Growers at the table

I can’t imagine where farming would be today without research. With inspiration from research findings, I have and will continue to change my on-farm practices. The advent of herbicide-resistant varieties and the ability to farm with no-till practices has been major for my land’s soil health. This year was also my first growing season where I seeded every canola acre with clubroot-resistant varieties.

Our number one priority at SaskCanola is research, with 40 per cent of our budget committed to new and ongoing projects. All SaskCanola-funded research project summaries are available on our website at saskcanola.com and we extend knowledge to growers throughout the year primarily at events and through social media.

Research summaries and ongoing research reports are shared in this Science Edition of Canola Digest. As you read through, if a question, idea, or concern comes to mind, please get in touch with a member of our dedicated team. Our door at SaskCanola is always open.

Unbiased research helps us, as canola growers, make crop management decisions that improve the business. On the research committee, we’re pushing for projects that we, as growers ourselves, want done. We take leadership in setting priorities based on risk and cost to production, communicating these priorities with the research community, and encouraging proposals that match those priorities.

The benefit to canola growers is that the research we fund through your check-off dollars is unbiased. We’re not trying to sell anything and we don’t cherry pick the results.

You’ll see a lot of recently completed and ongoing research described in this Science Edition of Canola Digest. I encourage you to read through it and take note of results that can help your farm, and tell us about projects we might be missing. I know that after the growing season we had in 2019, I’ll be looking at results that will help me increase seed survival, manage flea beetles and reduce storage risks for high-moisture canola.

Research is the cornerstone to the existence of canola. Through the pioneering work of Drs. Baldur Stefansson and Keith Downey, canola was transformed from rapeseed into a unique crop with healthy and unique properties which drives an industry that contributes $26.7 billion to the Canadian economy each year.

Grower-funded research results have been key to the success of canola on my farm and in Western Canada. Alberta Canola supports research to help farmers succeed in growing canola. Unbiased research on the importance of seeding depth on crop establishment, clubroot prevention and management and delaying swathing to maximize yield and quality are all results making a difference on my farm.

Of course, this information is of little value if canola growers and their support team of advisors and extension agents never see the results. This is why Alberta Canola has been a strong supporter of the Canola Digest and especially this edition, the Science Digest edition. I hope you make as much use of it as I will.