JANUARY 2018 GERMINATION.CA 29 Germination: From a popularity perspective, what distinguishes soy- bean from other major crops grown in Western Canada, like, say, wheat? Why grow soybeans at all in a prov- ince like Saskatchewan? Elroy Cober: Soybean production in Canada is one of continuously expanding to shorter-season areas. Soybean cultivars are regionally adapted. Individual cultivar move- ment north-south is primarily limited by day length responses and season length, and as a result we see strips of adaptation, or maturity zones, running east-west. Since soybean is a short-day plant — that is, it matures fastest in short days — moving north results in more delay from longer days, and generally shorter growing seasons. This is in contrast to wheat, a long-day plant, where moving north speeds maturity and helps fit it into the shorter season. Tom Warkentin: People might consider growing soybeans in Saskatchewan/on the shorter-season Prairie for several reasons. First, we have a need for more nitrogen- fixing crop options. Pea and lentil are grown widely, some chickpea and a little faba and common bean, but if you look at the annual planted area of crops in Saskatchewan, we’re only at about 15 per cent nitrogen- fixing crops. Soybean can fit in as an option. We know there are large markets for soybean internationally, so that’s a plus. I see soybean as relatively easy to grow and harvest in comparison to lentil or chickpea. In recent years we’ve struggled a bit with root rot in pea and lentil in wetter seasons. We know soybean is resistant to Aphanomyces, which is an issue in pea and lentil. Also, there are lots of herbicide options in soybean for weed control. Germination: Any reasons for not growing soybean? TW: In general, soybean is a long- season crop, so that’s obviously a factor here on the Prairies. It’s some- what drought susceptible. In some ways the seed is expensive, which can be an issue for some. Germination: What do growers have to consider when deciding to grow soybean or not? How can they know what the best variety for them might be? EC: When making soybean variety selections for your farm, you need to start with a realistic maturity for your location. Then factor in your risk tolerance for frost, recognizing you will win with a later maturity variety in an open fall but lose with an early frost. Look at the pool of varieties adapted within your chosen maturity. Avoid the temptation to look at those higher yielding varieties further down the chart. Use actual days to maturity from your multiple location regional trials to judge maturity. While yield is important, remember to take other factors into consideration. You might need disease-resistant or iron defi- ciency chlorosis-tolerant varieties. Seed composition may be an issue for you if there is a way to capture that value in an identity preservation system. Also, do you have the equip- ment and marketing infrastructure to grow soybeans? Brad Pinkerton: People often ask about yield. It’s hard to have a com- parison with every single variety out there. Doing your research is crucial, and retailers can be an asset in help- ing them. We get a lot of questions about disease. In 2016 it was white mould. In 2017 it was iron chlorosis. Some years we get questions about Phytopthora root rot ratings. Farmers and retailers want to hear how other farmers did with a variety; testimoni- als are always in demand. I caution that just because one person had a good experience in an area doesn’t mean that variety is a winner. Germination: Once they determine that they want to grow soybean, what are some ways they can pick the best variety for them? EC: They should determine what maturity they’re comfortable with, the season for their farm, tolerance for loss to frost — then look at a pool of varieties that fit into that maturity. They’ll also want to look at yield. Then there are the non-yield issues, possibility of iron deficiency chlo- rosis, or maybe they need herbicide tolerance traits for their cropping system. Germination: How can retailers best inform farmers about variety specifi- cations? BP: What sort of information I want to push out to whoever is asking the questions always challenges me. Everyone has different levels of acceptability for different kinds of information. Reps, salespeople and farmers may or may not find the same data acceptable. More and more often I hear that private data is biased. Even though I hire out third- party researchers to do trials, the yield charts are seen as biased. More often I choose to use yield data from third-party seed guides — farmers see it as the best data. “EVERYONEHASDIFFERENT LEVELSOFACCEPTABILITY FORDIFFERENTKINDS OFINFORMATION.REPS, SALESPEOPLEANDFARMERS MAYORMAYNOTFINDTHE SAMEDATAACCEPTABLE.” —BradPinkerton