Glacier FarmMedia – Maizex Seeds, a Canadian farmer-owned national seed brand, will be bringing its canola hybrids to farmers in Western Canada.
Seeds will be available for purchase from dealers this fall and can also be obtained at www.maizex.com, the company says.
“One is going to be a TruFlex Roundup Ready variety. The other is a Liberty Link variety,” said Danielle MacCallum, Maizex territory manager for southern Alberta and southwestern Saskatchewan.
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The TruFlex hybrid is marketed under the commercial name MC 5230TF. The other does not have a commercial designation.
Between the two herbicide tolerances and distinct trait profiles, one of the two hybrids should match what a producer is looking for, MacCallum said.
“The Liberty Link is exciting because it does have a fantastic clubroot package with all the latest strains available in it. So that’ll be strong, I think, in central Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba, where there is clubroot,” she said.
The TruFlex hybrid should do well anywhere across Western Canada, she added. It has basic clubroot protection, but might not be suited for hot spots for the disease.
“We’ve got more hybrids in the pipeline as well, which is nice that, even though we’re starting out, we are trying to build up our package a little bit more and make sure that we’ve got the newest and best stuff that we can for growers.”
Both varieties have been tested extensively and have relatively good vigour and strong yield potential, the company says.
Multiple trials are still running across Alberta and Saskatchewan.
“We’ll be able to take that data as well as our third-party testing to have a really good compilation of results for growers to look at,” MacCallum said.
Darrel Théroux, territory manager for northern Manitoba and eastern Saskatchewan, said Maizex is trying to offer a multitude of genetic options in Canada.
Maizex, as the name implies, was originally known for its seed corn. The company also features soybeans and has started a line of forages and cereals for Eastern Canada.
Théroux said he’s received a positive response from farmers about the new hybrids.
“We’ve had a lot of enthusiasm in our initial field tours and discussions we’ve had. There are a lot of farmers who are looking for different options,” he said.
“To be honest, there’s been more enthusiasm than what we first expected.”
MacCallum said that, since canola is grown on so many acres in Western Canada, having canola options help round out the firm’s portfolio.
She also said that Maizex is a Canadian company, which may be of importance to Canadian farmers, given recent trade tensions.
“We’re excited to see how it does, and to give growers other options for (their) crop, and hopefully it’ll do well everywhere that we are targeting it in,” she said.
Maizex will be working with its current dealer network as well as looking to add dealers.
