Grainswest - Winter 2024

Winter 2024 grainswest.com 23 change, genetic material from areas where climate differs from our own could be more relevant than ever, said Diederichsen. “It may be that now material becomes important that was not adapted before,” he added. “That’s what I think the main goal of plant breeding is, to be able to ... adapt to the changes, the environmental conditions that are changing for us and give us a product that we can still keep moving forward with,” said Chelsea Tomlinson, a seed grower who owns and operates True Seeds with her husband Shane Wyness near Redwater. Plant breeders can alter the genetics of cereal plants to respond better to environmental changes. “Genetics is at least half the battle in terms of sustainability,” said Lauren Comin, director of policy at Seeds Canada. “With each improvement that you make, you’re helping the crop to adapt to the conditions that you’re being faced with today, conditions that you anticipate in the future.” As a seed grower, Tomlinson sees the need to develop varieties that keep up with an increasingly drastic swing from wet to dry environmental conditions in her region. “We’re either super wet or super dry,” she said, “In the last five years we don’t seem to have this sort of balance anymore.” The more plant breeders can focus on drought-resistant varieties, the better. Plant breeding can alter the way a plant utilizes water, whether that’s how the roots access it or the leaves respond to it, said Comin. “There are many things you can do with genetics to allow your plant to not only grow with less but to grow more with less,” she added. “We need to ensure we’re still growing as much or more but leaving less of an environmental footprint.” Thanks to the dedicated efforts of plant breeders who have improved its winter survival, winter wheat is a strong rotational option, and one that takes advantage of wet springs to produce higher yield. “Because you grow it in the fall, it’s able to access fall and early spring moisture that a spring-seeded crop couldn’t,” said Comin. It also helps provide ground cover during the winter to preserve essential moisture in the soil. Another key benefit of winter wheat is that certain varieties are resistant to Fusarium head blight. With built-in resistance, it can reduce the need for chemical application, equipment passes on the field, emissions and ultimately cost. This makes it a strongly sustainable crop, added Comin. In recent years, plant breeders have offered farmers Fusarium resistant cereal varieties beyond winter wheat. “Fusarium is the really tough one right now and we’re slowly being able to incorporate higher resistance into your varieties,” said Comin. Developing varieties resistant to Fusarium is not without its challenges, however. The plant can have resistance to initial infection, the spread of infection or the accumulation of toxin in the grain. “A lot of factors are involved, and there are a lot of genes involved in Fusarium resistance,” said Comin. Genes have also been identified that show resistance to stripe rust, also known as yellow rust, in cereals. Because rust is a fungal disease, it evolves and adapts to overcome the defences of resistant varieties. “That has been a challenge, and that’s part of the changing climate, is changing populations and changing lifecycles of pests,” said Comin. Breeders are forced to be proactive in identifying new sources of resistance and new genes, she added. It’s a race against the clock as pests become resistant to a crop variety’s defences. Tomlinson pointed to the very successful use of blended varieties farmers can seed at a specific rate. These refuge pairings combine a resistant variety with a similar but non-resistant one. Able to snack on a portion “We’ve set a bar, and we want to be at this standard. They’re helping us all the time to stay at that bar, if not exceed it.” —Chelsea Tomlinson