b'between a high yield-potential hybrid with clubroot resistance, straight cut harvestability and earlier maturityits in every bag. And were not stopping there. New high-yield potential hybrids with TruFlex LibertyLink technology to give farmers the weed control flexibility they need, without sacrificing yield potential.But Bayers innovation isnt limited to genetics. The com-pany is weaving bio-economic indicators into its breeding efforts, using customer-informed selection indexes to prioritize seed traits that maximize on-farm profitability.Its not just about yield anymore, says Bernet. Profitability means accounting for everything from drought tolerance to disease resistance. Were listening to farmers and delivering solutions that balance potential and risk.Bernet is acutely aware of the pressures Canadian farmersUniversity of Alberta plant scientist Habibur Rahman and his team are face. Climate change, evolving weed resistance, and the pushpartnering with Bayer to pinpoint the best brassica genetics for breeding for environmental sustainability are reshaping the agriculturalnew lines of canola to produce hybrid cultivars with higher seed yield. landscape. Photo: Bev BetkowskiFarmers are navigating a perfect storm of challenges, he says. Our role is to provide them with the tools, technology, and expertise to turn these challenges into opportunities.Under Bernets guidance, Bayer is addressing these hurdles head-on. The companys breeding pipeline prioritizes traits that provide stable performance across an ever-changing environ-ment, and defends that performance from a number of plant diseases and pathogens while meeting Canadas stringent sustainability benchmarksall aimed to boost farmer profit-ability.Partnering for SuccessTo do that, Bayer is seeking help from experts outside the company who have more experience with canolas relatives. Enter its partnership with the University of Alberta. By sifting through the genes of broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage and kale, plant scientist Habibur Rahman and his team plan to pinpointOne of Bayers seed production sites in Cranbrook, B.C.the best ones for breeding new lines of canola to produce hybrid cultivars with higher seed yield. them all in field trials across the Prairie provinces for seed yield, This work is taking us to the next level of improvedas well as other traits such as days to flowering and maturity, genetic diversity that will make hybrid canola stronger, saysdisease resistance and oil content.Rahman, a professor in the Faculty of Agricultural, Life &The resulting canola lines are expected to carry fewer Environmental Sciences. undesirable traits such as late flowering that come with Canola production contributes $29.9 billion per year to theBrassica oleracea vegetables and will produce better hybrids, Canadian economy and is an important global export, totallingRahman says.$14.4 billion a year. Farmers harvest about 20 million tonnesBy continuous breeding, were trying to maintain the good of canola annually, with hybrid cultivars accounting for moregenes in the new lines for higher yield and other positive traits.than 95% of the crop grown in Canada. If proven effective, the improved genetic material and the Broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage and kale are varieties of aknowledge from the research will support the long-term work species known as Brassica oleracea. Determining which genesof producing new commercial hybrids, he adds.among them spur higher seed yield will help scientists fortifyIt takes many years to develop superior hybrid canola that crucial trait in hybrid canola. cultivars, but the genetic research we are doing is important to The food-grade oil crushed from canola seeds is the cropsmaintaining the profitability of this crop at the farm level.most valuable product, Rahman notes.Since oil is extracted from harvested seeds, if you harvestThinking of Canola in a New Waymore seed, you will get more oil. When people think of canola, their minds often jump to the Working with Bayer, Rahman and his team will developsprawling fields of the Prairies. But in the rugged terrain of new canola lines to create hundreds of hybrids. Theyll then testCranbrook, B.C., a lesser-known chapter of canola innovation JANUARY 2025 SEEDWORLD.COM/CANADA 7'