New wheat varieties hold a lot of promise for producers

Apr 04, 2023

Last month, four new lines from the wheat breeding program at Agriculture and Agri-food Canada Swift Current were recommended for registration during the Prairie Grain Development Committee Meetings.

Wheat Breeder Dr. Richard Cuthbert says there's one high-yielding Canada Prairie Spring Red variety with a strong disease package that includes stripe rust resistance that shows a lot of potential for growers in Alberta.

The other three lines are Canada Western Red Spring two of which are not non-midge tolerant.

He says they have excellent disease package resistance to all priority one diseases, as well as loose smut, including a moderate resistance to FHB and five per cent higher yielding than AAC Brandon with equal grain protein.

The last variety is a very high-yielding CWRS with midge resistance, which has resistance to all the priority one diseases again, as well as moderate resistance to FHB.

Click here to see more...

Video: Democratizing Gene Editing - Pairwise’s Vision for the Future of Agriculture

Pairwise has built its business around an idea that runs counter to how many companies approach innovation: make transformative technology easier to access.

In this Seed World interview, CEO Tom Adams discusses why broader access to gene editing could speed crop improvement, expand innovation opportunities and help agriculture address emerging challenges. He explains why Pairwise believes no single company can solve all of agriculture's problems alone—and why making advanced breeding technologies available to more organizations could accelerate progress across the industry.

The conversation explores how consumer trust influences technology adoption, why innovations like pitless cherries and seedless blackberries matter beyond convenience, and how future crop improvements could help address labor shortages, automation, harvest efficiency and other production challenges. Adams also shares his perspective on what the industry may be underestimating about the next wave of gene editing innovation.

Watch the full interview to hear why Pairwise believes agriculture is approaching an important inflection point for gene editing, and why the pace of innovation over the next decade could surprise the industry.

Topics Covered:

o Democratizing agricultural innovation

o Consumer trust and technology adoption

o The business case for sharing innovation

o Expanding innovation beyond major crops

o Next-generation breeding technologies