Reading Time: 2 minutes There’s little doubt that canola is a powerhouse crop. Nationwide, it covered nearly 22.1 million acres last year, more than 99 per cent of it on the Prairies. The Canola Council of Canada puts its economic contribution at nearly $30 billion a year. A University of Alberta researcher, backed by the Natural Sciences and Engineering […] Read more
Building a better canola with broccoli
Traits from related species may punch up canola diversity
Genome selection finds next canola superstars
Sequencing the canola genome in 2014 paved the way for researchers to be more precise when developing new varieties
Reading Time: 7 minutes Glacier FarmMedia – In the 2020 Western Hockey League bantam draft, the Regina Pats had the first overall pick. They selected Connor Bedard. It was an easy pick and a good one. Bedard recorded 100 points in the 2021-22 WHL season and 143 points last year. In June, the Chicago Blackhawks selected Bedard with the […] Read more
Unique program tells the rest of the story on wheat
Alberta farmers say the Combine to Customer program made them realize how big the value chain is
Reading Time: 3 minutes The farming life can be a lonely one, and it’s all too easy to forget you’re part of a large network bringing food to the tables of families around the world. But that realization strikes producers who have taken the Combine to Customer course put on by Cereals Canada. “I now have a whole new […] Read more
The quest for drought-tolerant wheat heats up
A hotter, drier future looms but breeding for drought tolerance is a complicated business
Reading Time: 5 minutes The push to breed drought-resistant wheat has taken on new urgency as dry times become more common and more severe. “Drought is big on everybody’s minds these days,” said Harpinder Randhawa, a wheat breeder with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s Lethbridge research centre. “Especially in Western Canada, we rely heavily on the natural water availability of […] Read more
Bibeau says government committed to federal plant breeding
Seed royalty consultations stalled
The Canadian government is committed to plant breeding, federal Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau told members of the Canadian Farm Writers’ Federation on Tuesday. Some farmers and seed industry officials suspect Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s (AAFC) variety development work, along with many other programs, will be on the chopping block post-COVID-19 as the government tackles its […] Read more
USDA limits review requirements of some biotech farm products
Chicago | Reuters — The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced on Thursday a rule that will simplify or waive agency reviews of certain biotech farm products, including plants and seeds that have been genetically modified or engineered. As a result, some products could be sold to farmers without a USDA review — a move that […] Read more
Hands-on plant breeding: Farmers help select new plant lines
Since 2011, organic farmers from across Canada have been making their own breeding selections
Reading Time: 4 minutes You might call it DIY cereal breeding. Since 2011, plant-breeding researchers have collaborated with organic farmers in a breeding program in which the producers select lines from trials on their own farms. Normally, a breeder goes through a plot, and selects the best spikes, heads or plants according to their breeding goals. “The participatory plant-breeding […] Read more
Alberta Wheat and Barley cool to latest seed royalty scheme
There are now three options on the table but all offer ‘more questions than answers,’ says groups’ GM
Reading Time: 4 minutes A third option has been thrust into the seed royalty review fray — but whether it will be the answer farmers are looking for remains to be seen. “At this stage, there are still more questions than answers about all of the models that have been put forward,” said Tom Steve, general manager of Alberta […] Read more
Canadian plant approval process lengthy but worthwhile
Reading Time: < 1 minute In Canada, plant varieties with traits that are new to the environment and have the potential to impact human and environmental health are called “novel traits” and are regulated by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency. They must be approved by the CFIA as well as Health Canada (in the case of food products) prior to […] Read more
Seed royalties: We need to talk — some more
Speakers say more funding is needed for cereal breeding, but how to do that is up in the air
Reading Time: 5 minutes Something needs to be done to boost funding for cereal breeding, but kicking the contentious issue of seed royalties down the road seems to be the preferred option at the moment. That was the message coming out of a discussion on a pair of controversial royalty schemes at the recent Alberta Federation of Agriculture AGM. […] Read more
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