Research Performance Stories

This research was conducted in an incubator in Saskatoon, SK, in 2021. The stimulants of interest were pyroligneous acid, also known as wood vinegar or smoke water, as well as potassium nitrate, a form of nitrogen fertilizer. Potassium nitrate was chosen due to widespread use of nitrogen fertilizers and familiarity for farmers since equipment and knowledge is already present. Smoke water was chosen due to previous research and that wild oat may be sensitive to smoke due to fires frequenting the prairie and forest before widespread agricultural adoption.

A genome wide association study was performed on each wheat panel, which identified a few molecular markers associated with the different types (Types I to III) of FHB resistance. In addition, the meta-QTL analysis generated 126 meta-QTL that captured many of the major QTL reported for bread and durum wheat and should facilitate the improvement in FHB resistance. The molecular markers developed for the new sources of resistance, the optimal gene pyramids and the best resistant lines will be available for breeders and pathologists to enhance current strategies for wheat resistance.

Overall, the team generated promising solid-stemmed wheat lines (more than 500), based on a novel genetic source of solidness from intergeneric origin (Crocus/TGW). As TWG has adapted through coevolution to the most important WSS biotype in Canada, we expect that our lines have a greater protection against local WSS infestations.

The current project did not identify triazole insensitive F. graminearum isolates in the Prairie Provinces. This key information indicates that stakeholders do not need to significantly change fungicide use in the region. Although insensitive isolates were not identified, a range of sensitivity was observed, suggesting that the sensitivity to triazole fungicides could shift over time. Therefore, continued monitoring will be important.

In order to support a demand for increasing wheat yields, improvement of existing breeding tools is necessary. Isolated microspore culture (IMC) is one such tool that has the potential to rapidly accelerate breeding efforts. The goal of this project has been to increase productivity of the IMC-mediated doubled haploid (DH) production pipeline in wheat

Overall, this project clearly demonstrates benefits to diversity in IWM tactics studied, and the ability to eliminate herbicide application for three years although it may require significant compromises to the desired rotation. Lower responsiveness from twining weeds like wild buckwheat and cleavers illustrate a gap in our current IWM strategies based on the growth morphology of these weeds. In addition there is a need to understand the lack of impact of perennials and silaging on specific weed species and their weed seedbank densities.

The study objective was to survey glyphosate-resistant and dicamba-resistant kochia within Manitoba in 2018, Saskatchewan in 2019, and Alberta in 2021. Kochia seed was collected at approximately 300 sites in each province. Samples were threshed and seeded in the greenhouse then sprayed with labeled doses of glyphosate or dicamba then evaluated after 3 or 4 weeks, respectively.

The purpose of the project was to improve understanding of the value of diversified cropping for three regions of the Canadian Prairies with different climatic conditions. These included the Parkland region where canola dominates cropping systems, southern Manitoba where warmer season crops such as corn and soybean can be grown, and the semi-arid prairies where pulse crops such as lentil are widely grown.

Overall, this research forms the foundation of a promising tool for Saskatchewan producers who are interested in tracking soil health and using the results to inform management practices. To confirm the competitiveness in agronomic performance of our lines when compared to top wheat cultivars, the researchers will perform an extensive agronomic characterization under field conditions. These results will allow the selection of wheat lines with the potential to be released as new CWRS cultivars.

Overall, the team generated promising solid-stemmed wheat lines (more than 500), based on a novel genetic source of solidness from intergeneric origin. As TWG has adapted through coevolution to the most important WSS biotype in Canada, we expect that our lines have greater protection against local WSS infestations. To confirm the competitiveness in agronomic performance of our lines when compared to top wheat cultivars, the researchers will perform an extensive agronomic characterization under field conditions. These results will allow the selection of wheat lines with the potential to be released as new CWRS cultivars.

Multiple genome sequences of wheat, including two Canadian cultivars, have emerged, providing an opportunity to develop genomic strategies that are tailored to Canadian wheat breeding programs. However, a significant challenge exists to properly deploy these markers and genome sequence information to improve wheat cultivar development in Canada. The goal of this research was to develop strategies to translate these upstream genomic technologies into breeding applications with the aim to support continued improvement of wheat cultivars adapted to western Canadian conditions.

Understanding the impact of variable permeability on airflow in stored grain was a problem for producers managing the risk of grain spoilage in grain bins. Variable permeability can result from factors such as loading method, distribution of dockage, and layering effects; these factors can be much more relevant as storage structures increase in size, and as operational or environmental pressures result in nonoptimal harvest conditions.

In late 2018, the Agri-Arm group devised a study to compare the quality and performance of certified wheat seed against farm-saved seed (FSS). Farm-saved seed is the producer’s own seed which they clean and use as a seed source for their own farm, because it is cheaper than buying certified seed. Historically, the majority of wheat acres in western Canada are seeded with FSS. Producers will typically introduce better genetics by purchasing certified seed and then use FSS after that for a few years. SaskWheat wanted to know if this was a best practice or whether certified seed should be used more often because it may be better quality, more productive seed. A fair comparison between certified and FSS would require the generation of a lot of data. To this end, the project involved all 8 Agri-Arm locations in Saskatchewan and was funded for 3 years (2019-2021).

The broad phenotypic variation captured by the NAM population provided valuable novel genetic variations for the Canadian spring wheat breeding program. The high-quality haplotype map generated from this project could allow breeders to accurately impute genotypes with a low-resolution genotyping platform in their breeding program. Novel genetic variations for disease and agronomic traits identified by the NAM analysis provide new targets and breeder-friendly markers for wheat improvement. These established NAM genomic resources may also serve as a cost-efficient platform for Canadian wheat breeding programs to identify genetic markers of their targeted traits, as only phenotyping is required.

Herbicide resistant weeds continue to increase in incidence and frequency, limiting weed management options available to producers. New management strategies are needed for producers to continue to successfully manage their weeds. Harvest weed seed control (HWSC) is a paradigm of weed control that focuses on managing weeds that are being spread by the combine harvester. These weeds retain their seeds until crop harvest, produce weeds at a height where they can be collected, and are successfully taken into the combine. One method of harvest weed seed control that may have a fit in western Canada are the physical impact mills.

Gluten strength is a critical asset of CWRS wheat and is the foundation for the longstanding success of the CWRS wheat brand. Today's CWRS wheat as a class, has stronger gluten than in the past, but still retains good dough extensibility and mixing tolerance for processing flexibility. Consistency of gluten strength in milling grades of CWRS wheat is the expectation of customers. However, in the past decade, questions have been raised in the industry about excessively variable or even deficient gluten strength of CWRS wheat shipments. This variability results from genetic and environmental factors. Genetic variation of gluten strength is constrained by a robust variety registration system. However, the vast crop-growing region in the Prairie provinces experiences an enormous range of varying weather and biotic pressures which in turn leads to varying gluten strength.

Fusarium head blight (FHB) has become a substantial management concern for wheat growers in Saskatchewan, affecting both yield and quality of the crop. An integrated approach to FHB management is recommended, including the use of resistant varieties, a timely fungicide application, and crop rotation, along with other cultural practices.

Residue management is a significant challenge for producers on a year-to-year basis. Uneven and poorly distributed residues can lead to many complications for producers, such as uneven seed depth the following spring, blocked drill openers, and uneven plant stands and emergence. Because Western Canadian producers often seasonally rotate wheat and canola crops, it is important to have a better understanding of how wheat residue management can affect the emergence of canola in a rotation. The objective of this research was to analyze canola emergence and yield based on different wheat residue harvest management strategies.

Consumers avoid wheat products because of real or perceived non-celiac wheat intolerance, which is also termed “gluten sensitivity”. Measures to restore wheat consumption are hampered by the lack of knowledge of etiological agents of non-celiac gluten intolerance. Fermentable oligosaccharides, disaccharides, monosaccharide and polyols (FODMAPs) were demonstrated to contribute to adverse reactions to wheat consumption in sensitive individuals; immune reactive proteins in wheat including amylase-trypsin inhibitors (ATI) and wheat germ agglutinins (WGA) were additionally suggested to contribute to intolerance of wheat in sensitive individuals.

Protection from fungal plant pathogens is key for optimizing the yield and quality of wheat. However, current grower practices and historical research do not always align with respect to optimum fungicide timing to maximize disease control, yield, quality and profitability of Canadian Western Red Spring (CWRS) wheat.

Fusarium head blight (FHB) is the number one priority disease of wheat in Canada. It threatens all wheat growing areas by reducing crop yield, compromising end-use quality, and affecting food and feed safety through accumulation of mycotoxins such as deoxynivalenol (DON) in the grain. In order to continue to make progress in breeding for FHB resistance and build on the momentum that has been generated, it is critical to provide increased capacity for FHB phenotyping.

Deoxynivalenol (DON) is the major secondary metabolite produced by Fusarium graminearum. F. graminearum can infect cereals such as: wheat, durum, barley, rye and corn. This toxin can make the grain unmarketable for producers. This study examined methods to recover high quality (low DON) wheat and barley from infected seed lots.

Wheat is a staple crop in many Canadian prairie crop rotations. Yet as years pass, net profitability of this crop has declined despite significant breeding improvements in yield. Unfortunately, new or updated agronomic research in wheat has been minimal. However, if management practices are tailored to individual market classes and/or varieties it may be the key to enhancing the profitability of wheat.

Agricultural drought is well recognized as inadequate moisture for crop production. Additionally, sporadic moisture deficits that escape public attention also impact crop economics. Statistics Canada noted in one of the many drought years in Saskatchewan and Alberta: “Dry conditions during the growing phase in much of Canada's wheat belt contributed to lower crop yields.” Heat and drought exacerbate the stress conditions and affect many biochemical, biophysical and developmental aspects in plants. Every degree Celsius above the optimal temperature can cause as much as 6% yield reduction in wheat. Drought and heat impact crop productivity more than all other biotic and abiotic stresses combined.

Producers are always evaluating their crop sequences and rotations seeking to maximize returns without jeopardizing future income through poor agronomic practices. Producers who are growing or want to grow special crops like canaryseed, coriander, hemp or quinoa lack this valuable information. The objectives of this research were to determine the best fit of special crops into crop sequences and to determine if optimum crop sequences change depending on the environment.

In 2019 and 2020, trials were established at 8 AgriARM locations across Saskatchewan to demonstrate the potential of increasing either wheat yield or grain protein with late-season applications of N in the form of UAN or dissolved urea. All late-season applications of UAN were applied at 30 lb N/ac to a base rate of 70 lb N/ac of side-banded urea. Applications of dissolved urea were only applied at 25 lb N/ac due to a calculation error.

Durum wheat is an economically important crop and the source of semolina for the production of pasta, couscous, and various types of baked products. Its market value is largely determined by the end-use quality traits. However, quality tests are labour and cost-intensive and most times, large quantities of samples are needed. Therefore, practising earlier selection on quality traits on a large scale within the breeding program is a challenge. The advent of advanced genetic and genomic approaches provided a feasible approach to predict quality and make a selection on such a large scale at earlier generations and ultimately release variety with improved wheat quality.

Plant diseases are responsible for at least 10% of yield losses in global food production. Incidence and severity of two important cereal crop diseases, Fusarium head blight (FHB) and tan spot are increasing with the impacts of climate change. FHB is responsible for mycotoxin contamination of grains and both diseases lead to significant yield damage. It was recently determined that barley, which was thought to be inherently resistant to tan spot, is susceptible to a race of the pathogen that has been identified in Canada.

Tan spot is one of the most destructive foliar wheat diseases in Canada. The causing pathogen is Pyrenophora tritici-repentis(Ptr),a fungus known to produce combinations of three effectors (toxins), namely ToxA, ToxB and ToxC. In Canada, ToxA is known as the most prevalent toxin and the only necrosis-inducing factor.

In this project, the

Spring wheat remains the most important crop in western Canada, with high-quality Canadian western red spring wheat accounting for about two-thirds of the total. Because of the short growing season, yields of spring wheat are generally lower than those obtained with winter wheat. In addition, a great deal of bread wheat grown in the northern regions of the Prairie Provinces is downgraded because it becomes frost-damaged before full maturity. Later maturing wheat can also be more difficult to harvest. Hence, early maturity is a desired trait to be incorporated (without compromising high yield and quality) into Canadian spring wheat.