PROVINCIAL
AARD Barley to be Contracted for Malt
Canterra Seeds and Canada Malting have announced that Alberta-bred Bentley barley will be contracted for malt purposes. This is the first malt barley bred by Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development to be commercially contracted for malt. Bentley, a two-row barley, is well suited to Alberta and Saskatchewan. “Canada Malting is conducting brewing trials with Bentley malt from the 2012 crop with domestic brewers, and we expect approval this year,” says Bruce French, director of malting and technical services for Canada Malting. “With approval we expect demand [to continue] to grow in the following years.” As it begins testing the malt with brewers, the Alberta-based malt company is looking to contract 20,000 to 30,000 tonnes of Bentley from the 2013 crop in Alberta and Saskatchewan.
NATIONAL
Biosecurity Standard for Grains and Oilseeds Industry
Grains and oilseeds growers have a new tool to help protect crops, following the release of a national biosecurity standard. The standard is designed to help producers minimize and control the risk of pests and disease entering their farms as well as the spread from farm to farm. It is applicable to farm-level operations of all types and sizes. “There is a lot of useful information within this standard for producers,” says Richard Phillips, executive director of the Grain Growers of Canada. “While some pieces may already be common practice, I think many producers will pick up some new tips as well to help prevent the spread of pests.”
SGS Canada to Certify CanadaGAP Participants
CanadaGAP, the national food safety certification program for fresh fruit and vegetable operations, has announced the addition of a new certification body for the program, SGS Canada Inc. “SGS is pleased and excited to partner with CanadaGAP. We welcome the opportunity of providing quality audit services to producers and packers across Canada,” says James Cuff, business manager for SGS Canada.
DuPont and Monsanto Reach License Agreements
DuPont Pioneer and Monsanto Company have announced a series of technology licensing agreements that will expand the range of seed product offerings. The agreements include a multi-year, royalty-bearing license for Monsanto’s next-generation soybean technologies in the United States and Canada. Through these agreements, DuPont will be able to offer Genuity Roundup Ready 2 Yield soybeans as early as 2014 and Genuity RR 2 Xtend glyphosate and dicamba tolerant soybeans as early as 2015, pending regulatory approvals. DuPont and Monsanto also agreed to dismiss their respective antitrust and first-generation RR soybean patent lawsuits pending in U.S. federal court.
INTERNATIONAL
Bayer and Syngenta Submit Trait for Approval
Bayer CropScience and Syngenta have submitted applications for the approval of a new herbicide tolerant soybean trait in various countries. It is now under review by regulatory authorities in the United States and Canada as well as key soybean-importing countries, including the European Union. The launch is expected between 2015 and 2020. The new trait confers tolerance to three herbicide active ingredients: mesotrione, glufosinate-ammonium and isoxaflutole. “This new trait and herbicide system will enable growers to build highly effective weed management programs in soybeans while utilizing rotation of multiple and highly effective herbicide modes of action,” says Tim Zurliene, global trait marketing and licensing manager at Bayer.
Countries Come Together for Timely Biotech Regulations
A joint statement released by six countries — Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Paraguay and the United States — emphasizes the need for regulation of biotech crops to be “science-based, transparent, timely, no more trade restrictive than necessary to fulfill legitimate objectives and consistent with international obligations.” The six countries have committed to collaboration “to promote the application of science-based, transparent and predictable regulatory approaches that foster innovation and ensure a safe and reliable global food supply, including the cultivation and use of agricultural products derived from innovative technologies, and endeavour to work together to promote synchronization of authorizations by regulatory authorities, in particular for food, feed and processing purposes.”
Syngenta Submits Product for Regulatory Review
Soybean growers are one step closer to achieving season-long, pre- and post-emergence weed control. Syngenta recently submitted petitions to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Canadian Pest Management Regulatory Agency for the approval of mesotrione herbicide use on MGI herbicide tolerant soybeans, which provide tolerance to three herbicide active ingredients: mesotrione, glufosinate and isoxaflutole. MGI herbicide tolerant soybeans are also under regulatory review in the United States and Canada as well as in key soybean importing countries, including the European Union. The much-anticipated soybeans will be available in the latter part of the decade.
