scientist with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC). Raju completed both his B.Sc. in Agriculture and M.Sc. in Crop Physiology at the University of Agricultural Sciences in Bengaluru, India. He then moved to Canada and earned his Ph.D. in Forest Sciences from the University of British Columbia (UBC). He has been working with AAFC since 2011.

Where did you work before AAFC?

I grew up in India and moved to Canada in 2005. Prior to working with AAFC, I completed my Ph.D. at UBC in Forest Sciences. During my Ph.D., I attempted to better understand adaptation to north-temperate and boreal environments in an extensive range-wide collection of balsam poplar using phenology, ecophysiology and genetic polymorphisms. After my Ph.D., I was initially hired at Indian Head, where my research focused on the development and evaluation of new poplar and willow feedstocks for bioenergy opportunities, carbon sequestration and for environmental services for use in agroforestry. Later, I relocated to Saskatoon in early 2016.

What got you interested in this area of work?

I come from a farming background. My father and mother ran our family farm back in India, and I spent my childhood with chickens running around the yard, fresh fruits and vegetables just around the corner, and fresh milk everyday. Agriculture was my upbringing and that led me to pursue a B.Sc. in agriculture. I was the first one in my family to pursue agriculture as a career.

Tell us a bit about the Adapting wheat to arid environments: mining Canadian germplasm for reduced night-time water loss and improved water productivity project you’re working on.

Water use by crops isn’t a big concern if rainfall is abundant in the growing season. But with the growing concerns of climate change and following a year like 2021 where growing season precipitation was lower than average, improving “water productivity” is a focus for the Adapting wheat to arid environments: mining Canadian germplasm for reduced night-time water loss and improved water productivity project. This project was funded in collaboration last year by Manitoba Crop Alliance, Alberta Wheat Commission, Sask Wheat Development Commission and Western Grains Research Foundation, and the purpose of this research is to look at how we can minimize unproductive water loss at nighttime in Canada Western Red Spring (CWRS) wheat.

During daytime, plants fix carbon dioxide (CO2) at the expense of water loss to the atmosphere through tiny pores (stomata) on leaf surfaces. Generally, this is defined as productive water use. However, plants also lose water at night, but in the absence of sunlight, they can’t fix CO2, so they end up losing water without producing biomass. We define this as unproductive water use.

When we look at how many millions of hectares of wheat is produced in Canada, if every plant starts to save 50 millimetres of water at nighttime, we are talking millions of litres of water becoming available during the daytime. For example, if there are 20 days with no precipitation or rainfall, due to savings of this nighttime water the plant can now extend itself for an additional five or six days without getting to terminal stress from drought.

Through this project we are investigating a heritage bread wheat panel (1842-2018) to look at the direction of trait selection over time. We’ve chosen the most popular varieties coming out of CWRS breeding programs in Swift Current (semi-arid climate) and Brandon (cool, moist climate). We want to understand how the varieties bred in two different ecozones have been selected for nighttime water-saver traits. If there are lines with low nighttime water losses, we use them in our breeding program to rapidly adapt our wheat plants for climate change.

The other aspect we are investigating is waxiness on the wheat leaves. When the sun intensity falls on the leaf surface, the wax layer deflects the light, and if there is no wax layer the leaf gets stressed rapidly, thus affecting their photosynthetic carbon gain. In order to keep the canopy cooler, the plant starts to lose water at rapid speed. We are looking at wheat varieties that have optimized wax profiles, so not only will they help with cooling during daytime, but they will also help with non-stomatal water loss by having wax barriers.

What can you say about the value of farmers providing funding and support to your organization?

Coming from India, we don’t have similar mechanisms where farmers contribute research dollars through the checks-offs when they sell their grain. I personally appreciate the funding and support provided by wheat producers in the area of stress physiology. It is an excellent, strategic investment. In my role as a plant physiologist, I work closely with wheat breeders to identify wheat lines with climate-resilience traits (heat tolerance, drought tolerance, etc.), allowing breeders to make them available to producers on an ongoing basis.

How does that farmer funding and support directly benefit farmers?

Wheat breeders are at the forefront of adapting wheat genetics to future climates and as a plant physiologist, I am actively involved in screening wheat lines that impart yield-stability traits. Climate-adapted, superior genetic material may then be used as a donor for introgression in order to improve breeder-defined elite wheat germplasm. Consequently, farmers have access to new climate-resilient wheat genetics for adopting to future climates.

How do you spend your time outside of work?

I enjoy walking around Saskatoon’s neighbourhoods and observing trees, especially when the leaves come out in spring and change color in the autumn. Events such as these reflect changes in the climate and adjustments by city trees.

What is the best piece of advice you’ve received?

In the early days at AAFC, I was full of great ideas but my mentor said “You need to learn to observe and listen, and then you will realize the problems that need solving.” To put it another way, get out of your lab, walk around, observe, then bring the problems back to the lab.

What is your favourite crop?

From a Canadian perspective, canola and wheat are my two favorite crops. Each of them is very resilient in its own way. But poplars are a lot of fun to work with, and I am passionate about them!

Follow @raju_aafc on Twitter!

Sean Walkowiak, Ph.D., is a Research Scientist at the Canadian Grain Commission (CGC), Grain Research Laboratory. The CGC is a science-based department in the Federal Government of Canada that provides support for the grain industry. Sean earned his Bachelor of Education from the University of Ottawa, his Bachelor of Science and his Master of Science both in biology, from Carleton University, and his Ph.D. in biology from Carleton University. Sean now lives in Winnipeg with his wife and two daughters.

Where did you work before the CGC?

I started with the CGC in 2019. Before that I worked at the University of Saskatchewan (U of S) Crop Development Centre with the durum and elite wheat breeding program run by Dr. Curtis Pozniak where I was helping manage some of the research projects. Prior to the U of S, I was at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) in Ottawa working on wheat diseases.

What got you interested in this area of work?

Good mentors! When I was at AAFC in Ottawa I was supervised by Dr. Gopal Subramaniam. He was an excellent mentor. I guess I could say he gave me the research bug. And then I moved to Saskatoon and I worked with Dr. Pozniak, who is also a very passionate, hardworking scientist, and he kept that bug alive. Now I am running my program at the CGC, work that I find fun and impactful; I love science. When you’re developing new tests or generating new results that impact the industry, there is a clear connection and benefit to it you can see yourself. That’s partly what makes it a lot of fun.

Tell us a bit about the Generating a rapid a low-cost diagnosis of fungi on wheat project and what you’re working on at the CGC.

I am the lead researcher on the Generating a rapid and low-cost diagnosis of fungi on wheat project, part of the collaborative Research & Development Agreement between the Manitoba Crop Alliance (MCA), SaskWheat and the Western Grains Research Foundation (WGRF). This project began in April 2021 and it builds off of the surveillance and monitoring work done by the CGC and collaborators at the University of Manitoba (UM), AAFC, U of S and University of British Columbia.

The project looks at diseases that impact wheat production with the focus on Fusarium head blight (FHB), one of the most important wheat diseases in Canada, and the different rust diseases. Every year, we run a survey for Fusarium species that cause FHB using DNA tests. There are other methods of looking at the species or different toxins they produce, such as chemical assays and inspection under a microscope, and these give researchers a better idea of what type of Fusarium is impacting producers. The differences between the species and toxins are important because they can cause different levels of disease in your fields.

This project is trying to develop new methods to be able to identify the species and other differences that might happen between the different Fusarium that cause FHB. The method is a rapid bio typing machine called MALDI-TOF, a mass spectrometry machine. This machine is mostly used in hospitals to identify different bacteria if people have infections. It is a very high throughput low-cost way of gathering important information about microbes that are potentially on the grain. Before now this machine hadn’t been applied to agriculture in a Canadian context before.

At CGC we have access to this machine and want to use it to test wheat and Fusarium, and to look at the different leaf, stripe and stem rusts as they also have different races. In order to determine the different races of rust, you usually have to do infection assays that are expensive, laborious and take a long time. If we can identify these races quickly using one of these methods, for maybe $0.30 and 10 mins of our time, and we can tell you what the race is, we’re saving weeks of time trying to identify the races using an infection assay. That is the major focus of this project.

I also collaborate on a number of projects that are led by other scientists, and supported by MCA and other producer groups within Canada. It is important to support research that benefits all crops in Canada, and at the CGC we try to provide as much support as we can.

What can you say about the value of farmers providing funding and support to your organization?

The CGC provides broad support to the agricultural industry through research. The research we do is collaborative in nature to support other government departments, universities, and private industry. Having the funds to do that research is important because it trickles down to all of the other organizations, and then it trickles down further to producers. A lot of the funding is important to provide the framework to enable us to collaborate with all of these other organizations so we have a unified approach to tackling the issues that are important to producers.

How does that farmer funding and support directly benefit farmers?

The work we do is really in the name of farmers. We really appreciate the support they give and the partnership we have with them to make sure we are addressing issues that are important to them in our research, and helping them be successful on their farms. The surveillance work is important to know what races and species are in fields causing disease and yield losses, or contaminating with toxins that might cause farmers to get less money when they go to sell their grain. By observing the pathogens, we can make better mitigation strategies to be able to stay one step ahead. It informs the breeders and variety registration system ensuring producers are getting the most up-to-date information about the crops they grow. It also helps the breeders know which races and species are important to target in their programs so they can develop new cultivars that produce optimal results in the fields.

How do you spend your time outside of work?

I play recreational hockey in Winnipeg and I also coach my kids’ hockey team.

What gets you excited about the work you do?

Everything. I love the students and the teaching component of it, raising the next generation of scientists. I like seeing the work we finish come with real world results that can be translated to something that is meaningful.

What inspires you?

The science inspires me. It’s always a challenge, and nothing stays the same. The challenges that producers face and scientists face are always changing, and the technologies are always changing. There are lots of ways that as researchers we can apply ourselves to come up with new and creative solutions that can help keep our agriculture sector flourishing.

Follow @seanwalkowiak on Twitter!

Brian Beres, Ph.D., P.Ag., is a Senior Research Scientist in Agronomy at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s (AAFC) Lethbridge Research and Development Centre (Lethbridge RDC) and Adjunct Professor at the University of Alberta. He is also Editor-In-Chief of the Canadian Journal of Plant Science, and Chair of the Wheat Initiative Expert Working Group for Agronomy. Brian earned his B.A. and B.Ed. from the University of Lethbridge and his M.Ag. and Ph.D. from the University of Alberta. Brian and his wife Suneeta live in Lethbridge with their 16-year-old-son, Kiran.

Where did you work before Lethbridge RDC?

Well, I originally wanted to be a teacher, but after I completed my B.A./B.Ed, I found my way into a technical role with AAFC. When I was in this role, I saw some professional opportunities so I decided to go back to university and get my M.Ag. and then eventually my Ph.D. Since then, I have worked my entire 31-year career at the Lethbridge RDC.

What got you interested in this area of work?

I grew up on a farm and during university I worked at the research station as a summer student. After graduation and while I was trying to get my foot in the door with teaching, I worked at the research station in various term roles. I really enjoyed the work. I thought it was pretty interesting to see another side to agriculture that I’d never been exposed to before. For example, I had experience with wheat production on the farming side, but it was interesting to then see the process involved in developing those same varieties as a technician. What really drew me into agronomy was the direct connection back to the farm where you’re essentially the interface between transferring potential innovations in a meaningful way so they can be adopted on farm.

Tell us a bit about the Wheat yield gaps: Magnitude and opportunities to sustainably improve yield project you’re working on.

The Wheat yield gap project spawned from interactions I had with an international organization called The Wheat Initiative (www.wheatinitiative.org). One goal of The Wheat Initiative is to consolidate as much research as possible internationally so there is less overlap and more collaboration. From that interaction there were some exercises around developing expert working groups and within those groups, setting research priorities. I was asked to chair the expert working group for agronomy.

Within that group of international peers, we were discussing and developing research priorities when we acknowledged that globally there is an emphasis on wheat yield potential (especially on the breeding and genomics side) but less discussion about what a farmer might realize on the agronomic side (depending on their practices). There had yet to be a coordinated study across Canada and the US of the disparity between full yield potential and what’s realized on the farm level. This had never been addressed or mapped out in North America. There is a group based out of the University of Nebraska that does this type of mapping in collaboration with Wageningen University in Europe, but they too had never mapped out North America for wheat.

This presented an opportunity so I connected with (Dr. Patricio Grassini) who heads up the group from the University of Nebraska, a colleague from Kansas State University (Dr. Romulo Lollato) and we started strategizing a way to map out the US and Canada for wheat yield gaps.

We were lucky to acquire funding partners including Alberta Wheat Commission, Alberta Innovates, SaskWheat and Manitoba Crop Alliance. This information will ultimately benefit the whole wheat value chain from farmers, to funders, to stakeholders and to policy-makers. The reason is that once we map out the yield gap for the Prairies – essentially the difference between what is possible and what is being observed or realized – then we can start drilling down into what is causing the gap at each location. For example, what is creating a gap in northern Alberta might not be the same as what is creating a gap in southern Manitoba. If we can determine the cause, then we can have conversations about what kind of research priorities would be required to help us address closing these yield gaps. It lays down a map which provides intelligence back that has the possibility to change the research landscape around wheat.

Rather than reinventing the wheel, or worse yet going down a rabbit hole that leads to a flawed outcome, we have teamed up with the Global Yield Gap Atlas – https://www.yieldgap.org/ – to incorporate their established modelling methodology and protocols. This group has collaborated with European colleagues and have successfully mapped 15 different crops around the world.

What can you say about the value of farmers providing funding and support to your work on projects like this?

Farmer funding is the ultimate validation that the science we are conducting has relevance to the agriculture sector and has the potential to provide meaningful impact at the farm gate. The relationship between research scientists that are doing systems type agronomy, and producer associations and producers is very important. The synergy between what we can offer as scientists and the feedback loop we get from the farming community is crucial in answering questions like, ‘is this relevant to farmers? Is there an opportunity here? Is this an issue on the farm?’ Farmers are the ones who are going to take and use what we develop, so it needs to be relevant to them.

I really value working directly with the commissions and farmers who are going to be impacted by what we do. I don’t take the responsibility lightly when producers are willing to fund research.

How does that farmer funding and support directly benefit farmers?

Working groups from the entire value chain of a commodity work together to establish research priorities, which ensures that those priorities meet the issues and opportunities identified by farmers. This process not only aligns to regional, national and international research priorities, but it will also directly benefit farmers and optimize precious and scarce research funds. Leveraging power is when you can make a rapid pace of innovation.

How do you spend your time outside of work?

I enjoy sports like hockey, water-skiing, snow-skiing and tennis, and I’m into vehicle restoration – my current project is a 1972 Ford Bronco.

What gets you excited about the work you do?

When you have success along the entire research continuum. Starting with a concept you may have developed with input from farmers, acquisition of research funds and development of a team, and field experimentation to test hypothesis and then sharing what you learned with farmers, academia, and the public… It doesn’t always work out, so when it does it is pretty rewarding.

What is your favourite piece of technology? Why?

We have quite the range that we work with but I do enjoy the technologies we have developed or acquired that allow us to conduct field research that directly simulates on-farm equipment and environments. We have recently designed and built our own plot seeder, so I’m quite proud of that and my staff who made it happen.

Follow @agronomydoc on Twitter!

Mike Hagen is a self-employed independent contractor specializing in sunflower research through CanSun LLC. Mike earned his bachelor’s degree in agronomy from the University of Minnesota and his master’s degree in plant breeding from North Dakota State University. He has worked in both the research and commercial side of the sunflower business. Mike and his wife live in West Fargo, North Dakota.

Where did you work before CanSun LLC?

My first 27 years of life I was a beekeeper (more on that later). Directly out of graduate school I began working as a sunflower seed production manager, but I wanted to find a job in breeding. I was offered the head sunflower breeding job at Proseed, Inc. where I developed a full program including both mid-oleic oilseed sunflower and confection sunflower. During that time Proseed released several commercial hybrids of both oil and confection types, including one mid-oleic Clearfield hybrid.

After that I left the research side of the sunflower seed business and tried my hand at the commercial side. I worked as a sunflower seed product manager and managed a licensing and wholesale sunflower seed business. After eight years working in the commercial side and going through several acquisitions and mergers within the industry, I was looking for a way back into research when I was approached by the sunflower group from Carman, Manitoba. They were searching for new confection hybrids that could be grown in Manitoba.

What got you interested in this area of work?

I got a lot of exposure to sunflower breeding and seed production early on in life. My father was a sunflower breeder for Dahlgren & Co and built up a large bee operation on the side. His hives were used primarily for pollinating sunflower seed production fields for Dahlgren & Co in Crookston, Minnesota. I worked with my father in his sunflower breeding nurseries and in the Dahlgren seed production fields. This is when I got my initial exposure to sunflower breeding. I enjoy the work, being outdoors, and not spending too much time in an office. I like being involved in the agriculture sector and helping farmers.

Tell us a bit about what you’re working on.

In 2011 the sunflower group from Carman (now Manitoba Crop Alliance – MCA) was inquiring about the possibility of licensing confection hybrids from my father’s sunflower program. This eventually led to the acquisition of my father’s breeding material, the formation of CanSun LLC and the launch of a new herbicide tolerant breeding program owned by MCA.

Through this partnership I am contracted to develop a herbicide tolerant confection breeding program capable of generating herbicide tolerant long seeded confection hybrids that are highly adapted to the Canadian environment and can perform at a high enough level to be considered for commercialization. Based on results and observations made in 2021 it appears there are several pedigrees that could be considered for possible commercialization and moved into the pre-commercial testing phase.

What can you say about the value of farmers providing funding and support to your program with MCA?

Without farmer support of the program, I believe the progress of developing and isolating new hybrids for commercialization would have been much slower. Plant breeding is a “numbers game” and requires the development of numerous parent lines and the screening of hundreds of experimental lines in order to find hybrids that have all the traits necessary in a hybrid for commercialization. With farmer support we have been able to keep the breeding program at a level so we can achieve this.

How does that farmer funding and support directly benefit farmers?

Funding will provide new variety alternatives to Canadian farmers and also provide a long-term safety net as a potential source of new hybrids in the future. The industry can be self-sustaining rather than rely only on outside sources for confection seed varieties.

How do you spend your time outside of work?

Fishing, fishing, and fishing! I love being on the water. My favorite place to fish is Ontario, Canada

What gets you excited about the work you do?

Seeing progress. Each year the field of experimentals gets better. Based on the agronomics and seed types of several program hybrids in 2021 it appears that soon we will have hybrid(s) isolated that can be offered for commercialization.

What is the best piece of advice you’ve received?

I had a TA in college that said one day that I was “grad school material”. Because of that single statement/moment, I went on to graduate school.

Randy Kutcher is the Ministry of Agriculture Strategic Research Program (SRP) Chair in Cereal and Flax Crop Pathology at the University of Saskatchewan (U of S). Kutcher completed both his BSc and MSc degrees in Agriculture at the University of Manitoba (UM). His master’s degree focused on blackleg of canola. Kutcher then moved west to complete his PhD at the University of Saskatchewan on barley diseases, followed by a post-doctoral fellowship at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, between Regina and Saskatoon, focusing on biological control of weeds using plant pathogens.

Where did you work before U of S?

Before joining the U of S, I worked in private industry for four years at Northern Sales Co. in Winnipeg and then after my PhD, as a Federal Government Research Scientist with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada for approximately 15 years. I joined the Crop Development Centre (CDC) in the Department of Plant Sciences at the U of S in 2011.

What got you interested in this area of work?

I grew up in rural Manitoba (my grandparents and relatives farmed) surrounded by crops, where agriculture is top of mind. I always liked science, and having that interest, it was logical to get into agriculture.

When I went back to graduate school, I wasn’t sure I wanted to be a plant breeder, but I enjoyed working with fungi, bacteria and viruses (to a degree). I like fungi because you can see them growing in plates and you can trap the spores; they’re really neat organisms to work with. Once I started shopping around for a masters program I got along really well with Roger Rimmer (UM) and I’ve been enthusiastic ever since.

Tell us a bit about what you’re working on at the U of S.

My mandate is cereal and flax pathology, with a cereal focus on Fusarium head blight (FHB) in wheat and barley. Our priority at the CDC is to develop new varieties. In terms of FHB, my crew and I support the breeding program by managing the disease nurseries and evaluating the material in order to provide information to breeders, allowing them to make informed decisions on which lines should go forward. For any disease, relying on one strategy is probably not going to last in the long term so an integrated management plan is needed. The Manitoba Crop Alliance has contributed towards our Canadian Agricultural Partners program where we are looking at the impact of the crop sequences grown prior to wheat or barley on diseases such as FHB and the leaf spotters.

We do a lot of applied plant pathology work in terms of crop rotation, fungicide timing, and use of clean seed; in addition, we look at agronomic aspects of disease mitigation, for example, the impact of seeding date. Recently we have looked optimizing fungicide timing to improve FHB mitigation, and how that fits into an integrated pest management program. Things like trying to decide if and when fungicide will be of benefit, and determining the response to a fungicide application.

Another disease we are looking at (one which I like working on but we have not had severe problems with in the last few years, in Saskatchewan at least) is stripe rust. In 2011 we had a stripe rust epidemic in Saskatchewan. It was the first time a lot of people had seen it so there were a lot of questions about what varieties might be less susceptible and should we spray a fungicide? When should we spray? Is it too late to spray? Should we spray next year? We support the breeding program by looking for new sources of resistance for stripe rust and other management strategies. Unfortunately, because the rusts generally blow in from further south, rotation is not effective so that is why we have looked at fungicide control as another option when resistant varieties are not available.

One other disease we’re working on is bacterial leaf streak in barley. Over the last few years, we’re seeing it pop up across the prairies more and more, with some growers in Manitoba having issues with it last year.

What can you say about the value of farmers providing funding and support to your organization?

Farmer funding is critical. The Ministry of Agriculture provides a set amount of funding for the CDC, but to expand our research endeavors it is critical we have outside funding. Most of the funding for the applied plant pathology work comes from the grower groups to deal with issues on the farm. We’re very grateful for the funding and support we receive from them. We’re doing the best we can to provide the results as fast as we can to help improve farming operations.

How does that farmer funding and support directly benefit farmers?

The benefits to growers might be quickly applied, such as improved manage of diseases from fungicide timing studies (stripe rust epidemic in 2011, and FHB more recently), to delayed benefits, where we’re looking for new sources of resistance that won’t be available to growers for another ten years when the new varieties become available. Therefore, there are a wide variety of benefits that growers can use almost immediately to results that are going to take some time down the road before they see the benefits.

Breeding for genetic resistance to diseases is perhaps a little behind the scenes and longer term, but very important, while sometimes results from integrated disease management research can be given to growers within a year or two of starting the research. After three years of research, we usually have a pretty good idea how to improve management of a disease with fungicides, or possibly even the impacts of crop sequence, as opposed to fundamental knowledge, which usually takes longer to develop. It may take time to diagnose a new or uncommon disease and determine if it is due to a new pathogen or new race of an existing pathogen, or if a previously uncommon disease has become more of an issue due to changes in weather or agronomic practices. We need resources to develop an understanding of the pathogen and the disease, what conditions they need to become a problem, figure out why a disease has suddenly become a problem, and then figure out how to deal with it.

How do you spend your time outside of work?

I have too many hobbies! I really enjoy music, I recently volunteered at the Jazz Festival, and travelling – previously as a student and occasionally through my research collaborations.

What gets you excited about the work you do?

The very nature of the job. Every morning when I come in there is always something to do and it is often very different from the previous day. At the University, I get to work with young, enthusiastic students and I often get phone calls from growers to hear what issues they are facing. These are the kind of things that really make my job interesting. There are some routine aspects to science, but generally there is always something new happening.

What is the best piece of advice you’ve received?

Tenacity. Not everything is going to work out, but if you give it a good try and if you stick with it, things will work out in the end. Really, that is what research is all about, looking at the problems from different angles and talking to many people; there’s always some aspect of plant disease control you can improve to make a difference.

Yvonne Lawley is an Assistant Professor of Agronomy and Cropping Systems in the Department of Plant Science at the University of Manitoba (UM), and has been working with the University for ten years. She obtained her PhD from the University of Maryland in Natural Resource Management specializing in soil science, an MSc from the University of Saskatchewan in plant science, and has an undergraduate degree from the UM in agronomy. Lawley now lives in Winnipeg with her family.

Where did you work before UM?

Before joining the UM, I was a Research Agronomist with North Dakota State University in Carrington, North Dakota for two years.

What got you interested in this area of work?

I grew up in Winnipeg and always had an interest in going to visit my grandparents’ farm near Manitou, Manitoba. My interest in agriculture really grew in high school where I thought, if I can learn how to be an engineer, I can learn about agriculture, and off I stormed into my undergraduate degree. I started off in agronomy and then moved into plant science and that took me over to soil. The more I was learning about plants the more connection I saw between plants and soil management.

Tell us a bit about what you’re working on at UM.

I have had a good relationship with many of the organizations that now make up the Manitoba Crop Alliance and I feel connected to their membership. I have several projects (current and past) that have received funding from MCA. Most of them fall within the general area of crop and soil management. One unique part about the research I’ve done with MCA is that we’ve done both traditional small plot agronomy experiments as well as on farm experiments.

Some of my research has focused on corn and wheat agronomy as well as residue management including vertical and strip tillage. One of my current projects is focused on managing lodging resistance for high yielding wheat, kind of ironic to be working on lodging management in times of drought. I’m also doing a lot of work relating to cover crops. This involves a survey, on-farm experiments, and a crop rotation study at sites across the Prairies where we have some of the crops represented by MCA as part of the rotation. The rotation study is looking at how cover crops influence crop productivity, nutrient cycling, soil health, greenhouse gas emissions, water use, and soil carbon over time. For the extreme moisture project, we’ve been looking at the management of overwintering cover crops like rye to utilize water when it is wet in the spring and then later in the season how the residue from that cover crop could help conserve soil moisture during times of drought.

One thing that excites me about working with the MCA is the Whole Farm initiative. I’m a ‘whole farm thinker’ when I approach my research so I’m excited to see how the Whole Farm initiative grows and evolves. I think this new MCA initiative is going to enable researchers like myself to look not at just commodity specific questions, but whole systems wide projects.

What can you say about the value of farmers providing funding and support to your organization?

It is really enabling to have farmer funding. It’s motivational and it’s essential. Funding from farmer organizations like MCA enables me to pursue important research questions that other funders may not be interested in. It also allows me to train graduate and undergraduate students, which brings value back to farmers. These students are the ones who end up being future agronomists and researchers.

Another thing that’s really enabling is the interaction that comes with having funding from farmer organizations through extension events. They provide a ready venue for researchers like me to connect with farmers, or the graduate students I am training. These events inform me because I get to have conversations with farmers. Those conversations inspire new questions and also help me stay current in the classroom as I can gather feedback, questions and ideas to take back to campus when I’m talking with students.

How does that farmer funding and support directly benefit farmers?

Our aim and hope is that the research questions we’re asking in our projects are relevant to the questions farmers are asking on their farm. I also think there is value to farmers in investing in research that makes its way into the classroom. Having research at universities is important for training, and students get to learn about current research that is happening right now while they’re studying. Whether its at the diploma, undergraduate, or graduate level, new information and ideas go with those students when they graduate.

Government funding is now looking to organizations like MCA to match dollars invested in research and I think this helps gives farmers a voice. These check-off programs are going to be essential for funding agriculture research in the future. As government funding pulls back, that check off is going to be the way farmers have voice in directing funds to the research that matters to them.

How do you spend your time outside of work?

Research and family life have kind of crowded out most of my hobbies over the past ten years, but the ones that have survived are my interests in nature, food, music and travel. My husband and I are both professors at the UM and we have two enthusiastic school age kids that keep us pretty occupied after work!

What inspires you?

The conversations I have with students and farmers are very inspiring. It has been hard to stay excited and inspired in times of COVID, but the conversations I’ve been able to have with students and farmers really keep me grounded and connected. They motivate me to keep moving forward with research under difficult conditions because you can hear the impact and value that new information and ideas bring in these conversations.

What is the best piece of advice you’ve received?

When I was starting out as a new professor, a colleague said to me that you have to trust your gut. If you have an instinct about a project or you observe something that doesn’t seem right, you have to trust it, go after it and pick it apart. Life and research are full of surprises, you have to have confidence in what you’re seeing to be able to ask yourself, why did that happen?

Follow @yvonnelawley_um on Twitter!

Jocelyn Smith is a Research Scientist in Field Crop Pest Management at the University of Guelph Ridgetown Campus. Smith earned her Bachelor of Science and Masters Degrees at the University of Guelph and focused her PhD research on western bean cutworm in corn. Smith lives near Sarnia, Ontario and is involved in her multi-generation family farm cropping corn, soybeans, wheat and sugar beets.

Where did you work before?

I started working with the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA) as a summer student in Ridgetown for a couple of years. After I finished my undergrad, I was hired as a Research Assistant with Tracey Baute, Field Crop Entomologist with OMAFRA. That’s when I met Dr. Art Schaafsma, Field Crop Pest Management Professor at Ridgetown Campus. He asked me if I was interested in doing my Masters with him, which I was. The day after my MSc defence I started working for Art as a Research Technician and I’ve been here ever since. I’m now a Research Scientist and I am managing the entomology research at Ridgetown since Dr. Schaafsma retired earlier this year.

What got you interested in this area of work?

It wasn’t until my third year of university that I took my first entomology course. I grew up on a farm and I always knew I wanted to do some kind of research related to agriculture. Entomology really grabbed my interest and it all fit together nicely. The entomology world is endlessly fascinating and always changing. There’s a never-ending number of questions we can study when it comes to pest management.

Tell us a bit about the Mitigation and management of Cry1F resistance in European corn borer in Canada project.

Resistance to Bt corn in European corn borer (ECB) was discovered in Nova Scotia (NS) in 2018. The original Bt corn technology was designed to control ECB and has been highly effective since 1996. Up until 2018 there hadn’t been any field evolved resistance cases of ECB. It’s pretty interesting that it happened in Canada, and NS of all places, especially because of the magnitude of corn being grown in the US Corn Belt and only 35,000 acres of corn grown in NS.

We believe there could be a number of reasons why it may have happened. Originally, Bt hybrids only expressed one Bt protein against ECB. As time went on, more of these Bt proteins were developed and transformed into corn plants by seed companies. So, we have mainly adopted pyramid Bt hybrids in most of the corn growing regions where the plant expresses more than one protein against ECB. Therefore, you have multiple modes of action working against the pests and the chance of resistance happening is much lower. We understand now know that in some of these smaller, shorter season markets, single Bt protein hybrids were still being sold. As a result, there may have been more selection pressure placed on these isolated populations which could be one reason that led to the resistance in NS.

The Mitigation and management of Cry1F resistance in ECB in Canada is the first project we’ve had with Manitoba Crop Alliance (MCA). We really wanted to get Manitoba producers involved with this project because the corn hybrids that are available to the NS market are very similar to those available in the Manitoba market. There are smaller acreages in the province and shorter season hybrids (older genetics) which may still only have the single Bt proteins expressed. This could put Manitoba producers at high risk for resistance.

The project is funded through NSERC and partially financially supported in part by MCA. A new Alliance Program with multiple partners (NSERC matches funding two to one) includes:

• Grain Farmers of Ontario (GFO)
• Atlantic Grains Council
• Manitoba Crop Alliance
• Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs
• Manitoba Agriculture
• Centre de recherche sur les grains (CÉROM)
• Perennia Food and Agriculture Inc.
• Bayer
• Syngenta
• Pioneer
• Ohio State University

All of these partners are also involved in the Canadian Corn Pest Coalition (CCPC) www.cornpest.ca.

Because ECB was controlled so successfully for the last 25 years using Bt corn, it fell off the research radar and we forgot about it as a major pest, which it still can be. Through this project we are stepping back to look at the general biology of ECB in Canada, specifically the situation in NS.

We have a number of questions about ECB, starting with the basics like biology, number of generations per year in Canada and what host crops they are using. We’re studying these resistant populations to determine:

• Their life history characteristics,
• Whether the field-evolved resistance is unique compared to resistance developed in the lab,
• Are they susceptible to the other Bt proteins that are still available?
• Will there be new Bt proteins we control with down the road?
• Will alternate host crops other than corn have an impact on how we can control the resistant populations?

Finally, how can we manage the resistance populations is the biggest question because we don’t want the resistance to spread any further or evolve in other areas.

What can you say about the value of farmers providing funding and support to your organization/work?

I think it’s really important that farmers are involved in funding and supporting research. We’re really fortunate in Canada that this model is strong and we have good, strong relationships with farmers. Farmers can direct research they feel is important and direct the research priorities to make their operations more sustainable.

How does that farmer funding and support directly benefit farmers?

The goal of the research is to make the results practical and something producers can utilize. We can incorporate some of the basic research and underlying science to produce an applicable tool or practice for the growers at the end.

How do you spend your time outside of work?

Farming outside of my job keeps me busy. I also enjoy golfing, gardening, going to the beach and doing crafty things like stained glass.

How do you celebrate agriculture?

I grew up in a family of farmers on both sides so agriculture has always been a part of my life. It’s been one of the most rewarding fields to work in even though its very hard work. To me, celebrating agriculture is appreciating that and understanding how important it is in everyone’s lives.

What is the best piece of advice you’ve received?

My dad has always said, ‘It’s a poor day if you don’t learn something’. I think I got a lot of my love for science from him. He’s a farmer whose always been super curious and interested in biology and science.

Follow @jocelynlsmith on Twitter.