Supporting Growers with Knowledge, Innovation and Genetics

FP Genetics brings a Western Canadian team approach to supporting growers with territory managers for Alberta, East Saskatchewan, West Saskatchewan / South East Alberta and Manitoba combining local on-the-ground knowledge and varietal expertise. We lead with deep research insights, giving Canadian farmers every potential advantage possible. As one of four territory managers, my role is to work closely with each grower, helping them find the optimal variety to match their unique field conditions and regional needs. When challenges arise, we’re on hand and committed to support. This approach empowers our growers to adapt and embrace changing conditions, maximize yields, and achieve long-term success season after season.

With constantly changing weather and soil conditions, we know that each season presents new obstacles. This year, for instance, we saw an increase in standability concerns in all crop types. This was in part due to heavy moisture during critical growth stages. In cereals, warm, moist conditions can lead to rapid growth, but may also mean weaker stems and shallow roots, making standability a concern. When a grower encounters these challenges and touches base with us, we can collaborate to identify source causes and develop actionable solutions.

Our Territory Manager – West Saskatchewan & South East Alberta, recently worked with a producer struggling with standability in a traditionally high-yielding wheat field. Upon investigation, we discovered that the soil hadn’t been tested in years, and nitrogen levels were nearly double the ideal range. By assessing soil fertility and adjusting management practices, we were able to significantly improve standability, helping make the most of that and future crops.

Sometimes challenges arise from an unusual alignment of adverse conditions that are out of everyone’s control. In those cases, it’s helpful to look at how the variety in question has performed historically and how other varieties fared under similar circumstances. We can use these yearly variety performances as an opportunity to fine-tune practices that might provide an edge in the coming seasons.

There are also cases where a certain variety solves one problem but inevitably comes with a trade-off. For example, varietally blended midge-tolerant wheat has become essential for pest management since the phase-out of certain chemical treatments, and breeders are continually working to increase straw strength.