Manitoba Celebrates Pulse Crops

Jan 07, 2016

On Wednesday, Manitoba Pulse and Soybean Growers (MPSG) launched an awareness campaign for provincially grown pulses.

The campaign runs in conjunction with the UN's International Year of Pulses, and aims to boost consumer demand.

MPSG chair Kyle Friesen says pulse acreage in Manitoba usually averages at about 250,000 to 300,000 acres a year. He says this number has been fairly static, with soybeans being a more common crop, but he hopes this campaign might help increase pulse acreage.

"I think it's going to be a longer term effect," he says. "I don't expect it's going to have a huge effect on pulse acreage for the 2016 year, but hopefully through this campaign we can increase consumption and increase demand, and hopefully create slightly better prices levels for the farmers because a lot of cropping decisions are based on economics."

Source : PortageOnline

Video: Why Invest in Canada’s Seed Future? | On The Brink: Episode 3

Darcy Unger just invested millions to build a brand-new seed plant on his farm in Stonewall, Manitoba so when it’s time for his sons to take over, they have the tools they need to succeed.

Right now, 95% of the genetics they’ll be growing come from Canadian plant breeders.

That number matters.

When fusarium hit Western Canada in the late 90s, it was Canadian breeders who responded, because they understood Canadian conditions. That ability to react quickly to what’s happening on Canadian farms is exactly what’s at risk when breeding programs lose funding.

For farmers like Darcy, who have made generational investments based on the assumption that better genetics will keep coming, the stakes are direct and personal.

We’re on the brink of decisions that will shape our agricultural future for not only our generation, but also the ones to come.

What direction will we choose?

On The Brink is a year-long video series traveling across Canada to meet the researchers, breeders, farmers, seed companies, and policymakers shaping the future of Canadian plant breeding. Each week, a new story. Each story, a piece of the bigger picture.

Episode 3 is above. Follow Seed World Canada to catch every episode, and tell us: Do you think the next generation will have the tools they need to success when they takeover? How is the future going to look?