Reading Time: 3 minutes Linda Gorim’s goal for her agronomy students is to give them a hands-on experience. “My goal is to get them dirty, and I get them really dirty,” said Gorim, an assistant professor at the University of Alberta and the Western Grains Research Foundation chair in cropping systems. Her field crop agronomy course was created to […] Read more
Farmers and field trips provide something textbooks can’t offer
GRO to retire 26-year-old combine
Reading Time: < 1 minute Gateway Research Organization can now retire its 26-year-old plot-sized combine after receiving $293,000 from the Western Grains Research Foundation for the purchase of a new one. “The new combine will not only improve our efficiency in research data collection but will also be a step up for employee safety standards,” said Sandeep Nain, general manager […] Read more
U of A gets more funding from grains foundation
Reading Time: < 1 minute The University of Alberta is getting a research plot seeder and combine for its wheat-breeding program thanks to a $289,000 grant from the Western Grains Research Foundation. The program focuses on development of hard red (CWRS) and high-yield (CPS) spring wheat varieties, and also conducts research into genetics of disease resistance, nitrogen-use efficiency in wheat, […] Read more
MARA getting ‘much-needed’ new digs
Reading Time: < 1 minute The Mackenzie Applied Research Association is getting a “much-needed” agronomy centre and repair shop at its Fort Vermilion site. Half of the funds for the $600,000 facility have been raised by local producers and half is being contributed by the Western Grains Research Foundation. “Our current research and workshop facility is antiquated and very expensive […] Read more
New cropping systems research chair to focus on the big picture
U of A scientist will focus on interactions between plants, soils, management, and environment
Reading Time: < 1 minute Western Grains Research Foundation is putting up $3 million for a research chair in cropping systems at the University of Alberta to study interactions between plants, soils, crop management, and the environment. The position will allow a dedicated scientist to work on farm-level management systems such as interdisciplinary considerations of crop, water and input use […] Read more
Crop missions a whole new ball game under Trump
New opportunities in China and Japan a result of U.S. president’s actions
Reading Time: 4 minutes ‘Thank you, Donald Trump.’ Members of the recent New Crop Mission to Asia didn’t say those exact words. But the fallout from the belligerent U.S. president’s trade war with China is definitely one of the pluses that members of the mission encountered. “The big difference this year is the trade environment,” Cereals Canada president Cam […] Read more
They don’t wear capes, but beneficial bugs are superheroes
New campaign urges farmers to give a little more love to the good bugs that kill bad ones
Reading Time: 3 minutes They’re in your field, lurking there, doing their thing. But do you know who they are? Can you identify your beneficial insects? That’s the goal behind the Western Grains Research Foundation’s Field Heroes campaign. “It’s basically a social media campaign to increase the profile of the beneficial insects that are in your field crops,” said […] Read more
Website identifies your insect friends
WGRF works with Prairie Pest Monitoring Network to develop online and social media sites
Reading Time: < 1 minute Not all heroes wear capes. That’s the message behind a new communications campaign to increase awareness of some unsung heroes — beneficial insects. Recently launched by Western Grains Research Foundation (WGRF), the ‘Field Heroes’ campaign encourages growers and agronomists to consider beneficial insects in crop production recommendations and decisions. “Beneficial insects play a vital pest […] Read more
CP, CN both top their Prairie grain revenue caps
The Western Grains Research Foundation (WGRF) can soon expect a late gift of over $4.4 million in surplus Prairie grain freight revenue, according to a new ruling from the Canadian Transportation Agency. The agency said Dec. 22 it has determined Canadian Pacific Railway (CP) and Canadian National Railway (CN) went over their maximum revenue entitlements […] Read more
Ottawa opens its wallet: Ag research back on the front burner again
Top scientists hail the end of decades-long plunge in the number of Ag Canada agricultural researchers
Reading Time: 3 minutes Recent hirings at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada are a sign that the long decline in research capability is over. “That they’re hiring is very positive,” said Ron DePauw, who established himself as one of the world’s top wheat breeders with his work at AAFC’s Swift Current station. “If you go back to 1973, there were […] Read more
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