A mentor at university once told Jim Helm he was stubborn enough to make a
damn good plant breeder.
Forty-four years later he’s still turning out new varieties of barley and loving it.
“I have been so lucky to be able to do what I love to do. I was born to be a scientist,” said Helm, plant breeder and head of research at Agriculture Canada’s Field Crop Development Centre in Lacombe, Alta.
“It’s exciting. It’s how I get my kicks. Looking at barley fields and triticale fields, that’s exciting stuff,” said Helm, who built the crop development centre into a multimillion-dollar research and breeding facility from bare land 35 years ago.
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Barley research has changed a lot since he started the central Alberta barley breeding program. At the time, much of the breeding, research and analysis were done in the field. Now, Helm still spends time in the field, but computers in the laboratory do the analysis.
Staff members collect almost 100 points of data from each of the 70,000 field plots, which are then analyzed and used to guide the breeding of new and changing crop varieties.
When Helm began, farmers weren’t concerned about lodging. Now, straw strength is a given in varieties grown under intensive crop systems. Breeding for disease resistance was less important when he began, but now it’s a major part of every variety developed.
“I was told 35 years ago we don’t have disease.”
Disease, changing crop conditions and changing demands for the final product have continued to challenge Helm and his fellow breeders. Just when researchers think they have an ideal variety, along comes a new disease such as fusarium or stripe rust to keep them in business.
“It’s not that we’re going to have a perfect one that will last forever,” Helm said.
His team recently released Sundre, a six-row feed barley that had the best disease resistant package of any variety released from the centre.
“It’s a very high-yielding variety, but it’s still not the perfect variety,” he said.
Discussions with farmers during field days and on the telephone have continued to direct his breeding program.
“I’ve always maintained a close relationship with producers. While they may not understand genetics, they can tell us what their problems are and we can go from there.”
Helm believes varieties developed at his centre have made a significant difference to western Canadian agriculture over the years, especially with the development of multiple disease resistance packages in the new varieties.
Future research lies in working with the near infrared reflectance spectroscopy technology that analyzes the quality of the variety. Breeders will then be able to take those qualities and develop varieties suited for a specific end use.
Helm foresees a time when researchers will be able to analyze a sample with NIRS technology and tell farmers the best use for the grain. Depending on the variety, it could be used for baking, milling or hog or cattle feed.
“That’s the next step we’re going to see,” Helm said.
The centre has put the grain from its entire breeding program through the laboratory to analyze every characteristic of each variety. Once the NIRS technology becomes commercialized, farmers will seek varieties specifically bred for its end-use characteristics.
“We’re still discovering what we do with it.”
