There are no shortcuts to the top of the malting barley heap. More than 15 years after becoming a registered variety, CDC Copeland has become the most widely grown malting barley variety in Western Canada, pushing stalwart AC Metcalfe into second place.
The first ever FutureFarm Canada Expo, organized by dmg events in partnership with the historic Olds College, will be held this July.
On No v. 3, 2016, Transport Minister Marc Garneau announced the federal government’s Transportation 2030 plan, which will include new legislation that will address several priority areas for grain transportation. Industry stakeholders have been pushing for these measures for a long time.
Jody Klassen is one of many farmers across central and northern Alberta who really don’t see a happy ending for the story that played out late in 2016, leaving more than one million acres of grain and oilseed crops left unharvested under snow. All he can do is make the best of a bad situation.
Variable-rate application and farming practices have been an emerging technology for 20 years—an oxymoron to be sure. The technology works, but we still have much to learn about how to best utilize it.
As a 2017 Nuffield Canadian scholar, I am about to embark on what will no doubt be the journey of a lifetime. I couldn’t be more excited for what lies ahead. Nuffield Canada is an amazing organization that has provided growth opportunities for many individuals who have developed into agriculture industry leaders. I want to thank Nuffield Canada and the Western Grains Research Foundation, which sponsored my specific scholarship, for giving me this opportunity to do work that benefits the barley industry.
As the world has started to grapple with the short- and long-term consequences of burning fossil fuels, renewable energy sources have become all the rage. This has spurred researchers all around the world to try to find the next big energy breakthrough that will power human civilization for generations to come.
Wheat and barley research has improved by leaps and bounds under the Growing Forward 2 agriculture policy framework—specifically, thanks to the AgriInnovation program and its associated research “clusters.” The program is focused on research and development activities that bring innovation to the sector and bring new varieties of wheat and barley to commercialization.
As anyone feeling the effects of Father Time will tell you, 25 years brings a lot of changes—some for the better, others not so much. The same can be said for international wheat markets over the past few decades, which have similarly moved forward in some areas and backward in others. In the process, they’ve presented Canadian farmers and exporters with their fair share of challenges, opportunities and perhaps a glimpse of what lies ahead.
In agriculture, succession planning isn’t just an issue that affects the farm. As senior researchers in government and postsecondary institutions near retirement, the pressure to recruit the best and brightest students into agricultural research is getting higher.
