BANFF, Alta. – Two consecutive years of drought have hindered breeding and selection of new plant lines, but grass producers can still expect some new varieties this spring.
“We had a lot of problems selecting and testing and also for seed production on our farms,” Agriculture Canada plant breeder Bruce Coulman told an alfalfa and grass seed conference held in Banff Jan. 12-14.
Bromegrass is receiving considerable attention across Canada, with several hybrid varieties ready for release.
The hybrid ACC Knowles was released in 2000 with large amounts of seed expected for 2004. A meadow and smooth bromegrass cross, it is considered good dual purpose hay and pasture grass that produces high first-cut yields.
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It has good regrowth qualities and is non-creeping. It is also fairly frost tolerant. It does not perform well in Eastern Canada or under irrigation.
Another hybrid, S9356, could be released this year. It has been crossed back with smooth bromegrass with good results for dry areas of the brown soil zone. It does poorly on irrigated areas.
Work continues on improving the popular meadow bromegrass. Quebec has started a breeding program to adapt it to eastern conditions.
Breeders are also working on orchardgrass, a good pasture species in humid areas. Plant breeders are looking for greater disease resistance and winter hardiness.
Research on timothy also continues. It is a major forage in Eastern Canada, while western farmers grow it for the Japanese market.
Researchers are looking to produce a timothy variety with more digestible fibre, which could make it a better pasture species.
Work is under way to develop taller crested wheatgrass plants with superior hay qualities. The Agriculture Canada breeding program is also looking at later maturing crested wheat that maintains higher forage quality for longer periods in the growing season.
Perennial cereal ryegrass was developed in Europe for cereal production, but in Canada it shows more potential as a forage.
It survived drought in 2001 and 2002. The first variety was released in 2002 and certified seed should be available in 2003.
