MB Pulse And Soybean Growers Invests In 25 New Research Projects

Manitoba Pulse and Soybean Growers (MPSG) will be investing $1.4 million towards research in Manitoba in 2015.

 

The money will support 25 new soybean, edible bean and field pea projects.

 

Production specialist Kristen Podolsky says it's important to invest into research, especially with the huge expansion of soybeans in Manitoba over the last few years.

 

"We're able to optimize agronomic practices, not only in one region but in multiple growing regions across the province," she said. "We have very distinct growing areas in terms of growing season length, soil conditions, and moisture. So it's important that we're testing whether it's seeding rates or crop input use, efficient input use, [or] harvest management. It's important that we invest into research that will come up with the best management practices for each growing region."

 

Video: What’s at Stake in Every Slice | On The Brink: Episode 7

Six hundred Canadian farms grow grain for Warburton's under custom contract — and that partnership exists because of Canadian plant breeding. Now the man responsible for maintaining it is sounding the alarm.

Adam Dyck is the program manager for Warburton's Canada, a company that produces over two million loaves of bread a day for more than 20,000 retail locations across the UK. He's watched Canadian wheat deliver thirty years of yield gains and quality advancements that make it worth sourcing at scale — and shipping across the Atlantic. But he's also watching the investment conditions that produced those gains come under pressure. Dyck makes the case for a new funding mechanism that brings both public and private dollars into wheat breeding before Canada's competitive window starts to close.