Saskatchewan Farmers Needed for Research Trials
SaskOilseeds on-farm research trials program aims to address challenges and answer questions to help Saskatchewan farmers. We recruit cooperators each year prior to seeding.
What differentiates these trials from other trials?
These trials differ from regular strip trials as they are both replicated and randomized to account for any field variability. This makes the trials quite large, however having adequate data to properly analyze after harvest is crucial to being able to provide the cooperator and other farmers with results they can be confident in.
What are the perks of becoming a cooperator?
You get to trial a practice on your farm, using your equipment, and you’ll have access to a research specialist the entire time. This means that the analyzed data will be specific to your farm – not a farm or research station miles away.
You’ll join a network of like-minded farmers who are interested in on-farm, field-scale research. We partner with the other crop commissions to host a field tour during the summer, and a winter wrap up banquet. At this banquet, you will get the first access to all of the trial results. This means you’ll not only see your trial results and the combined results of the protocol, but you’ll also see the results from all other crop trials. These results will also be packaged in a booklet for you to take home.
To review trial results from the programs’ first two years, for a more in-depth list of frequently asked questions about the program, to suggest a protocol, or to sign up as a new cooperator, visit saskcanola.com/on-farm-research-trials.
SaskOilseeds Awards 2024 Graduate Scholarships to Next Generation of Researchers
Every year, SaskOilseeds proudly awards two, two-year scholarships to graduate students conducting research related to canola or flax. In doing so, our goal is to build research capacity by investing in the future of the oilseeds industry. Congratulations to this year’s recipients Cresilda Alinapon and Kate Sauser!
Cresilda is studying the molecular function of Plasmodiophora brassicae effector proteins to understand and combat clubroot disease in canola. The aim is to develop clubroot-resistant canola cultivars.
Kate is researching the impact of herbicide-tolerant canola and no-till practices on agricultural greenhouse gas emissions, carbon sequestration and sustainability in Saskatchewan, with the goal of informing policy to enhance sustainable practices and recognize farmers’ contributions to climate change mitigation.
We would also like to recognize Nirpesh Dhakal and Hansanee Fernando who were awarded graduate scholarships in 2023 and continue their studies at the University of Saskatchewan.
