ALL GROWN UP
BY TREVOR BACQUE • PHOTO OF MARK OLSON COURTESY OF WCI
After a transitional year, Western Crops Innovations (WCI) is gearing up to begin life on its own, and continue to provide value to farmers. Formerly known as the provincial government’s Field Crop Development Centre, it spent three years under a licensing agreement with Olds College. As of April 2024, WCI was registered as a not-for-profit corporation and new agreements were negotiated with the Province. Much to the benefit of farmers, its mandate largely remains the same: research and breed quality cultivars for western Canadian farmers.
Its independence will allow it to partner with the best and brightest minds in breeding. “We are able to work with industry organizations and collaborate with post-secondary institutes and other breeding programs without being encumbered by anybody else’s policies or procedures,” said Mark Olson, interim executive director. “We’re our own entity and we can make our own decisions to better serve western Canadian agriculture.”
This will include the forthcoming hire of a permanent CEO and the election of a new full-time board of directors, ideally by the proposed AGM date at the end of March. The organization is now “laser focused” on its barley and triticale breeding programs. This includes renewed attention on feed and forage barley varieties, and emphasis on related agronomy and extension will also increase. Olson did say, though, that WCI will explore the potential assistance of other crop groups with research projects. “It all comes back to the economic benefit to the farmer,” he said. “We want to be able to be that go-to research institute and developer of new genetics that answers the concerns of Prairie farmers.”
Twenty-nine staff members support WCI breeding programs through a multi-disciplinary approach in pathology, biotechnology and quality analysis. Teams in these areas have been bolstered by a newly hired agronomy manager and two research associates.
WCI and its predecessor have long exchanged germplasm with various countries and institutes. Olson believes the mutually beneficial arrangement will continue. Breeding efforts will attempt to put better varieties into the marketplace than what is now available, and to develop these more quickly. An ongoing goal is to shrink the variety creation window from eight or 10 years to six or seven. This will be aided by indoor growth rooms and contra-season production.
“Growers don’t care how many varieties are in the market,” said Olson. “They only care what works and brings the best return to their farm. In the old days it was throwing a bunch [of varieties] against the wall and hope some stuck.” He believes the attitude of Canadian breeders in general is to release for registration only varieties better than what’s currently available.
Mike Flynn, Alberta Grains executive director said WCI continues to have value as it has gone through transition years. “We want to see this facility succeed in whichever way the roadmap gets us there,” he said. “We want and see a need for this type of research facility dedicated to barley. There are not many other institutions engaged in this kind of work.”
The organization believes in the work of WCI enough to become a Tier 4 member, with a financial contribution of $375,000. Flynn and his Alberta Grains colleagues are working with WCI as it hammers out its vision for the future. “If it is properly funded and the business plan makes sense, we are happy to support it,” he said. “We’re looking for the best way to help this organization come to life.”
For more information, visit westerncropinnovations.com.
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