GrainsWest Fall 2018

Fall 2018 Grains West 48 Newwheat varieties sprout fromnovel partnership 4P pactpaysofffor farmers GRAIN SCIENCE NEWS FOR BROTHERS DON AND STEPHEN Sendziak who grow pedigreed seed near Thorsby, results in the field say it all. And that’s why they’re excited about AAC Crossfield, which, along with AAC Entice, are two varieties recently produced by the 4P Canada Prairie Spring Red (CPSR) agreement. Launched in 2015, 4P, which stands for “public, private and producer partnership,” includes Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC), Canterra Seeds and the Alberta Wheat Commission (AWC). The pact is aimed at improving CPSR varieties. “We picked Crossfield be- cause all of its attributes indicated it was hands-down the best yielder compared to other CPS check varieties,” said Don. IN SEARCH OF SUPPORT When federal CPSR breeder Stephen Fox retired, funding was not available to re- hire his position. A decision was made to move the genetic material from Winnipeg to the Lethbridge Research and Develop- ment Centre. It was there that Harpinder Randhawa consolidated the centre’s breeding program to focus solely on Soft White Spring Wheat (SWSW) and CPSR. Once the genetic material had a new home, the focus was on how best to develop it and create varieties of interest to farmers. That process would require expertise, funding and forward thinking, leading to a comprehensive partnership spearheaded by George Clayton, then ex- ecutive director of partnerships with the science and technology branch of AAFC. “The first thing that appealed to AAFC was the idea of partnering with other organizations that bring complementa- ry strengths,” said Dr. François Eudes, research scientist with AAFC. To take that idea from concept to crea- tion, AAFC issued a request for proposals (RFP) to private sector companies in The 4P partnership with Canterra Seeds, AAFC and the AlbertaWheat Commission was created to improve CPSR varieties.