Clubroot is a persistent and evolving soil-borne disease that affects canola and other cruciferous crops, causing swollen galls on roots that reduce nutrient uptake and stunt plant growth.

The Clubroot Steering Committee, an industry-led working group made up of seed companies, researchers and producer organizations, proposes a new voluntary labelling system that specifies the exact forms of clubroot to which a variety is resistant.

Instead of the current blanket “resistant” or “susceptible” tags, the new system would indicate resistance to specific strains, or pathotypes, of the clubroot organism common in Prairie soils.

The goal is to help farmers choose and rotate varieties more effectively, reducing disease pressure and preserving the usefulness of resistance over time.

Currently, seed varieties are labelled as resistant if they show less than 30 per cent disease compared to a susceptible check. But it doesn’t tell growers which specific strains a variety resists. The proposed changes aim to address that limitation.

Newer forms of the clubroot pathogen are already overcoming resistance bred into popular canola varieties, threatening yields and long-term soil health.

“Pathotypes in a field can shift dramatically within just a few years,” the Canola Council of Canada notes. “We need a more nuanced approach to help farmers rotate resistance sources and reduce disease pressure.”

Under the new proposal, seed labels would identify resistance to the three most common clubroot pathotypes in Western Canada, designated 3A, 3D and 3H. These are among the most widespread and damaging strains found in Prairie soils.

While the proposal focuses on just three, more than 47 distinct clubroot pathotypes have been identified in Canada, with new ones appearing nearly every year. Multiple forms of the pathogen can sometimes be found within a single clubroot gall. So, researchers are working to isolate and characterize minor strains for future inclusion.

“Eventually we’re getting to testing some of the minor pathotypes in Western Canada as well,” says Curtis Rempel, vice-president for crop production and innovation with the Canola Council of Canada.

Dr. Stephen Strelkov, a University of Alberta plant pathologist who has tracked clubroot’s spread since it was first identified near Edmonton in 2003, is leading the development of single-spore isolates for the most widespread pathotypes.

Strelkov shared updates earlier this year at CropConnect in Winnipeg, highlighting the urgency of staying ahead of evolving pathogen types. Rempel reports that Strelkov’s work on the three isolates is progressing well.

“Stephen is on track to have them available late this year or early next year for developers to start testing,” he says, adding that within the next couple of years he expects them to show up on labels. “It doesn’t happen overnight.”

The proposed system would give seed developers a clear framework to describe resistance consistently and in a grower-friendly way, making it easier for farmers to compare varieties based on how they perform against specific clubroot strains.

Rempel emphasized the practical value of this system for long-term resistance planning. He says the new labels could help growers plan rotations that reduce selection pressure.

For example, after planting a variety resistant to pathotype 3H for three cycles — nine years in a typical rotation — a grower might switch to a variety with resistance to 3A to keep the pathogen population off balance.

“It’s going to tell the farmer that whatever gene is in the variety they’re buying and growing will be resistant to pathogen type 3H,” he said.

Though the new labels will be voluntary, Rempel expects strong uptake.

“I’ve looked historically at our canola industry in Canada — the companies are always trying to do right by the grower,” he says. “They’re looking to optimize yields. They’re looking to optimize profitability. So all of this adds up as favourable for the grower.”

Breeding resistance to specific pathogen strains using single-spore isolates is not a new concept. It mirrors what’s already done in wheat breeding for leaf and stem rust resistance.

“This is a model that’s working elsewhere,” Rempel notes. “You have to be able to characterize it to know that your resistance genes are of any value — or optimum value.”

The labelling system is still under discussion, and key details such as implementation timelines and seed industry participation have not been finalized.

The post Clubroot resistance: what new seed labels would mean for canola growers appeared first on Grainews.

Canterra Seeds

AAC Beyond is an early-maturity yellow pea variety with high yield potential, yielding five per cent more than CDC Amarillo. It has medium to high protein content (about one per cent higher than CDC Amarillo on average) and features a smaller seed size and good seed coat breakage resistance. As well, AAC Beyond offers a good disease resistance package featuring a resistant rating for powdery mildew and a moderately resistant rating for fusarium root rot.

CS ProStar is a yellow pea developed by DL Seeds. It is also an early-maturity variety, making it suitable for areas with a short growing season where early harvest is a priority. CS ProStar has good yield potential, similar to CDC Amarillo, and it has very high protein content as well, about 1.5 per cent higher than CDC Amarillo on average. CS ProStar also features include improved seed coat breakage resistance compared to check varieties. It is resistant to powdery mildew and moderately resistant to fusarium root rot.

CDC 6928 is a small red lentil variety with good yield potential, yielding nine per cent more than CDC Maxim. It has a seed size similar to CDC Simmie and is slightly taller than the check variety. CDC 6928 features imidazolinone tolerance and its maturity and disease resistance ratings are similar to most commercial varieties.

CDC 6956 is a small red lentil variety with good yield potential, yielding eight per cent more than CDC Maxim. CDC 6956 features imidazolinone tolerance and its maturity, seed size, plant height, maturity and disease protection package are all similar to CDC Maxim and other current commercial lentil varieties.

FP Genetics

AAC Julius is a high-yielding, semi-leafless yellow pea, yielding eight per cent more than AAC Carver and three per cent more than CDC Hickie. This early-maturity variety has a small seed size and offers good resistance to seed coat breakage and dimpling. AAC Julius also features a higher protein content similar to AAC Profit.

Pitura Seeds

PS Boost is an early-maturity yellow pea variety developed by DL Seeds that has high yield potential and high protein content. It has very good resistance to seed coat breakage as well as good lodging resistance. PS Boost also features very good resistance to powdery mildew and good resistance to fusarium wilt.

SeCan

CDC Hickie is a mid-maturity yellow pea variety offering an excellent combination of high protein and high yield potential. On average, CDC Hickie yields four per more and has 0.5 per cent higher protein than CDC Amarillo. It has medium-sized seed with good resistance to seed coat breakage and seed coat dimpling. CDC Hickie is available from SeCan retailers in Manitoba and Alberta and is distributed by Saskatchewan Pulse Growers in Saskatchewan.

CDC Tollefson is a high-yielding, mid-maturity yellow pea. On average, CDC Tollefson yields six per cent more than CDC Amarillo and has 0.3 per cent lower protein than CDC Amarillo. It has medium-sized seed with good resistance to seed coat breakage and seed coat dimpling. CDC Tollefson is available from SeCan retailers in Manitoba and Alberta and is distributed by Saskatchewan Pulse Growers in Saskatchewan.

Valesco Genetics

Caphorn is a mid-maturity yellow pea developed by DL Seeds. It has average yield potential, higher than average protein content and larger than average seed size. Caphorn also has good lodging resistance, and it is resistant to fusarium wilt (race 1), bean yellow mosaic virus and powdery mildew.

The post New pulses pending for 2025 appeared first on Grainews.

Note: the following list includes only brand-new releases for 2025.

BrettYoung

BY NEBO XT is an ultra-early variety with a relative maturity of 000.5 RM or 2150 CHU. This Roundup Ready 2 Xtend soybean has an attractive phenotype and offers excellent yield performance in early markets. It has a robust defence package, offering very good protection against soybean cyst nematode (SCN) and phytophthora root rot (PRR). BY NEBO XT is also semi-tolerant to iron deficiency chlorosis (IDC).

BY ARVON XT is a Roundup Ready 2 Xtend variety offering a highly competitive yield for its relative maturity of 000.9 RM or 2250 CHU. Featuring very good PRR and white mould tolerance and semi-tolerant rating for IDC, BY ARVON has a solid defence package that provides exceptional performance.

Corteva: Brevant Seeds

B0024EE is an Enlist 3 variety offering good yield for its maturity. It comes with a strong defence package that includes white mould tolerance, strong IDC tolerance and excellent protection against PRR. Relative maturity is 2325 CHU.

B0044EE is a high-yielding Enlist 3 soybean with very good field emergence and harvest standability. This plant has a branchy phenotype, pods up well and provides a great canopy cover. Its defence package includes IDC tolerance and protection against SCN. Relative maturity is 2375 CHU.

B0074EE is a high yielding Enlist 3 variety with good harvest standability and a defence package that includes white mould tolerance and excellent IDC tolerance. This plant pods up well and has nice bean clusters at the top. Relative maturity is 2375 CHU.

Corteva: Pioneer Seed

P003Z08E is a high yielding Enlist 3 variety that performs well across most environments. This soybean offers strong early-season vigour and standability and has an excellent lodging rating as well. P003Z08E also features PRR and white mould tolerance and strong IDC tolerance. Relative maturity is 00.3 RM or 2350 CHU.

P004Z87E is an early Enlist 3 variety that pods up well and has good field emergence. This high yielding soybean has a defence package that includes tolerance to PRR, IDC and white mould. Relative maturity is 00.4 RM or 2375 CHU.

P008Z25E is a high-performance Enlist 3 soybean with excellent yield potential. This variety has a tall plant height and produces a strong canopy cover. P008Z25E also features PRR and white mould tolerance and strong IDC tolerance. Relative maturity is 00.8 RM or 2475 CHU.

P009Z94E is an Enlist 3 variety that is the highest-yielding soybean in the Pioneer brand lineup. It has an excellent disease protection package that includes PRR and SCN tolerance and a strong IDC score. Relative maturity is 00.9 RM or 2500 CHU.

Dekalb

DKB007-91XF is an XtendFlex soybean with high yield potential. This is a medium-tall plant with a medium bushy architecture that provides strong emergence and very good standability. DKB007-91XF is an excellent option for growers concerned about or currently managing Group 4-resistant kochia. Relative maturity is 00.7 RM or 2475 CHU.

NorthStar Genetics

NSC Homewood is a Roundup Ready 2 Xtend variety with excellent yield potential. An excellent replacement for NSC Sperling, NSC Homewood is a tall, semi-bushy soybean with strong emergence and standability that performs well in all soils. It has a very strong disease package, featuring the Rps1c gene for protection against PRR, along with very good white mould tolerance and a tolerant rating for IDC. Relative maturity is 00.6 RM or 2450 CHU.

Proven Seed

PV S007XF55 is an XtendFlex soybean offering significant and stable yield enhancements. This is a uniform, solid plant with a fast canopy closure and a very tall, bushy plant type. PV S007XF55 has good standability and aggressive early growth. It also features outstanding IDC tolerance and SCN resistance and is a good choice for growers in southern Manitoba. Relative maturity is 00.7 RM.

SeCan

Alouette R2X is a Roundup Ready 2 Xtend soybean with medium early maturity and an attractive plant type. It has a very good rating for lodging and is rated as semi-tolerant to IDC. This variety shows great yield potential for its early maturity rating. Relative maturity is 00.1 RM or 2325 CHU.

Syngenta: NK Seeds

S0009-J5X is an early Roundup Ready 2 Xtend variety featuring broad adaptability with optimal performance in high-yield environments. S0009-J5X offers the best emergence in the NK Seeds soybean lineup and has excellent standability as well. It has an excellent disease package that includes strong PRR and IDC tolerance and exceptional white mould tolerance. Relative maturity is 0.009 RM or 2275 CHU.

Thunder Seed

TH85003XF is an ExtendFlex variety offering great consistent yields, with strong agronomics, good plant height and productive branches contributing to excellent overall performance. It is broadly adapted for varied conditions across Western Canada and has SCN tolerance and very good PRR, IDC and white mould tolerance. Relative maturity is 00.3 RM.

The post New soybean varieties for 2025 appeared first on Grainews.

Grainews recently spoke with several prominent seed companies about new soybean varieties they have in the development pipeline and the impact shifting weather patterns are having on their developmental efforts.

Weather challenge

Allan Froese is a soybean product placement scientist for Syngenta in Western Canada and helps oversee the company’s efforts to develop new varieties.

Changing weather patterns have always been a challenge when it comes to seed breeding efforts, he says, but those efforts have become even more challenging of late, with drought and large rain events becoming more commonplace.

“That significantly affects how we can understand how our products will perform … and definitely makes for more of a challenge,” he says.

“Something we’ve been focusing on for several years now is finding products that have broad-acre adaptability that can handle stressful conditions. In order to achieve that, we’ve put a large focus on improving the disease tolerance of our varieties. We want to make sure that as the climate changes… we’re bringing products that can deal with those changing environments.”

As a result, Froese says, Syngenta is now conducting more trials across a larger geography, to ensure the company has a better understanding of how a new product will perform in a wider variety of conditions.

In the near term, Syngenta will be offering varieties containing the Enlist E3 and XtendFlex herbicide tolerance traits. The Enlist E3 platform provides tolerance to 2,4-D, glyphosate and glufosinate herbicides while XtendFlex offers dicamba, glyphosate and glufosinate tolerance. Froese says while some companies will only provide one or the other platform, Syngenta is committed to providing growers choice by offering both trait technologies.

Changing climate

Liz Knutson is the Canadian marketing leader for Corteva Agriscience. Knutson says the company has always been focused on conducting extensive localized breeding and testing to deliver varieties that perform across a wide range of geographies and environments. The upside to that, she says, is that with an ever-changing climate, products that were suitable in one region may suddenly be an appropriate fit elsewhere.

“Because we have those localized programs, as we see agronomic challenges shift or as we see climate patterns shift, we may already have products in the arsenal that may be easily moved or transitioned to other footprints,” she says, citing relative maturity as a good example of that.

Knutson says shifting weather patterns also means listening to what farmers have to say about their needs and potential solutions has become more important than ever.

“Our breeders are always looking forward and taking into account those changing environmental and agronomic pressures where we’re growing new varieties. That includes focusing on yield-limiting diseases and any kind of challenges our farmers might face. We want to be responsive to the market, so as we hear those concerns continue to pop up, we do our very best to address them,” says Knutson.

Corteva recently launched Pioneer brand Z-Series soybeans in Canada, a series offering 20 new varieties. It was available in limited quantities for 2024 and will get a full commercial release for 2025. It’s the fifth soybean series in Pioneer’s 50-year history and Knutson says it represents a generational leap in yield potential and superior disease resistance.

As for what the company has in its developmental pipeline, Knutson would only say Corteva’s next round of soybean product launches will be enhancements on products that are already available.

“We’re really honoured every time a farmer chooses a Corteva-branded product. That’s why we continue to put $4 million a day into our R&D pipeline,” she says.

Important efforts

Stephen Denys is director of market and product development for Maizex Seeds, a southwestern Ontario seed company that sells corn and soybean into Western Canada.

Maizex has one of the largest pre-commercial testing programs in the country and every new variety it develops or licenses must go through a rigorous screening process. Denys says those efforts have become even more important as the climate has continued to evolve.

“One of the reasons we do multiple years of testing is to find varieties that are consistent over differing environments and geographies,” he says. “That way we get to see things under a different range of environmental conditions, and you try to commercialize something that’s going to give a consistent performance, whether it’s a drier year or a wet year.”

One of the results of climate change is a corresponding evolution in disease pressure, Denys says.

As a result, testing new products can’t just focus on agronomics but also the disease front, to make sure seed products evolve as the environment evolves, he adds. In Manitoba, for instance, iron chlorosis tolerance is necessity, but testing also covers sclerotinia and other diseases.

In terms of future soybean releases, Maizex is looking to add new Xtend and Enlist varieties with 2,4-D and Liberty tolerance and with early maturity over the next three to four years.

It’s also planning to launch an Xtend HT4 package that would provide tolerances to dicamba, 2,4-D, Liberty, glyphosate and another herbicide all in the same bundle.

Adapting to changes

Nikki Vercaigne is the campaign marketing manager for DeKalb West with Bayer CropScience. She says the company’s priority for developing new soybean varieties is to focus on products with increased yield potential and a strong disease resistance package that are a fit with growers.

Vercaigne says Bayer’s breeding program takes into consideration the impact of climate change on how the company develops those new products.

“We continue to adapt our research protocols and trial locations to adapt to the changing environmental conditions, specifically looking at heat units and rainfall to maximize soybean genetic potential,” she says.

“Our development pipeline also takes into consideration anticipating future agronomic challenges to help ensure we’re supporting future grower needs with soybean varieties that help solve those challenges.”

DeKalb’s newest soybean release is the DKB007-91XF variety which is being launched for the 2025 growing season. It’s a high-yield-potential variety with medium bushy architecture, strong emergence, great standability and the XtendFlex herbicide system that offers glyphosate, dicamba and glufosinate tolerance.

It’s also looking to launch its own HT4 soybean package within the next three to five years. It would be the company’s first soybean trait system to offer tolerance to five different herbicide active ingredients that Vercaigne says would give growers greater application flexibility to help manage resistant or tough to control weeds.

The post Changing weather, changing varieties appeared first on Grainews.

Soy Canada executive director Brian Innes tells growers from across the country that they should relish the options that lie before them.

“Where do we want to go from here? The choice is ours,” he said repeatedly, almost as a mantra, as he detailed the forks during Soy Canada’s recent annual meeting in a tent on a western Manitoba farm.

Innes said choices include the introduction of gene-editing technology, the challenges of Canadian soy’s lower-protein beans, the opportunities in the food-grade market and the need to have both a strong voice for soy as well as work with other commodities.

Canada’s unusual soybean production breakdown — about 25 per cent is non-genetically modified and much goes to the human food market — means the industry fears the benefits of gene-editing in breeding will come to this country slower than elsewhere, but Canada has advantages that compensate.

“Canada is better able to serve our customers who want the benefits of this tech with our world-class identity-preserved system and our ability to maintain confidence across a variety of crops,” Innes says.

Canadian farmers grumble about the discounting that hits their soybean crops because of a history of low protein levels compared to other exporters’ crops, but there are a number of ways that can be addressed, he says.

The industry can better explain Canadian soy’s unique protein composition and other elements. It can also use breeding to close the gaps.

“More consistent varieties that deliver more stable and high-quality beans to our customers and farmers is possible,” Innes says.

Canadian food-grade soybean producers and marketers also have choices to make about whether to focus on boosting the performance of individual companies or expand the share of the international marketplace for food-grade soy that Canada could own.

Soy Canada is only 10 years old, formed when the industry realized it had grown to the point where it needed to be treated independently of the pulse and special crops organizations in which it had traditionally resided.

While the crop is not large compared to canola and wheat, it is important in Ontario and Quebec and has recently become Manitoba’s third-most important crop. Farmers in Saskatchewan have been keen to get into soybeans, but today’s varieties are still a bit too fragile and long-seasoned to handle high Prairie conditions well enough for acreage to explode.

If variety development keeps adding toughness and shortening days to maturity, many expect to see western acres surge.

The post Possibilities prevail for the Prairie soy sector appeared first on Grainews.

On Monday, the agency released a “What We Heard” report summarizing the responses of 315 individuals and groups who participated in an online survey from Feb. 15 to May 1.

The CFIA is looking to update seed regulations to “reduce complexity, protect producers and consumers by strengthening existing rules and adapt to future technical advances and innovation.”

The online consultation is part of the process to alter the seeds regulations.

The CFIA was looking for feedback on variety registration, sampling testing and grading of seed, harvesting, cleaning seed and conditioning and seed crop certification.

In its report, the CFIA said a large share of the 315 respondents, including seed growers, farmers, commodity groups and plant breeders, supported the following recommendations:

• Setting up a national variety registration system.
• Developing a regulatory pathway for heritage and heirloom varieties.
• Forming regional recommending committees with the authority to recommend placing a regional restriction on a variety registration in their specific region.
• Continuing one national body establishing and determining the seed crop varietal purity standards to issue a seed crop certificate.
• Making the purity standards for No. 1 and No. 2 grades the same.

“Variety registration creates a high level of trust as the quality of traits is consistent in the seed and crops grown in Canada,” the CFIA said, summarizing the comments on the national variety registration system.

“That equips farmers to make decisions about what they grow while maintaining end-user confidence for products to be in a competitive market.”

READ MORE: Seeding the future

There was mixed support for other ideas to modernize the seeds regulations.

For instance, respondents aren’t sure it’s a good idea for someone other than the CFIA to deliver training to licensed seed crop inspectors.

The CFIA will consider the input from the online survey when it eventually modernizes the seeds regulations.

However, the agency “anticipates” more consultations on seed regulatory modernization this winter.

— Robert Arnason reports for the Winnipeg bureau of the Western Producer.

The post Seed regulation consultation results released appeared first on Grainews.

Depending on location, getting fall crops seeded between mid-August and mid-September is ideal, although with some cereals and varieties that window can be extended to early October.

Here are a few points on growing winter cereals based on common crop production questions I often answer as a seed grower.

1. What are some key considerations and top tips for planting winter wheat and fall rye for the 2022-23 season?

• Plan ahead. Make those calls for seed availability as early as possible and also to learn about seeding rates, prices, shipping, treatments, marketing options, herbicide planning and crop rotation planning.
• Visit some demonstration plots on summer tours or arrange a one-on-one farm visit with a seed grower to compare varieties and crops and get some information on how to grow them.
• Use a seed treatment to help with winter survival. Do a Google search of “Brian Beres seed treatment research” for excellent reference material.
• Make sure your seeding depth is as even as possible. When seeding rye, for example, it will help reduce ergot. And with even germination, all plants will flower at the same time.

2. What is the best timing for optimal seeding depth and density and why?

• Seed early if possible. Check with seed growers in your area of Western Canada for recommended seeding dates. For hybrid fall rye, for example, seed from Aug. 15 onwards in Alberta’s central regions and from Aug. 20 onwards in southern regions. If seeding in late September, consider increasing seeding rates. The goal is to get crops to at least the three-leaf stage or better before freeze-up. The more tillers you get in the fall means the faster it will grow in the spring. Winter wheat is pretty flexible on seeding window from late August into early October. Early seeding can mean less need for in-crop herbicides especially with rye as the crop fills in so fast, preventing weeds from coming in.
• Aim for a three-quarter-inch seeding depth, which allows the seed to come up quickly while the crown of the plant is deep enough in the soil to survive winter.
• Seed size can vary, so determine a seeding rate based on plants per square foot for a target. With winter wheat on irrigation on our farm at Enchant, Alta., we aim for 40 plants per square foot with 10 per cent mortality included.
• For hybrid rye, for example, we seed 0.8 of a unit per acre (18 plants per square foot) as it tillers well. If it is after Sept. 15, you may consider increasing seeding rate to one unit or 1.2 units per acre (one unit is equal to one million live seeds).

3. Are there any important fertility application and weed or pest treatment considerations?

• Use a seed treatment to help reduce the risk of winterkill and root diseases.
• A residual broadleaf herbicide and/or early seeding can reduce or eliminate the need for in-crop herbicides in rye and occasionally winter wheat.
• Ask your grain buyer about any restrictions in using plant growth regulators (PRGs) on the crop to see if they are a problem. On irrigation or wet areas, PGRs can be useful.
• Not all wild oat herbicides are registered or safe for use on rye, although early seeding (crop competition) may eliminate the need for wild oat herbicides or even broadleaf herbicides.
• Rye needs nitrogen fertility to be applied in the fall as it uses nitrogen very early. Controlled-release fertilizer products such as ESN do not release nitrogen early enough to benefit rye.
• Winter wheat is more flexible and can be fertilized in the fall or in spring. A product like ESN can work well with winter wheat.

4. What new varietal developments and/or input products should I watch for?

Here are some varieties that have worked well on our farm and with our customers.

• KWS Serafino is a new hybrid fall rye that is top of the class for grain yields while having very good ergot risk and good falling numbers for milling. It is my go-to grain variety.
• Among hybrid fall ryes for forage we use KWS Propower. It is excellent but alternatively KWS Daniello is an option that has similar forage yields but is also good for grain, so we use KWS Daniello as a flex variety.
• Among the winter wheats, AAC Wildfire has been very popular. Another excellent new variety is AAC Network winter wheat. It has a shorter stature, a little earlier and higher protein with a better all round disease package.
• About two years away AAC Coldfront will be coming out. It should have a good fit across Western Canada but it is still in seed multiplication stages.

The post A few pointers on fall rye and winter wheat production appeared first on Grainews.

“It’s not a big change,” Canadian Grain Commission (CGC) spokesman Remi Gosselin said in an interview Thursday.

Wade Sobkowich, executive director of the Western Grain Elevator Association, agrees.

“It won’t be much of a change,” Sobkowich said in a separate interview. “Farmers will be presented with a declaration, as they have been in previous years by the grain company. It’s going to reflect the grain commission’s declaration so that the regulatory component is satisfied, and then the commercial (provisions).

“Farmers won’t notice any difference really unless they read the list of grains… on the regulatory part of the declaration.”

Most crops, including wheat and canola remain on the declaration, but corn and soybeans will not.

The following crops will be dropped from the western declarations:

• canary seed;
• chickpeas;
• corn;
• safflower;
• soybeans (food grade);
• soybeans (oilseed); and
• sunflower.

Previously the declaration of eligibility requirement applied to all grains under the Canada Grain Act and only to western grain. Following the change, certain grains will no longer need to be declared under regulation of the Act, the CGC said in a news release Wednesday.

Starting July 1, eastern farmers will also sign declarations before delivering grain to elevators.

“Declarations are a way to assure the dependability and quality of grain at entry into the Canadian licensed grain handling system,” the CGC said in Wednesday’s release. “They support Canada’s commitment to allow U.S.-grown grain to receive an official grade under the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA).

“By requiring information on variety registration at the time of delivery, declarations help to preserve the integrity of the Canadian grain quality system. The declaration form confirms that the variety delivered, bought, and sold is eligible for the kind of grain and class.”

If an American farmer deliverers to a Canadian elevator an unregistered variety of a crop that requires end-use quality assessment the crop will receive the lowest grade for the intended class, which for milling wheat is ‘feed.’

The same rule applies to a Canadian farmer.

“The declaration supports Canada’s quality assurance system while meeting our commitments” under CUSMA, CGC chief commissioner Doug Chorney said in a statement. “We’ve simplified the declaration requirement to only apply to those grains where registration includes quality factors. This is a more flexible approach that better responds to the needs of the Canadian grain sector.”

Variety declarations started in Western Canada after Alsen wheat lost its interim registration in 2003. The goal was to prevent Alsen from mixing with registered varieties.

The declarations evolved over the years, including after kernel visual distinguishability (KVD) ended in 2008. Under that policy, western Canadian milling wheats had to look like other class members so they could be visually segregated throughout the handling system.

Over the years grain companies also started asking farmers to declare their grain was free of certain pesticides.

“Two years ago the CGC was given the authority to govern producer declarations as it relates to variety,” Sobkowich said. “We needed to be compliant with the regulations, but we didn’t want to overly complicate it and we (grain companies) still had commercial considerations so we figured out a way to put it all onto one declaration so that it was clear and so that it was administratively simple.

“The CGC has made this change with respect to the different commodity types.” he said. “We’ve altered the declaration to reflect that.”

While declarations have focused mainly on milling wheat, end-use quality is a prerequisite to registration for many western crops, including canola.

The following crops remain on the new declaration:

• barley;
• beans;
• buckwheat;
• canola;
• fababeans;
• flaxseed;
• lentils;
• mustard seed;
• oats;
• peas;
• rapeseed;
• rye;
• triticale; and
• wheat (including durum).

Declarations help grain companies deliver the crops buyers want, Sobkowich said. If a farmer misrepresents a crop, that could downgrade an elevator bin or even a shipload of product, potentially costing the grain company millions of dollars.

Declarations help ensure the high quality of Canadian crops even though they are being moved through a bulk handling system, which is more efficient and less costly than an identity preserved system.

“This is what the customer demands,” Sobkowich said. “It’s a tool to help manage varieties and MRLs (maximum residue limits for traces of pesticides) to meet their demands.”

— Allan Dawson is a reporter for the Manitoba Co-operator at Miami, Man.

The post Elevator declarations changing Aug. 1 appeared first on Grainews.

In India, the world’s biggest rice exporter, the conventional method of rice cultivation requires farmers to sow seeds in nurseries and then wait for 20 to 30 days before manually transplanting the seedlings into plantation fields that are ankle-deep in water.

With the new seed varieties, developed by the state-run Indian Agricultural Research Institute, farmers only need to irrigate the field once to moisten the soil before sowing the rice.

The conventional cultivation method also uses a lot of water to control weeds as herbicides are costly and often do not distinguish between the rice and the unwanted vegetation.

Government scientists said the new rice varieties contain a gene that would allow farmers to spray a common, inexpensive herbicide without worrying about any side effects.

“Our focus is very high on more nutritious seeds, that can be adopted to new conditions, especially in changing climates,” Modi said.

Water conservation is likely to be the main attraction of the new rice varieties in India, where farmers rely heavily on monsoon rains.

The conventional method uses 3,000 to 5,000 litres of water to produce one kilogram of rice. The new varieties could cut water use by at least 50-60 per cent, farmers and government officials say.

“For farmers like us, the main concern was the management of weeds, and the new varieties take care of that concern,” said Ravindra Kajal, who grows rice on his nine-acre plot in the northern state of Haryana.

India is also the world’s biggest rice producer after China.

— Mayank Bhardwaj reports for Reuters from New Delhi.

The post India unveils new rice variety to reduce water use, labour appeared first on Grainews.

The bank has a designed capacity of 1.5 million copies, almost four times the existing one, and will be the world’s largest, the minister of agriculture and rural affairs Tang Renjian said in a statement on the ministry’s website.

China’s top policymakers said last month that the country’s seed sector is vital to guaranteeing the country’s food supply, a long-standing priority that has received renewed attention since the COVID-19 pandemic.

China’s seed sector is fragmented and its companies lack the extensive germplasm collected by major multinational crop firms.

Germplasm is living genetic material, such as seeds or tissues, that are kept for breeding and research. A rich collection of germplasm allows breeders to select for more diverse traits when developing crop varieties.

China’s current seed bank cannot meet development needs, said Tang on a visit to the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences in Beijing, where it is located.

“The new national crop germplasm resource bank must not only be well established, but also be used well,” he said, adding that China’s seed industry lags the innovation ability of those in developed countries.

China must ensure it maintains its competitive advantage in rice and wheat varieties, while reducing the gap with other countries in corn, soybeans, pigs and dairy cows, he added.

— Reporting for Reuters by Dominique Patton in Beijing.

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