PARTNER CONTENT The Next Generation Steps In A new facility. New science. And a breeding innovation pipeline at CDC that doesn’t slow down. M ost of the science that feeds the world doesn’t announce itself. It moves through an interconnected chain, from a researcher’s cross in a growth chamber in Saskatoon, through years of field evaluation across the prairies, and eventually into a bag of certified seed a farmer loads into a drill for spring planting. The Crop Development Centre has been building that legacy for 55 years, and this fall, it grows even stronger. The Harrington Plant Growth Facility at the University of Saskatchewan will become operational this fall. A generation of scien tists who expanded the CDC’s programs are moving into new chapters. The research ers coming behind them will inherit fully funded, internationally recognized breeding programs housed in one of the most capa ble indoor research environments in the country. What’s being handed over is more than a career, it’s a pipeline! Year-Round Capacity, Real Breeding Impact Saskatchewan’s short growing season has always set a ceiling on how rapidly genetics can move. The Harrington facility will help our researchers reduce the time from idea to cultivar release. The year-round indoor growth rooms mean breeders can run three or potentially four generations annually. Each additional generation cuts roughly two years off the journey from a breeder’s initial cross to grain in a farmer’s bin. The facility was funded by a coalition of government, western Canadian com modity groups, and industry partners, led by a $5 million commitment from the Western Grains Research Foundation, with support from SaskWheat, SaskBarley, the Saskatchewan Ministry of Agriculture, SaskOilseeds, BASF, Saskatchewan Cattlemans Association, SeCan, Saskatchewan Alfalfa Seed Producers Development Commission, Saskatchewan Forage Seed Development Commission, and SaskOats. The Science Before The Science In August 2025, we welcomed Dr. Valentyna Klymiuk as the SaskWheat Applied Genomics and Pre-breeding Chair at CDC. This position was supported by the Saskatchewan Wheat Development Commission with the aim to interconnect cutting-edge science and variety develop ment. Her work sits at the earliest stage of the innovation pipeline, before formal breeding programs begin: identifying traits that matter, characterizing them, and build ing the genetic libraries breeders will draw on to improve the next generation of wheat varieties. It’s work that rarely gets credited, because its contribution is invisible by the time the variety is released. But without it, the pipeline narrows. The Harrington facility gives that work a home with the capacity to match its ambition. Built Programs, Ready To Run CDC’s senior scientists have built some of the most productive public breeding pro grams in Canada. Dr. Pierre Hucl retires this June after 33 years of leading the centre’s spring wheat and canaryseed breeding activities. Dr. Randy Kutcher and Dr. Tom Warkentin will transition to reduced appoint JULY 2026 SEEDWORLD.COM/CANADA 29 ments over the next two years, with recruit ing underway for their cereal pathology and field pea breeding successors. They are well underway to transition these programs to new leadership. Dr. Adam Carter joined in 2023 to lead spring wheat and canary seed, bringing a PhD focused on increasing genetic gain in wheat through novel field trial technologies. Dr. Ana Vargas joined in January 2024, leading the lentil and faba bean program, responsible for 99.8% of Canadian lentil acreage. In her first year, seven new lentil varieties moved through registration, each with stronger disease resistance and improved processing traits for export markets. The pipeline doesn’t pause for transitions. CDC varieties cover 36% of all harvest able acres in Western Canada. That didn’t come from any single discovery or any single scientist. It came from an unbroken innovation pipeline supported by public breeding investment, state-of-the-art facili ties, and real-world application of the latest research tools. This fall, that chain gets a few new links. — Content from the University of Saskatchewan Dr. Adam Carter. Photo: Chris Hendrickson
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