MARCH 2019 GERMINATION.CA 5 PGDCPlenaryHighlights2019 The theme of this year’s PGDC plenary session was Beyond Breeding. Here are some snapshots of the discussion. OAT WHISKY IS A THING Wheat whisky, triticale whisky and malt barley whisky. They’ve all been made by Saskatchewan’s Black Fox Farm & Distillery. But the award-winning spirits maker has also tried its hand at making an oat whisky. “Want a nice spirit? Use oats. Problem is, oats don’t yield a large alcohol amount,” says distillery co-owner Barb Stefanyshyn- Cote. She says that while working with oats produces a terrific whisky, the inherent qualities of the grain make it a challenge to work with. Agronomics aside, if there’s something she would like breeders to deliver in oats, it’s taste. “I want different flavours, something that sets me apart from everyone else. That’s what will help us make breeders more money.” She says grain varieties with unique flavour components would be highly prized by distillers like herself. “We can charge consumers more for unique flavour. Right now, everyone is excited about heritage varieties. We know heritage varieties aren’t really grown anymore because they’re not disease resistant and don’t store well. But one thing they have is flavour. The end consumer is who [the product is] going to, and if we can’t differentiate ourselves that way, then we have a problem.” BARLEY SECTOR TOO SLOW TO CHANGE AC Metcalfe barley was registered in the late 1990s, CDC Copeland as well. 75 per cent of barley acres in Western Canada are still seeded to Metcalfe and Copeland, noted Jill McDonald, executive director of the SaskBarley Development Commission. “That’s very concerning from my board’s perspective when it comes to variety acceptance. AAC Synergy is picking up some acreage, but our market is still dominated by two older varieties. That must change.” So, SaskBarley looked at why the sector has a variety acceptance problem. The key, she says, is to engage all levels of industry to be involved in advancing new varieties. “For years we’ve heard that it’s the maltsters’ fault because they won’t accept new varieties, or it’s the brewers, or it’s the seed companies’ fault because they’re not increasing. We’re beyond that. We need to move together for this to happen. We’re moving toward a coordinated approach and I believe we’ll make considerable progress over the next year or two.” AUSTRALIAN VARIETY TRIAL MODEL SHOWS DIFFERENT WAY OF DOING THINGS Jason Reinheimer, senior breeder for Limagrain Cereals Research Canada, spoke about Australia’sNational Variety Trials (NVT) system. Reinheimer grew up in Australia and spoke about some of the advantages of this system. The NVT model is run by Australia’s Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC). NVT is a national program of comparative crop variety testing with standardized trial management, data generation, collection and dissemination. This is managed through an internet- accessed database that ensures a common approach and uniformity across the system. Crops tested are wheat, barley, canola, chickpea, faba bean, field pea, lentil, lupin, oat and triticale. Breeding in Australia is essentially the same as in Canada, Reinheimer noted. The major difference is Australia has no registration system for varieties. The breeder gets through their testing and makes a determination whether a line has merit for the marketplace or not. Once internal testing is complete, a line is entered into the NVT system and that results in a minimum of two years of testing before it is released to the market. “This system ensures farmers have power. They have independent data and they make the choice,” Reinheimer said. “Instead of regulating things that come through the system, it is left open and farmers have the best information to make decisions on their farms.” Jill McDonald is executive director of the SaskBarley Development Commission. John Cote and Barb Stefanyshyn-Cote are the founders of Black Fox Farm & Distillery.