Farms.com Home   News

Winter Wheat Off To A Good Start

Manitoba's winter wheat crop is off to a good start.

Ken Gross is an agrologist with Ducks Unlimited.

"We're excited about winter wheat," he said. "The acres are actually going back up again after a long decrease. There's a lot better varieties out there. More winter hardy, higher yielding. It looks like there was more acres seeded this fall again. The seed dealers were saying they were all sold out and every field I looked at this fall looked excellent going into the winter, so I'm excited about that."

Gross says the fall rains really helped the winter wheat crop.

"It did help to get the crop off to a good start and most of the fields went into the winter with at least that three leaf and the tiller, which means that's it's going to be very winter hardy. The varieties they're using now, have very good hardiness too, like Wildfire. I'm thinking that they went into winter in great shape."

Click here to see more...

Trending Video

Finding a Balance of Innovation and Regulation - Dr. Peter Facchini

Video: Finding a Balance of Innovation and Regulation - Dr. Peter Facchini

Regulations help markets and industry exist on level playing fields, keeping consumers safe and innovation from going too far. However, incredibly strict regulations can stunt innovation and cause entire industries to wither away. Dr. Peter James Facchini brings his perspective on how existing regulations have slowed the advancement of medical developments within Canada. Given the international concern of opium poppy’s illicit potential, Health Canada must abide by this global policy. But with modern technology pushing the development of many pharmaceuticals to being grown via fermentation, is it time to reconsider the rules?

Dr. Peter James Facchini leads research into the metabolic biochemistry in opium poppy at the University of Calgary. For more than 30 years, his work has contributed to the increased availability of benzylisoquinoline alkaloid biosynthetic genes to assist in the creation of morphine for pharmaceutical use. Dr. Facchini completed his B.Sc. and Ph.D. in Biological Sciences at the University of Toronto before completing Postdoctoral Fellowships in Biochemistry at the University of Kentucky in 1992 & Université de Montréal in 1995.