People News
The Grain Growers of Canada elected a new president and vice-president following its recent annual general meeting. Each member farm organization appoints a director to the GGC board, from which a five-person executive is elected each year. The new executive team comprises president, Gary Stanford of the Alberta Wheat Commission; vice-president, Matt Sawyer of the Alberta Barley Commission; executive, Irmi Critcher of the British Columbia Grain Producers Association; executive, Art Enns of the Prairie Oat Growers Association; and executive, Franck Groeneweg of the Canadian Canola Growers Association. The GGC acknowledge Stephen Vandervalk, outgoing president of the GGC, who decided to step down after three years at the helm.
Gowan Agro Canada hired Cory Bourdeaud’hui as its Manitoba sales representative, based out of La Salle, Man. Working with United Agri Products, Gowan’s exclusive distributor in Canada, Bourdeaud’hui is charged with providing farmers and retailers with technical product information. Bourdeaud’hui is the first sales professional that Gowan has hired since the company expanded its business operations in Canada.
SeedNet hired Danielle Markert as its new sales and marketing manager. Previously, Markert worked as an agronomist with Cargill. Markert is responsible for all aspects of the development and implementation of SeedNet’s strategies and vision, including management, sales and marketing. SeedNet, formed by seed growers in southern Alberta, strives to increase awareness of and sustain the independent family-owned seed supply chain.
Cereals Canada appointed Cam Dahl as the organization’s first president. Dahl brings diverse agriculture industry experience to his new role. Prior to joining Cereals Canada, he served as general manager of the Manitoba Beef Producers, commissioner of the Canadian Grain Commission, chair of the Canadian International Grains Institute board of directors, and executive director of the Grain Growers of Canada. As Cereals Canada president, Dahl oversees the strategic direction, development and management of the organization’s operations.
Product News
SGS, an authorized seed crop inspection service (ASCIS) provider, launches a pedigreed seed crop inspection service for 2014. From the beginning of the year, Canada’s seed growers must undertake third-party pedigreed seed crop inspections to meet the requirements of the Canadian Seed Growers’ Association. Inspections must be conducted by an ASCIS provider. SGS has a team of qualified and licensed seed crop inspectors, audited by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency offering clients independent quality assurance and quality control monitoring of its products.
BASF is now a leading global provider of biological seed treatments, as well as seed treatment colourants and polymers. With the acquisition of Becker Underwood complete, BASF offers a full portfolio of innovative inoculants for peas, lentils and soybeans. The acquisition offers growers an entire crop life-cycle solution and more innovative tools to add to their crop protection strategy.
Bayer CropScience, in cooperation with AGI, is supporting Canadian farmers with the introduction of STORM (Seed Treatment Optimized Rate Metering), an easy-to-use, first-of-its-kind in-the-yard cereal and pulse seed treatment applicator. Growers and retailers can connect STORM directly to their seed bin where the seed is then treated during the transfer process to another truck or bin. The system comes with pre-set calibrations for Bayer CropScience SeedGrowth products, and the ability to input additional calibrations to ensure the correct rate of application. By inputting the density of the seed being treated, the system calculates the mass flow rate and automatically applies the correct amount of treatment. This system removes uncertainty and waste associated with most applicators. A limited supply of the STORM is available through AGI retailers across Canada.
North Dakota State University Research Foundation has exclusively licensed the Elgin-ND wheat variety in Canada to FP Genetics Inc. FP Genetics is the sole and exclusive licensee and distributor of Elgin-ND in Canada. Upon variety registration, FP Genetics will be the only authorized company to import registered class seed of Elgin-ND into Canada. “We are pleased to introduce another source of genetics, which will deliver high yield with a good agronomic and disease package to wheat growers in Canada,” says Rod Merryweather, FP Genetics CEO. “Elgin-ND will especially be of interest to growers targeting maximum economic yields within a milling-quality market. First sales of certified Elgin-ND will be available to commercial growers in 2016.
Bayer CropScience Canada has introduced Raxil PRO Shield, a new cereal seed treatment that combines the systematic and contact disease protection of Raxil with the plant health benefits and wireworm protection of Stress Shield. According to Graham Hastie, Bayer CropScience Cereals SeedGrowth portfolio manager, Raxil PRO Shield is unmatched in seed and soil-borne disease control with three fungicidal activities, including prothioconazole. “One rate of Raxil PRO Shield provides growers with full protection during the most crucial time of crop development, regardless of disease level,” he says. Raxil PRO Shield is available at retailers across Canada.
Syngenta Canada Inc. has announced the registration of Parlay Plant Growth Regulator, a new technology to assist turf-type perennial ryegrass seed growers. “Parlay is an important advance in perennial ryegrass seed production, improving harvested yields and allowing Canadian growers to be more competitive,” says Wayne Bennett, Syngenta business development lead. BrettYoung is the exclusive distributor for the new product. “Parlay will positively impact the economic return for growers who produce turf-type perennial ryegrass seed,” says Harley Bell, senior product manager at BrettYoung. “It will improve the harvestability of what can be a difficult crop to harvest.”
DuPont Pioneer has launched its Sila-Bac brand 11AFT inoculant — the third product in the company’s fibre technology platform. 11AFT will be available for the 2014 growing season. “Alfalfa-specific 11AFT delivers a higher-quality haylage to dairy producers,” says Robert Larmer, a DuPont Pioneer livestock information manager. “11AFT increases fibre digestibility and improves forage energy density, producing an overall higher-quality, higher-value haylage in the ration.”
Business News
Viterra Inc. has reached an agreement to purchase certain assets of Lethbridge Inland Terminal Ltd., including a high throughput grain elevator with a capacity of 42,000 metric tonnes. “This terminal is ideally located and an excellent fit in our overall asset network,” says Kyle Jeworski, Viterra’s North America president and CEO. In November, Viterra announced it would spend more than $34 million in Alberta through an expansion and upgrade to its Grassy Lake facility and the building of a high throughput terminal in Grimshaw.
Makhteshim Agan Industries, a provider of crop protection solutions, transitions to a new global brand, ADAMA. MAI changed its legal entity name to ADAMA Agricultural Solutions Ltd. Brand implementation will be globally implemented with staggered country-by-country launches. The full transition is scheduled for completion by the end of 2015, with Makhteshim Agan Canada Ltd. (MANA Canada) transitioning to the new brand in fall 2014. “The MANA Canada team is excited to make the transition to ADAMA,” says Andrew Mann, MANA Canada CEO. “It allows us to take greater advantage of our global reach while maintaining our commitment to local growers and retailers, continuing to provide the choice and simplicity the Canadian marketplace has come to expect.”
Viterra Inc. and the Crop Development Centre in the College of Agriculture and Bioresources at the University of Saskatchewan announced Viterra’s investment of $5 million to enhance the CDC’s success in wheat research and breeding. The five-year agreement focuses on development of wheat and durum varieties with enhanced yield, improved resistance to disease and insect pests, and improved quality characteristics for the marketplace. With greater capacity for variety development and research trials across Western Canada, CDC researchers will increase the number of varieties developed and commercialized, providing increased choice for producers.
Industry News
The Ontario Cereal Industry Research Council received a $422,000 investment for research on winter wheat gluten quality, which will benefit the Ontario wheat industry by identifying traits that will help build new markets for winter wheat through enhanced milling and more product uses. The goal of this research is to help farmers benefit from the development of new, locally adaptable winter wheat varieties that can meet the changing preferences of buyers.
Through a co-funding partnership with the Agriculture Development Fund and other producer commodity groups, Western Grains Research Foundation announced $2.7 million of new funding towards 26 crop-related research projects. The WGRF Endowment Fund funds crop research projects that benefit producers through improved agricultural systems, technology and agronomic practices. “Co-funding partnerships between ADF and producer commodity groups help maximize the investment producers make in crop research,” says Dave Sefton, WGRF board chair. Some of the projects receiving funding include strategies for fusarium in cereals, improving nitrogen fixation of peas and weed control practices.
The Canola Council of Canada has announced a new 10-year plan to capitalize on the world’s growing appetite for healthier oils and protein. Terry Youzwa, chairman of the CCC board of directors, says the plan aims to increase the profitability of canola for everyone in the value chain, from Canada’s 43,000 canola growers to the hundreds of thousands of Canadians who derive jobs and wages from related industries. “Every additional bushel of canola represents an opportunity to make our agricultural sector stronger,” Youzwa says. Called ‘Keep it Coming 2025’, the plan generates more profit for the farmer from every acre grown, while building canola’s value in key markets. The 2025 target strives to increase yield to an average 52 bushels per acre for 26 million metric tonnes of production to meet global demand. “These are bold targets — no doubt about it,” Youzwa says. “We believe that it can be done, and it can be done responsibly and sustainably.”
The Canadian government invested more than $3.7 million to the Prairie Oat Growers Association to help producers in the global marketplace. POGA will use the investment to:
• Develop new varieties targeted specifically for cultivation in the Canadian Prairies that will be high-yielding, with enhanced resistance to disease.
• Create a new method of identifying genes for use in oat improvement and to identify desirable traits in oats, so breeders will be able to create higher-value varieties.
• Evaluate how oat beta-glucan improves the responsiveness of the immune system in horses, which may lead to increased exports of Canadian oats to markets abroad.
Additionally, the Canadian government invested more than $923,000 to the Peace Region Forage Seed Association, which will improve seed production and quality, as well as the economic and environmental sustainability of crops within Canada. Under this project, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada researchers will collaborate with industry to help the sector. Research will focus on increasing value for producers who incorporate forage seed production within annual crop rotations, evaluating the seed yield potential of forage and turf grass varieties in Western Canada and examining ways to increase the quality of grass and legume seed crops.
According to the third annual herbicide resistance poll conducted by Ipsos Reid on behalf of BASF Canada Inc., 86 per cent of growers say weed resistance is increasingly becoming a concern and 89 per cent agree they will adjust their growing practices to prevent herbicide resistance. However, less than half of those polled (44 per cent) suspect they have troublesome weeds. With his team, Ian Heap, a global weed scientist and the director of the International Survey of Herbicide-Resistant Weeds, monitors the incidence of herbicide-resistant weeds around the world. “There are 416 different herbicide-resistant weeds that occur around the world and Canada now has 59,” says Heap. “One of the most important things farmers can do to reduce the occurrence of herbicide resistance is mix things up ― either by crop rotation, tank-mixing or by using different modes of action in sequence.”
Viterra Inc. and the Canadian International Grains Institute jointly announced that Viterra would invest $1 million to support Cigi in its ongoing efforts to promote Canadian field crops to domestic and international customers. As a result of this partnership, CIGI’s main classroom will be renamed the Viterra Knowledge Centre. “CIGI i has an excellent international reputation for delivering customized training programs and technical expertise to farmers and end users,” says Kyle Jeworski, Viterra’s North America president and CEO. “Their work has enhanced Canada’s position as a reliable supplier of safe and high quality grains, oilseeds and pulses.”
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