Built on strong variety development, Canadian grain has a solid reputation for high quality. However, industry experts increasingly warn this has been put at risk by waning investment, a cumbersome variety registration process and plant breeders’ rights that are often criticized as weak.

Canada is a strong international competitor in durum marketing. Over the past five years, it has exported more than 23 million tonnes. The country’s approach is straightforward: Winning isn’t everything, it’s the only thing. Market dominance is not easy to maintain given factors such as new Russian and Turkish production.

Conversation about ESG continues to increase in volume as these three letters bleed into many facets of life. An acronym for “environmental, social and governance,” the idiom was coined in a 2004 report by the United Nations titled Who Cares Wins. This slightly fluid term delineates the notion that people in any given business sector need to show their work when it comes to taking care of the planet, treating people well and operating in a sustainable, that is, socially acceptable, fashion.

We grew up on family farms in the same area; my mom and dad farming east of Three Hills and his parents running a farm and feedlot on the other side of town. We were both in our 30s and farming full time on our respective family farms when a breakdown in family relationships made it untenable for him and his wife Kendra to carry on with business as usual.

Seed growers are at the forefront of advancement in crop production, said Kelly Chambers, executive director of Alberta-British Columbia Seed Growers (ABCSG). They specialize in production and multiplication of plant breeder stock that produces certified, blue tag seed for commercial production. Alberta’s 662 certified seed growers farmed 307,711 acres of pedigreed seed in 2024, about 25 per cent of Canadian pedigreed acreage.

On the Prairies, leaf spot complex is a significant yield robber in wheat and barley. A group of stubble-borne diseases, leaf spot complex is practically ubiquitous in Alberta cereals. Its presence can lead to downgrading, especially in bread wheats and durum. Ongoing studies aim to better understand causes and develop treatments.

Fertilizer always has been and always will be vital to agriculture. However, this primary crop input has come under fire in recent years, most notably for its carbon footprint. The federal government took aim at fertilizer and its emissions, challenging industry to be more sustainable top to bottom. Price variability and unsteady availability of supply are also problematic.

For many years now, malting barley research has primarily focused on how to provide small and large brewers alike with the next great variety for their beers. An afterthought, however, is distillers, who often source their barley from other countries with a more established system of malting barley suitable for spirits.

Most farmers don’t conduct regular new variety trials on their own farms. Typically, farmers take a longterm approach. When the performance of a trusted variety sags, they may consult the Alberta Seed Guide and plant a few dozen acres, or even an entire field, of a newer variety listed within its pages.

An assessment it conducted in 2024 estimated invasive species cost Alberta an enormous $2.1 billion annually. The tally was based on an economic assessment completed 20 years prior and adjusted for inflation along with the increased abundance and diversity of invasive species in Alberta.