New genetics are becoming available to soybean farmers as a result of the success of a new public breeding program supported by Grain Farmers of Ontario.
The Advanced Canadian Field Crops through Breeding project began in April 2010 and will continue through to March 2013. The project is managed by the newly created Canadian Field Crop Research Alliance (CFCRA), of which Grain Farmers of Ontario is a founding member.
“Building on previous investments by Grain Farmers of Ontario and the members of the CFCRA, the Canadian soybean breeding programs have been very active and the impacts are already being seen in the industry and at the farm level,” said Alison Walden-Coleman, research projects manager with CFCRA. “This year has been very successful with 10 new varieties being released to the market,” she added.
Those are currently licensed to industry seed companies and several have already been made commercially available to farmers.
The CFCRA is an alliance of provincial farm organizations and industry partners. In partnership with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, $5.7-million is being spent over three years for the project. It is designed to improve crop genetics and develop new varieties tailored to meet the needs of the marketplace.
Farmers from Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, and the Maritimes are working to ensure farmers have access to globally competitive varieties for years to come.
The GFO is looking forward to seeing more results in the six crops the project covers over the next few years. In addition to soybeans, organizers are spending funds in breeding efforts in corn, winter wheat, spring wheat, oats and barley.
For more details on Ontario soybean varieties, visit www.gosoy.ca.
For more information about these projects, visit www.gfo.ca/research.
