By the time a new variety becomes available to farmers, it’s been through up to 10 years of trials and the registration system for three years
LANGHAM, Sask. — It’s become commonplace to buy things that aren’t complete right out of the box. There’s probably no better example of this than the software industry, where products are often released to customers and released again when the “bugs” have been removed. Todd Hyra can’t speak for the entire grain industry, but as […] Read moreTag Archives seed — page 2
Seed growers prove new varieties
Arctic seed vault to receive rare deposits
OSLO, Feb 13 (Reuters) – A vault built on an Arctic mountainside to preserve the world’s crop seeds from war, disease and other catastrophes will receive new deposits on Monday, including one from the first organization that made a withdrawal from the facility. The Svalbard Global Seed Vault, on Spitsbergen island halfway between mainland Norway […] Read more
BASF to buy Bayer’s seed, herbicide businesses for $7 billion
FRANKFURT, Oct 13 (Reuters) – BASF has agreed to buy seed and herbicide businesses from Bayer for 5.9 billion euros (US$7 billion) in cash, as Bayer tries to convince competition authorities to approve its planned acquisition of Monsanto. BASF, the world’s third-largest maker of crop chemicals, has so far avoided seed assets and instead pursued […] Read more
New variety registration process may get facelift
New variety registration process may get facelift
Federal agriculture minister Gerry Ritz has asked groups involved in registering new crop varieties to review the variety registration process and look for ways to improve the system. In a letter dated Feb. 25, Ritz asked crop recommending committees operating within the Prairie Grain Development Committee (PGDC) to report to Ottawa with ideas that could […] Read more
Garden catalogues warm up winter
An angry wind slams snowflakes against the sunroom window. The thermometer reads -38 C. Snow threatens to devour the peak of a garden trellis, and a trio of metal daisies appear to shiver with every gust. It’s the perfect day to snuggle up with a stack of garden catalogues and a bowl of soup laced […] Read more
Grain drying turned upside down
Use fans only at night | Throw what you thought you knew about drying grain out the window
MELVILLE, Sask. — Farmers can dry their binned grain more quickly by running aeration fans only at night, new research has found. That contradicts decades-old wisdom that suggested fans should run continuously until grain is dry. In fact, that practice can actually damage grain by heating it and adding water to the kernels, said Ron […] Read more
Researchers deliver ‘hard’ news
EDMONTON — The head of a seed germination lab says last spring’s excess water has created seed characteristics never before seen in this country: pulse seeds impermeable to water. Lentils and peas from southern Alberta are showing signs of hard seed, said Sarah Foster of 20/20 Seed Labs in Nisku, Alta. “There is not a […] Read more
