4 GERMINATION.CA MARCH 2019 FOR JAMIE LARSEN, an exciting part of this year’s meeting of the Prairie Recommending Committee for Wheat, Rye and Triticale (PRCWRT) was a new assessment tool created in large part by Robert Graf. It allowed breeders who planned to put new lines forward for recom- mendation to run those lines through the tool, which told them whether or not the line was likely to be recom- mended for registration or would need to be discussed in more detail by the committee. Graf, a winter wheat breeder with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC), noted the assessment tool was part of a comprehensive review led by Brian Beres (research scien- tist at AAFC Lethbridge) and Curtis Pozniak (wheat breeder at the University of Saskatchewan’s Crop Development Centre (CDC)). “When Rob came up with the idea, it was a points-based system to weigh certain traits, but evolved to the point where if a line was equal to or better than the checks it would go through, and if it was worse than the checks in some way, it would be flagged and then the breeder would have to explain why it has merit,” committee chair Larsen said. “It offers the breeder a chance to put forth a good argument to explain why the variety has merit to be registered.” The tool has resulted in new effi- ciencies for the PRCWRT, he added. “The meetings used to be hours, and this has cut that down so we can focus on other topics of discussion.” Focusing on the big picture was a BEYONDBREEDING The 2019 meeting of the Prairie Grain Development Committee saw breeders focus not just on how they do their work, but why — and what the implications are for the future. Marc Zienkiewicz The new Canada Food Guide recommends eating more plant-based protein. big component of this year’s Prairie Grain Development Committee (PGDC) meeting held in Saskatoon, Sask. during the last week of February. “Beyond Breeding” was the chosen theme of this year’s plenary session, which PGDC chairperson Mitchell Japp said was picked in order to highlight the long road faced by lines put forth for registration at the annual gathering. “What happens to those lines after they become varieties? How are varie- ties adopted by industries and consum- ers? How are varieties compared in post-registration trials? We’re looking at all of that this year,” Japp said. What’s Up in Wheat The PRCWRT looked at a record number of lines this year — 41 to be exact, according to Larsen. W569 winter wheat (CWRW) from Graf’s program was supported for regis-