Recent dry years have brought to mind the infamous Dirty Thirties, but this historical disaster was more than the product of drought, said Shannon Stunden Bower, an environmental historian at the University of Calgary.
Five new wheat varieties developed by LimaGrain Cereals Research Canada (LCRC) have been licensed to distributors this year following recommendation by the Prairie Grain Development Committee. Established in 2015, the private wheat breeder is a partnership between two farmer-owned co-operatives, France’s Limagrain and Canada’s Canterra Seeds. The variety recommendations represent a major success for the organization, which has marketed just four wheat varieties since its formation, including CS Accelerate and CS Daybreak.
The 2024 growing season was a rollercoaster for farmers, with significant variations in yield and quality from region to region and even field to field. Drought conditions prevailed across Western Canada in April, but dry weather allowed farmers to seed early.
From its current facility, located in a federal government-owned highrise in downtown Winnipeg, Cereals Canada focuses on market development, technical support and market access for Canadian cereal grains. While the organization’s current space has served its purpose for over half a century, the time has come to look ahead and envision the next 50 years for Canadian agriculture.
Marginal acres unsuitable or less suitable for crop production are common on cultivated farmland. To conduct conventional farming practices on such unproductive acres reduces profitability and increases deterioration of land.
The University of Calgary’s Simpson Centre for Food and Agricultural Policy launched its three-year Alberta Digitalization Agriculture (ABDIAG) program project in October 2023. Thanks to $1.2 million provided by Alberta Agriculture and Irrigation, the research and farmer education initiative will examine how existing digital technologies can more broadly and effectively be used by the agriculture sector.
In February, the federal government created the new Canada Indo-Pacific Agriculture and Agri-Food office (IPAAO) in Manila, the capital city of the Philippines. The facility is intended to expand trade opportunities in the region. “The creation of the IPAAO is unprecedented for Canada’s agriculture sector,” said an Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) spokesperson. “It is the first time the sector will have a regional office dedicated to the Indo-Pacific region as a whole under Canada’s Indo-Pacific Strategy.”
On a sweltering day in June, Nichole Neubauer enlisted a recent graduate of the Medicine Hat College Sustainable Innovation program to set up a ferruginous hawk nesting platform on a grassland pasture area on her farm near the southern Alberta city. Atop a telephone pole roughly four metres off the ground, cross pieces support the flat, triangular structure. Neubauer said the hawks have historically helped control the farm’s rodent population and the platform will assist in efforts to secure a healthy future for the birds. The project is in line with an Alberta Environment and Protected Areas project that has made significant strides to restore the hawk’s diminished population.
Scientists continue to do their part in the fight against nasty cereal diseases. A Canadian Grain Commission (CGC) team has completed an innovative three-year study that will allow for faster recognition and identification of rust and Fusarium types.
Team Alberta Crops conducted a three-year, $1.5-million project to measure pesticide concentrations on farm wetlands. The organization’s commission members, product manufacturers and Results Driven Agriculture Research provided funding.
