“We kept hearing anecdotally that these Californian honeybees were surviving with way fewer treatments. I wanted to test them rigorously and understand the driving force behind what the beekeepers were seeing,” said Genesis Chong-Echavez, a UCR graduate student and lead author of the study, in an article from the university.

WHY IT MATTERS: Varroa mites can devastate Canadian beekeepers’ hives, and go-to control methods have become less effective, leading producers to look for new methods to protect honeybees.

Varroa mites are an invasive parasite that has plagued North American beekeepers since the late 1980s. The mites weaken the bees by feeding on their fat stores, and also can carry viruses. Varroa mites are a consistent contender among the top four causes of winter bee loss in Canada, as noted by the Canadian Association of Professional Apiculturists.

Chong-Echavez’s team found bee colonies led by locally-raised Californian hybrid honeybee queens had about 68 per cent fewer mites, on average, than hives with commercial queens.

While these populations were not entirely varroa mite-free, they were more than five times less likely to hit the threshold at which chemical treatment is necessary.

Local bee larvae attract fewer mites

The resistant bees came from a genetically-mixed population established in southern California — often from “feral” colonies living in trees, the UC Riverside article said. They were found to have mixed ancestry steming from African, eastern European, Middle Eastern and western European genetics.

Varroa mites must enter bee brood cells to reproduce. In lab experiments with developing honeybee larvae, researchers found mites were less attracted to the locally-adapted bees than commercial bees.

“What surprised me most was the differences showed up even at the larval stage,” Chong-Echavez said. “This suggests the resistance mechanism may go deeper than some kind of behaviour and may be genetically built into the bees themselves.”

The research team next intends to investigate the signals that may make the locally-adapted larvae less attractive to mites.

The post Southern California honeybees show resistance to varroa mites appeared first on Alberta Farmer Express.

The strategy will support sustainable practices, improve data collection and strengthen the long-term resilience of Canada’s agricultural lands.

WHY IT MATTERS: A national soil health strategy is key to maintaining Canada’s strong global position in the agriculture industry as climate change threatens the sector.

MacDonald made the announcement alongside Senator Rob Black, who led a Senate study of soil published in the 2024 report “Critical Ground: Why Soil is Essential to Canada’s Economic, Environmental, Human and Social Health.”

Black said work could begin as early as April and be completed by December 2027. He said the strategy will avoid a one-size-fits-all approach and will include educational and financial support, peer-to-peer networks, and a position for a national soil health advocate.

The strategy will focus on collaboration and will identify gaps in research, measurement, education, and extension, said Alan Kruszel, the SCCC’s eastern producer director.

Alberta reaction

Roger Chevraux, a grain farmer near Killam, was involved with Black’s committee that worked on the soil report.

“The stuff that the Senate did back then was good. They reached out to several different farm groups, and they did have some testimony,” he said.

Chevraux said the strategy recognizes that Canadian farmers are already doing good work, including the widespread shift to zero-till and efforts to reduce erosion and build soil organic matter.

“I’m glad that Canada is taking some interest in soils across Canada, and they want to make sure it remains healthy for us, because it is so vital to our existence and to our farming and agriculture here in Canada,” he added.

A director with the Alberta Canola Producers Commission and the Canadian Grains Council, Chevraux is encouraged to see the government working with the SCCC and other partners across the sector.

“As long as they continue to reach out to different farm organizations and continue to do the work they’re going to do, I think it’s a good exercise for us to continue to recognize that our soil is critical for the Canadian economy and for (humankind) in general,” he said.

Questions about the strategy

Cheryl Westman, an agronomist who operates a mixed farm near Vermilion, more skeptical.

Her biggest concern is making sure people with the right knowledge and background are conducting the research — and that they consult directly with producers.

“Farmers in Alberta do a good job of trying to do the right things to keep our soil healthiest, and to make sure we’re not deteriorating it,” she said. “We’re good leaders on that. The improvement in our soil organic matter over the years is a testament to that.”

Westman wants to know who is involved, what the strategy will entail and what the end game is.

“The biggest concern is what’s the next rule that’s going to be coming down the line to us, and is it going to be workable?” she said.

The post Alberta farmers weigh in on Canada’s new soil health strategy appeared first on Alberta Farmer Express.

Some plants do this by putting a pause on productivity until the weather improves. In our recently published research, we discovered which genes control the “pause-and-play” mechanism of plant growth and are key for the survival of Canada’s crops.

Our goal is to understand the genetic factors that control growth so they can eventually be used to improve the ability of Canadian and global crops to handle weather stresses like drought, heat and cold temperatures.

A changing climate means extreme weather events are becoming more frequent. These findings could help create climate-resilient, genetically engineered crops that can recover faster and more efficiently after climate shocks.

These plants might be more likely to complete their life cycle and produce food during the harvest season, even after experiencing snowstorms, heat waves or flooding.

How plants handle weather stress

To get an idea of how plants tolerate stress, we measured root growth under a series of environmental stresses that Canadian and globally relevant crops commonly face throughout their life cycles. These included cold temperatures, salt stress and drought-like conditions. For our first experiments, we used thale cress (Arabidopsis thaliana).

Roots are particularly useful for this type of research because they grow continuously and respond quickly to environmental change.

By measuring root length over time, we could see when growth slowed down and when it resumed. We tested the root length in model organism.

We found that tested plants paused their root growth when exposed to cold or salt stress. When the stress was removed and the plants returned to normal growing conditions, root growth resumed as normal within about 24 hours.

However, plants did not respond the same way to every type of stress. We found that plants can recover from osmotic or drought stress, but it takes a little longer for them to do so. We referred to that dynamic as “pause and push” because plants need time to push through and recover.

To test whether the same stress response occurs in other plant species, we partnered with researchers from the United States Department of Agriculture. Together, we repeated the experiments using two wild grasses that are closely related to major cereal crops: brachypodium (Brachypodium distachyon) and annual ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum).

The grasses showed similar patterns of stress response and recovery. That suggests the mechanism that pauses and restarts growth may be shared across many plant species.

Pinpointing stress-recovery genes

Observing these dynamics is one thing, but how can scientists figure out what’s going on at the genetic and molecular level?

One common approach is to attach a fluorescent marker to genes of interest. Scientists often use a green fluorescent protein, originally discovered in jellyfish, that glows under specific light.

When this protein is inserted into a plant genome, researchers can fuse it to a gene of interest to see when and where that gene becomes active as it lights up inside cells.

We knew that the lack of growth during stress was due to a decrease in cell division, so we targeted genes related to cell division. Using fluorescent markers, we observed how the plant cells lit up differently in response to stress and stress recovery.

After counting thousands of cells for months, we could see certain genes were present in fewer cells when plants were under cold, drought and salt stress. However, within about 24 hours of being put back into optimal growth conditions, their numbers returned to normal.

One gene stood out in particular: Cyclin-dependent Kinase A;1 (CDKA;1). This gene helps regulate the cell cycle, the process that controls when cells divide and grow. A related gene named CDK1 exists in animals and humans, where it performs similar functions.

After performing more experiments targeting CDKA;1 in plants, we found that inhibiting the gene prevented plants from recovering from cold and salt stress. This suggests CDKA;1 plays a vital role in helping plants resume growth once environmental conditions stabilize.

Supporting food security

Our focus is on helping crops recover faster. We can’t stop heat waves or snowstorms. Pinpointing genes, however, can help plants recover from these events and still produce in time for harvest.

Understanding these genes opens the door to new approaches in crop breeding. Researchers could look for natural variants of these genes that already exist in crop populations. Traditional breeding programs could then select for varieties that recover faster after stress.

Another option is modern gene-editing tools such as CRISPR. This tool allows scientists to make precise changes to a plant’s DNA, including strengthening or adjusting genes involved in stress recovery.

As our research progresses, we hope to adjust the genetics of these Canadian crop varieties and create our own CRISPR-edited lines that are better able to cope with a changing climate.

Improving stress recovery could also expand where crops can be grown. Regions that currently experience unpredictable weather or short growing seasons may become more suitable for agriculture if crops can recover quickly after stress.

For Canada, this could help stabilize production in areas where climate variability is increasing. For the global food system, it could make crops better equipped to handle the environmental uncertainty expected in the coming decades.

By identifying the genes that allow plants to pause growth during stress and restart, we’re beginning to understand a critical survival strategy in plants. This knowledge can eventually help ensure crops continue to produce reliable harvests in a changing climate.

—Arif Ashraf is an assistant professor in the University of British Columbia’s department of botany. Olivia Hazelwood is a PhD student in the department of botany.

The post OPINION: Understanding how plants pause and restart growth can help develop climate-resilient crops appeared first on Alberta Farmer Express.

Alberta Pulse Growers (APG) has confirmed 30.3 per cent of eligible producers’ 2025 check-off payment is eligible for the Scientific Research & Experimental Development (SR&ED) tax credit for their investment in APG-funded research and development projects.

WHY IT MATTERS: Agricultural producers need to know all the tax credits available to make their operation as profitable as possible.

How much can producers claim?

Producers are eligible to claim up to a maximum of 15 per cent for non-incorporated farm operations and up to a maximum of 35 per cent for incorporated operations of the determined 30.3 per cent.

Producers who have paid check-off this past year and have not asked for refunds are eligible claimants for this year’s credits.

How to apply for the SR&ED credit

For more detailed information about the Scientific Research & Experimental Development Tax Credit, APG advises producers to contact an accountant or the Canada Revenue Agency.

For a history of Scientific Research & Experimental Development visit the Alberta Pulse Growers website. Information about APG research investments in 2024-25 is also available on the website.

The federal Scientific Research & Experimental Development tax program is administered by the Canada Revenue Agency and encourages businesses to invest in and perform research and development in Canada.

The Scientific Research & Experimental Development Tax Credit application forms for individual producers and Canadian controlled private corporations can be downloaded directly from the CRA website.

About Alberta Pulse Growers

The Alberta Pulse Growers Commission represents 5,400 growers of field pea, dry bean, lentil, chickpea, faba bean, lupin and soybean in Alberta.

With five zones and a farmer-elected board of 12 directors, APG works to promote the benefits of pulses, both in sustainable crop rotations and as a key part of a healthy diet. Through strategic initiatives, the commission aims to enhance the sustainability, profitability and visibility of pulse production across Alberta.

The post Alberta pulse growers can claim tax credits on check-off dollars appeared first on Alberta Farmer Express.

Speaking at the Manitoba Agronomists Conference, Brian Beres, senior research scientist in agronomy with Agriculture Canada, said that while his discussion focused on wheat, the yield gap isn’t limited to cereals.

“Most cropping systems operate well below what’s biologically possible,” he said.

WHY IT MATTERS: Understanding the difference between yield potential and profitable yield can help farmers make better decisions about inputs, variety selection and management.

Yield gaps across Prairie crops

Research comparing potential yields with average farm yields suggests the gap remains substantial across several major crops.

For wheat, potential yields can reach about 75 bushels per acre under ideal conditions, while average Prairie farm yields are closer to 48 bu.per acre.

Those differences reflect the interaction of what agronomists describe as genotype, environment and management, often abbreviated as GxExM. Genetics and weather establish the biological ceiling for yield, but management determines how close farmers come to reaching it.

However, Beres said maximizing yield is not always the right target.

Balancing yield potential and profitability

Research suggests farmers should aim to achieve roughly 70 to 80 per cent of a crop’s theoretical yield potential. That range generally represents the point where strong yields can be achieved without the sharply rising input costs required to chase the final portion of theoretical yield.

That balance between agronomy and profitability was also a theme in a presentation at the same conference by Jochum Wiersma, a small grains extension specialist with the University of Minnesota, who examined how management intensity affects wheat yield, protein levels and economic returns.

In field trials comparing different management systems, increasing inputs generally produced higher yields and higher grain protein levels. High-yielding wheat varieties responded most strongly to additional inputs, while lower-yielding varieties showed smaller gains.

Protein levels also rose with higher nitrogen rates, although the economic benefits eventually plateau.

“Quality increases up to about 15 per cent protein,” Wiersma said.

Beyond that level, additional protein provides little additional market return.

Modelling risk and management decisions

Wiersma’s work also explored the economic implications of different management systems. Traditional economic comparisons often assume fixed grain prices and input costs, which can make lower-input systems appear more profitable.

However, farming rarely operates under such predictable conditions.

To better reflect real-world uncertainty, Wiersma used simulations that generate a range of possible outcomes by incorporating variability in grain prices, nitrogen costs, yields and protein discounts.

When that variability was included, more intensive management systems consistently produced stronger expected financial returns than low-input approaches.

The analysis also examined which factors had the greatest influence on profitability. Variety choice and grain price had the largest impact, while management decisions affected returns primarily through their effect on yield.

For Beres, the key is translating research into practical on-farm management strategies, and he says the GxExM framework provides the answer.

“Genetics really do set the ceiling, but management unlocks that potential. If we can do that properly, I really do see this as a frontier, and I think the Canadian Prairies could lead the way.”

Brian Beres
Senior research scientist in agronomy
Agriculture Canada

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The project’s lead researcher is so excited she’s putting off retirement.

“I want the first experiment in a system like this. This is so exciting,” Karen Schwean-Lardner said in a University of Saskatchewan news release.

Earlier this month, the Canadian Foundation for Innovation announced $6.2 million in funding to build a state-of-the-art poultry laying facility at the University. The foundation is a federal government-created non-profit set up in 1997 to fund research infrastructure in Canada.

WHY IT MATTERS: The proposed facility will allow researchers to improve poultry barn lighting, housing and food systems for better animal welfare and egg production.

The Saskatchewan Egg Producers contributed $3 million while the university’s agriculture and bioresource department added $1 million.

“This will move us so far forward in poultry research,” said Schwean-Lardner in the release. Schwean-Lardner is a professor in the university’s department of animal and poultry science.

The nearly 24,000-square-foot facility is set to include three types of hen housing: enriched, free run and free-range. Ten individual housing rooms will have controls for lighting, temperature and other environmental factors.

“Each one is like a little mini-barn,” Schwean-Larder told media.

“Big data is getting more attention these days. We have a lot of data that can be gathered over time, and this unit is going to allow us to manage that data and collect it over a long period of time,” assistant professor Deborah Adewole said. “There are going to be a lot of new things that we can do for poultry research.”

The facility will also include viewing rooms so public groups — for example, schoolchildren — can see the chickens and housing systems while reducing biosecurity risks.

“We can control the environment. Right now, we cannot do that in the same way,” said Adewole. “This facility is one of its kind in Canada. There are other universities that have built new facilities, but this one is encompassing all systems and has space for public viewing systems as well — which is a first in Canada.”

Schwean-Larder said her first experiment would look at the effects of light on the hens and will involve researchers from the U.S.

“To be able to do that kind of research with an international perspective, I can’t stand it. I’m losing my voice because I’m excited.”

The post Proposed Sask. poultry research facility gets funding influx appeared first on Alberta Farmer Express.

“This significant investment strengthens our ability to bring forward the next generation of high-performing hybrids, supporting yield gains, agronomic resilience and long-term success for Canadian farmers,” Leta LaRush, vice-president of BASF Agricultural Solutions Canada, said today in a news release.

BASF announced the expansion of the Canola Breeding Centre of Innovation in Saskatoon. Construction will begin this spring with completion expected by the end of 2027.

WHY IT MATTERS: With climate change driving weather unpredictability, canola producers need varieties that survive better and yield more.

The expansion will add advanced infrastructure, including precision-controlled growth systems and a research-grade glasshouse, the company said in the news release. These will increase breeding capacity and shorten innovation cycles, it added.

“These enhancements are critical to implementing genomic selection at scale, enabling faster, more precise breeding decisions and accelerating genetic gain across all InVigor programs,” BASF said.

The new glasshouse – a facility that enables researchers to develop experimental climates — is designed to support future hybrid breeding programs.

The centre will focus on the development of new InVigor hybrid canola varieties to better withstand changing environmental pressures and accommodate growing global demand.

Saskatchewan agriculture minister David Marit said the announcement was great news.

“It just shows the research that’s happening here and the confidence of a company like BASF to invest here. They see opportunities around the research and looking at genetics,” Marit told Glacier FarmMedia.

“You look at where the canola industry is going just in the least 15 years with new varieties, new higher oil contents, straight cut varieties, higher drought tolerant varieties — it just adds to what’s going on here in the province.”

-With files from Karen Briere

The post BASF announces $27M Saskatoon canola breeding facility expansion appeared first on Alberta Farmer Express.

In a March 9 letter to Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food Heath MacDonald, the group called for an “immediate pause on closures and employee terminations for a minimum of 24 months” so the government can re-evaluate decisions and protect “irreplaceable components of the research system, or offer enhancements to Canada’s agriculture landscape that may have been overlooked.”

WHY IT MATTERS: The planned closure of seven federal research centres and farms across Canada has been widely panned by agriculture groups, which say Canada could be less innovative and competative as a result.

The letter also calls for full transparency on the decision-making process and disclosure of any impact analysis done.

The group includes groups like the National Farmers Union (NFU), Canadian Organic Growers, Alberta Federation of Agriculture and Canadian Seed Growers Association.

The groups say the research cuts, which included over 600 staff and seven research stations, were made without consultation with farm groups or proper cost-benefit analysis.

It also criticized the suggestion universities and the private sector could make up for research cut by the government.

Universities “are cash-strapped, and grant funding is short term, precarious, and often tied to commercial partners,” the groups wrote. “They do not have access to the secure, dedicated land base or provide the stability required for long-term studies and multi-site plant breeding trials or agronomic studies.”

Private sector research, it added, is “shaped by commercial priorities and cannot address the range of research topics needed by farmers or for Canada’s long-term food and agriculture sector’s success.”

It also said research at the shuttered stations are vital to combating complex issues like climate change and disease.

“It is increasingly clear to us that the decision to eliminate this critical public research infrastructure was made without considering its true value to farmers, the Canadian public and the future of our food and agriculture system,” the groups said.

In hearings before the House of Commons agriculture committee, federal Agriculture Minister Heath MacDonald said it’s too expensive to keep all research facilities open. Operational costs had been allowed to get “out of hand,” he said in a February hearing, and the sites had substantial maintenance backlogs.

The cuts to AAFC research and staffing have also drawn criticism from opposition MPs.

The post Farm groups call on agriculture minister to pause federal research cuts appeared first on Alberta Farmer Express.

Finalists will be selected this spring, with up to two winners to be announced in 2028, who will each receive up to $1 million to scale their solutions.

Leduc, a sheep and beef farmer with a PhD in animal science from Université Laval who completed post-graduate work with McGill and Lactanet, kept running into the same issue: Farmers are being encouraged to adopt best management practices for forages, but few had the data needed to know whether those changes actually worked.

“Forage systems are long-term systems,” he said.

“If you make a mistake in seeding, you might not see the impact for a long time. If you choose the wrong bull, it’s two years before you fully understand the outcome.”

That makes it harder to connect management decisions to results — and even harder to justify change. The core problem, Leduc said, is data.

“In forage systems, data is not collected in a standardized way. Producers want answers right away. But to get analytics, you need data — and in forage, that takes time,” he said, adding this gap limits progress not only on productivity, but also on greenhouse gas reductions.

Enter Mon Système Fourrager, an integrated platform that connects data “from soil to animal,” letting users log and import field management data, harvest information, forage and silage analyses, and observations such as winter survival or stand density.

Leduc also acquired and is modernizing EweManage, a sheep and goat management software program, and is developing Agri-Doc, a module for agronomists to easily log information during farm visits, generate reports required for provincial support programs and transcribe voice notes directly into structured records. The goal is to make data capture faster and less burdensome.

“Data collection is like accounting —rationally, it’s good. Emotionally, it’s boring.”

Maxime Leduc

He is also experimenting with mobile chatbot interfaces that will allow producers to ask questions and receive insights based on their own Excel-based records.

According to Leduc, helping producers measure yields, track forage analyses and link feed quality to animal performance will support more precise feeding strategies that can improve digestibility, reduce methane intensity and increase overall farm efficiency.

Leduc emphasized that practices that reduce emissions often also improve profitability — but only if producers can see and measure the impact.

“You need to recognize you have a problem, know the possible solutions, evaluate them and then monitor the results,” he said.

“Without data, you can’t do that.”

Rather than marketing directly to individual producers one by one, Leduc is focusing on partnerships with forage labs and agronomists who already need to collect and interpret data. If advisers adopt the platform, producers are more likely to follow.

He currently has a few hundred users of his technologies, mostly in Quebec, where he works closely with a network of producers, agronomists, agricultural organizations like the Canadian Forage and Grassland Association, and forage labs.

Next milestones include launching the agronomists’ tool and hopefully advancing to the final round of the methane challenge, which would provide an additional grant of up to $500,000 to support further development and testing of his system. He’s also received funding from Investissement Quebec.

His longer-term vision is straightforward: keep the business viable and help producers become more profitable while reducing their environmental footprint. The forage sector’s future depends on closing the data gap, he says.

“The answer lies in accessing and leveraging the data producers already collect, but don’t use fully,” he said.

The post From soil to stall: the digital platform closing the data gap in methane reduction appeared first on Alberta Farmer Express.

It comes in the aftermath of the provincial government investing $500,000 in Farming Smarter last summer to purchase equipment, aiding the organization in doubling its potato agronomy research projects in 2025.

“Over the last two years, we have probably spent about $1.2 million in equipment that allows us to really delve into the high-value irrigated row crop industry. We all know it’s an amazing industry, but there sure is not a lot of research to support such an amazing, economically important industry,” said Ken Coles, executive director of Farming Smarter.

The non-profit Farming Smarter research institute was officially born in 2012, merging from the Southern Alberta Conservation Association and the Southern Applied Research Association.

Those humble beginnings as an association had a budget of $150,000, with Farming Smarter breaking an operating revenue of $3.24 million in 2025. Of that, 91 per cent goes to research, innovation, and knowledge extension.

“On the expense side, we spent $2.83 million on operations, but because of that large capital expenditure, we definitely put a good chunk of effort into building our resources,” said Coles.

Research acres have grown from 267 in 2024, to just over 500 acres in 2026, leasing a couple of quarters along Highway 3 near Coaldale, to form a strong presence in the crucial southern Alberta agriculture corridor. Plots can be found in the Lethbridge, Stirling, Barons, Coaldale and Bow Island areas.

The small full-time staff of 11 also have summer students to rely on, as 119 students have walked through the door since 2012.

“When we dug in informally and looked at the capacity that we’ve grown to as an organization, we found out we’re doing twice the amount of field-based agronomy research than all of our post secondaries in Alberta combined,” said Coles, who is guided by a board of directors.

“The work that we’re doing here at Farming Smarter is unmatched in the province. We’ve got a good group of people that are willing to work with us, and I think there’s an opportunity for us to continue to build capacity and and get the support.”

Agriculture has caught the eye of philanthropic foundations in recent years as regenerative become the latest buzz word. The Weston Family Foundation, RBC Tech for Nature and Farmers For Climate Solutions, have supported Farming Smarter alongside a new grant from the Carthy Foundation for environmentally sustainable agriculture.

“It is allowing us to do work we have never done before. It provides us with the flexibility to work on things that are local. Whenever we’re working for research projects, we have to appeal to the entire province, or sometimes to all of Western Canada. So we’re looking continuing our efforts in building more relationships along that front.”

“A lot of about the culture is, let’s try some crazy things, and maybe we can even save you guys from doing something stupid. We call ourselves Farming Smarter, but really this is: ‘Let’s make as many mistakes as we can so that you don’t have to’,” said Coles.

Agriculture generates around $150 billion in Canada, supporting one in nine jobs, and is a top-10 exporter in the world of its goods. As the non-profit Farmer Smarter continues to expand, the executive director hopes what he called the catastrophic closing of seven research farms across the nation by the federal government will serve as a springboard.

For Coles, advocacy is needed now more than ever in the importance the type of work his organization and those like it are doing in helping power agriculture.

“While I do understand the need to cut back in bureaucracy and the size of government, what we’re cutting here is irreplaceable, and we’re cutting all the rural region,” said Coles.

“Some could argue that, ‘Oh, well, you guys can pick up the slack’. That’s not true, because the only way we’re successful is to partner with others across the country, to share the expertise. We’re really general, and we need those experts. All those agronomy battles, kochia is the number-one problem we heard from everybody. You just lost half of the weed scientists in the province, and that’s not a good thing.”

Farming Smarter collaborates with numerous colleges, universities, provincial and federal agencies, and private research associations across western Canada on many projects.

The organization also helps train industry and has conducted product demonstrations for Syngenta, BASF, Bayer, Valent, FMC, NuFarm, SeCan, and SeedNet among many others.

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