16 / 44
hand, foliar fungicides are maybe the one
silver bullet.
One very cool thing I’m finding in my
research is how foliar fungicides in the
same growing environment can work real-
ly well on one cultivar, but not on another.
Particularly this past growing season,
because there was so much rain and
the conditions for disease development
were ideal, the majority of farmers used
a fungicide that cost anywhere from $18
to $25 an acre [depending on the specific
product]. But what we’re seeing now in the
yield data is that fungicides are not always
making a positive difference, especially
if you have a cultivar that has really good
genetic resistance to disease.
I think managing our crops on a
cultivar-by-cultivar basis is really exciting
and revolutionary.
GW
: What about the side of your
research that looks at Pgrs?
SS:
PGRs affect the plant’s hormonal sys-
tem. the PGR we’re using on cereal crops
to make them shorter interferes with a hor-
mone called gibberellin—that’s a hormone
that makes plants taller and lankier.
I think we’re looking into PGRs now
because we’re pushing yields harder and
harder. the more we push them, the more
lodging becomes an issue. We’re starting
to need these tools, it’s just figuring out
how to make them work for us.
GW
: What have you found are the ad-
vantages and disadvantages of Pgrs?
SS:
the big advantage is absolutely the
standability of crops. every farmer who
has fought with a lodged crop in the fall
wishes they had a PGR on their crop back
in June that would have helped it stand.
the big disadvantage is that we don’t
fully understand how they work. If they
worked the way the textbooks say they’re
supposed to work, it would be fantastic.
But we’re seeing that they’re not working
consistently on all cultivars. they have
also been seen to cause decreases in yield
and protein decreases.
GW
: Why is your research important for
Alberta cereal farmers?
SS:
Large investments are put into
breeding so you get a wheat or barley
cultivar with very specific traits, but then
farmers manage the cultivars all the same.
It makes sense that if you have different
genetics in different cultivars, they are
going to respond differently to the man-
agement. to optimize those genetics, we
need to manage each cultivar differently.
When farmers know how to best manage
their crops, there are economic benefits,
environmental benefits and yield benefits.
GW
: Why is this research important for
the Canadian cereal industry?
SS:
I think the big thing is that Canadian
farmers need to compete in an interna-
tional market and we need to grow more
bushels to stay competitive. We need to do
that using inputs as wisely as we possibly
can. For example, if a farmer knows a
fungicide will increase yields under the
right conditions, they can be more profit-
able. they can grow grain that has better
quality that will make our product more
attractive to international buyers. On the
other hand, if a grower can get the same
yields and quality and not spend that $18
to $25 an acre on a fungicide, there’s an
economic benefit.
Also, because farmers are pushing
yields with higher fertility, lodging be-
comes more of an issue and that’s where
something like a PGR to help standability
of our crops is critical for our farmers to
harvest more acres with higher quality.
I think social licence is a big part of it
too. If the public knows the farmers are
using their inputs only where they are
causing a yield or quality benefit, rather
than just blanket usage, that gains credi-
bility with the public and our internation-
al buyers.
GW:
What are your goals for the future?
SS:
For my research, my goal is to secure
funding to do a Prairie-wide program.
I’d like to be able to do cultivar-specific
agronomy work in Alberta, Saskatch-
ewan and Manitoba and really make
the results as meaningful as possible to
western Canadian farmers. On a larger
scale, the goal for Alberta cereal farmers
is to help improve their profitability and
competitiveness. I want to make sure that
Canadian farmers are equipped with the
best tools out there to do the best job that
they can.
Winter
2017
Grains
West
16
PUBLIC SERVANT:
Sheri Strydhorst works out of Alberta Agriculture and Forestry’s
o ce in Barrhead, but much of her time is spent out in the field on her cultivar-specific
management research.