Pulses Regional Variety Trials

In collaboration with Alberta Pulse Growers, MARA hosts a yearly regional variety trial program to evaluate pulse crops, including field peas (yellow and green), faba beans, and lentils. This year, MARA is testing sixteen yellow pea cultivars, four green Peas cultivars and 11 cultivars of lentils and faba beans, each under conventional and organic systems.  The faba beans and lentils are being tested for the first time under organic systems, and we hope better to understand the performance of different varieties in our region. Plant breeders have suggested that the varieties that perform best on organic farms may not be the same as on conventional farms, and those organic farmers may benefit from using varieties explicitly bred for organic systems. Variety trials can help growers identify alternative varieties with qualities similar to or superior to traditionally used varieties. In addition, variety trials as part of your annual farm plan can help to identify varieties well-suited to the agro-climatic conditions of Mackenzie County.

Demo Trial 2 – Canary Seed

In 2023, MARA sourced some seeds of four varieties of Canary seed from the University of Saskatchewan and tested them out. Despite a drought-sensitive crop, it performed well in our region, and we planted the saved seed from last year in another demonstration trial this year. It has shown promising growth this year and we will try to test its potential as a novel crop for the region.

As a novel specialty crop for this region, canary seed can be used for bird feed, hay, and human consumption.

Misc Demo Trials

MARA is hosting a few small demonstration plots to test diverse crops, including ancient wheat varieties Einkorn (historical wheat, one of the oldest wheat varieties), Emmer (tetraploid with high protein and low gluten), Hard Red Calcutta (hard red spring wheat), Kahla (durum wheat with black/purplish glumes), Kanata (Early maturing hard white spring wheat), Pictic 62 (developed by Dr. Norman Borlaug), Polish (weak straw) and Red Fife (Historical tall wheat variety). Other crops include forage, grain and sweet stem hybrids of sorghum and pearl millet. Apart from these, we have demonstration plots for foxtail millet, purple millet (ornamental) silage sorghum and corn hybrids. Most of these crops are performing well in our demonstration trials.

Demo Trial 3 – Soft White Wheat

Similar to Canary seed, soft white wheat performed exceptionally well in the drought year of 2023. We planted two similar trials for the four varieties (AAC Awesome, Sadash, AAC Andrew, and AAC Paramount) under conventional systems with different seeding dates and fertilizer rates to see the effect of seeding time and fertilizer on yield and quality. This year, SeCan kindly donated the seed to us to evaluate soft white wheat.

Oat Advantage-Milling Oat Trial

A new industrial partner collaborated with MARA this year to test 16 breeding lines of hulled oats, including yield and quality check varieties. Oat Advantage is based out of Saskatoon and working on breeding oats for growers and millers since 2008.

Demo Trial 4- Durum Varietal Trial

This year, MARA is hosting a durum wheat varietal trial to evaluate ten commercially released varieties of durum wheat in three replications. The seeds have been sourced from Chinook Applied Research Association (CARA), Oyen, Alberta (8 varieties) and FP Genetics seed company (2 varieties). Durum is a relatively longer-duration crop, and timely maturity could be challenging in our region; however, we are hosting this trial in collaboration with CARA. Data from both locations will be evaluated for the grains’ maturity, yield, and quality (protein content).

Flax Variety Testing

Like the RVT cereals and pulses, MARA is evaluating the field performance of two flax cultivars in northern Alberta under the RVT flax program. Due to the regional demand for organically grown flax, flax is being tested under both conventional and organic systems. Variables to be analyzed include stand percentage, height, days to flowering, days to maturity, disease rating, and yield. The data is used in the publication of the Alberta Seed Guide.

 

This year, MARA also collaborated with Nutrien Ag Solutions and FP Genetics to test some short-duration flax varieties suitable for Northern climates. We are testing Westllin 60 and Westlin 72 from Nutrien Ag and Marvellous and Bravo from FP Genetics under conventional and organic systems.

Eco Tea Seed Dressing Trial

In collaboration with Overton Environmental Enterprises and Peace Soils Works, MARA is evaluating the efficacy of EcoTea seed dressing in terms of enhanced germination, changes in soil microbiology, better tolerance to environmental stresses, and the quality and yield of the Morgan oat variety under an organic system.

Soil Health Benchmark

Healthy soil is the basis for both sustainable farms and healthy ecosystems. Yet most farms in the prairies are losing soil organic matter, are at risk of erosion, and have low year-round soil cover. We’re measuring a comprehensive array of soil’s physical, biological, and chemical attributes, including aggregate stability, compaction, infiltration, organic matter, microbial respiration, and nutrient levels. We’re also putting these soil attributes into the context of field management techniques, including tillage frequency and intensity, cover cropping, and organic matter inputs. This year, we will be collecting soil samples from eight producer’s sites.

Demo Trial 1 – Annual Forage Evaluation Trial

With some promising yield and quality results from last year’s trial, MARA decided to continue the annual forage trial with an addition of a block of alternatives along with three blocks of annuals that consist of cereals, pulse-cereal mixes, and cover crop mixes (cocktail crops) to evaluate the potential of the annuals in supplementing the perennial forage systems to give the system a break for recovery as well as providing an opportunity of the land for cash crop instead of committing it for perennials for multiple years.

A diverse group of annual crops can be planted to supplement the perennial forage system to meet the needs of dairy and livestock producers. The cover crop mixes can also provide shelter to a diverse group of pollinators (wild, native, and domesticated), enhancing the ecosystem services of agriculture.