New Cereal, Pulse and Oilseed Lines Bring Big Yields and New Markets for Farmers

Mar 04, 2025

If you’re looking for an oat that delivers a solid yield bump without sacrificing standability, you’ll want to keep an eye on OT3125. This experimental line has outperformed industry staples like AC Morgan and CS Camden by an average of 7% over two years.

It was success stories like these that were the highlight of last week’s Prairie Grain Development Committee (PGDC) meeting, held in Winnipeg Feb. 24-27.

“It’s got strong lodging resistance, stays upright, and maintains excellent grain quality—even in last year’s dry conditions,” says Aaron Beattie, barley and oat breeder at the University of Saskatchewan’s Crop Development Centre (CDC).

Beta-glucan levels are right where they need to be, making it a great fit for food markets. Beattie compares it to previous game-changers like CDC Arborg. “It’s been a while since we’ve seen this level of improvement in oats,” he says.

If this trend holds, OT3125 could be a high-performing option for growers looking to maximize returns.

Black Barley: A Specialty Market Opportunity
Over in the barley world, a new black barley variety, HB23150, is turning heads. Bred at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s (AAFC) Research and Development Centre in Brandon, Man., this hulless variety is packed with antioxidants and could tap into premium health-conscious markets.

“People are calling it ‘barley caviar,’” says Ana Badea, head of AAFC’s barley breeding program in Brandon.

Unlike feed and malt barleys, black barley’s dark outer bran is rich in anthocyanins—compounds linked to health benefits. With growing demand for specialty grains, this could be an opportunity for farmers looking to diversify.

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Video: Western Canadian Agriculture: Hard Times Made the World's Best Farmers

Western Canadian agriculture produced the most advanced farmers in the world not through abundance but through adversity. The crow rate fell. The wheat price went nowhere. The brown envelopes stopped.

When the subsidies disappeared, the bad farmers left and the good ones stayed. And the ones who stayed could not just grow wheat anymore. They started growing lentils and canola and peas and flax and faba beans. They built crop rotation. They got serious about agronomy because there was no government backstop. That process produced the Western Canadian agriculture Dennis Bulani describes in this clip: the most advanced, most educated farming culture in the world.

His contrast with Iowa corn and soybean farmers is sharp. At a DeKalb farmer meeting in Okoboji, Iowa, he asked what crop rotation they ran. Beans on corn stubble, corn on bean stubble. How do you fertilize? The co-op agronomist handles it. Have you considered other crops? No need. We make so much money on corn and soybeans. Western Canadian agriculture was never allowed that comfort. And now those Iowa farmers are watching soybean markets lock up with China and corn prices slide, and they do not have the agronomy knowledge or the research base to pivot. Western Canadian farmers adapted on a dime because they had done it before.

Dennis also makes the case that Western Canadian agriculture keeps adapting in real time. Low commodity prices over the past year have pushed growers to look seriously at precision spot-spray technology. He knows a neighbor who bought a sprayer with the seeing-eye system and sprayed only 80 out of 320 acres. As a chemical retailer Dennis acknowledges that will affect his sales. He supports it anyway, because if it advances Canadian agriculture and makes farmers money, that is a good outcome.

The lesson Dennis draws from the tale of two farms: continuous improvement is the only durable strategy. When canola was $22 a bushel some growers went to Arizona instead of the Crop Production Show. When the price came down those same growers came back to the research and the discipline. Products do not go on Rack Petroleum's shelves unless they pass a replicated trial first. That is what Western Canadian agriculture built through hard times: farmers who do the work whether the times demand it or not.

Dennis Bulani is CEO of Rack Petroleum and Ultimate Yield in Biggar, Saskatchewan. Dan Aberhart hosts GTF Productions, Western Canadian Agriculture's foremost live briefing platform and its foremost AI training platform for ag operators