Nominations Open for Inaugural Alberta Grains Board

Sep 21, 2023

Nominations are open for the Alberta Grains, the newly named, amalgamated Alberta Wheat and Barley Commissions, board of directors, a Sept. 19 news release said. Farmers from across all six growing regions in the province can be nominated to run for one of twelve open director positions, comprised of two from each region.

“All it takes to be a director is a good head on your shoulders, and a willingness to speak up and strive for positive change, no matter how steep the roadblocks,” Tara Sawyer, interim chair for Alberta Grains, said in the release.

Directors lead Alberta Grains and advise on its priorities of research, agronomic extension, government relations and policy, national and international markets, and the FarmCash cash advance program, while supporting the commission’s governance, events and industry-focused publications, the release said.

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Video: Root Exudates, Soil Biology, and How Plants Recruit Microbes | Field Talk Friday

Field Talk Friday | Dr. John Murphy | Root Exudates, Soil Biology, and How Plants Recruit Microbes

Most of us spend our time managing what we can see above ground—plant height, leaf color, stand counts, and yield potential. But the deeper you dig into agronomy, the more you realize that some of the most important processes driving crop performance are happening just millimeters below the surface.

In this episode of Field Talk Friday, Dr. John Murphy continues the soil biology series by diving into one of the most fascinating topics in modern agronomy: root exudates and the role they play in shaping the microbial world around plant roots.

Roots are not passive structures simply pulling nutrients out of the soil. They are active participants in the underground ecosystem. Plants constantly release compounds into the soil—sugars, amino acids, organic acids, and other molecules—that act as both energy sources and signals for soil microbes.