Cereals Regional Variety Trials (RVT)

The Cereals Regional Variety Trial (RVT) is conducted throughout the province and in Northern BC. This year, MARA is participating in CPSR & CWSP, CWRS & CWHWS wheat, Oats, feed, and malt barley (CMBTC Barley). Malt barley was recently added to the RVT program last year in collaboration with the Canadian Malting Barley Technical Centre (CMBTC), Manitoba.

One goal of the RVT is to help researchers and producers identify cereal varieties suitable for each particular environment. Data from the Cereal RVTs are published in the Alberta Seed Guide. The Alberta government and the cereal seeds industry sponsor the Cereal RVTs.

Alberta Native Bee Council 2024 Native Bee Monitoring Program

MARA is volunteering in the Native Bee monitoring program hosted by the Alberta Native Bee Council.

Launched this year, the Alberta Native Bee Monitoring and Stewardship Program is a five-year, collaborative approach to monitoring bees that builds on the 2018 monitoring (Pilot provincial native bee program). The program consists of conducting a second round of province-wide native bee monitoring in 2024, processing and analyzing data in 2025, and three years of applying this
information to promote awareness and conservation of native bees, advance stewardship of bee habitat and mitigate threats to bee species at risk.

Perennial Cereal Grain Crops Project

In the last year of this project, we continue to evaluate the intermediary wheat grass and winter rye intercropped with alfalfa, white clover and sainfoin in alternate and same-row seeding methods for grain and forage systems at different sites. The data on long-term ecosystem services provided by the perennial cereals and legumes would help us understand the implications of integrating these crops on crop-livestock farms. The rye (ACE-1) and wheat (Krenza) varieties have dual purposes, and their efficacy in grazing and grain combining is being studied.

Lupin Varietal Trial

This year, MARA collaborated with Lakeland College and Lupin Platform Inc. (LPI) to host a lupin varietal trial to evaluate the adaptability and investigate the agronomics of blue and white lupin production in Northern Alberta. We are evaluating three blue lupin varieties, six white lupin varieties, and three field peas and faba beans varieties. The lupins are considered a new high-proten crop for Alberta and are currently grown by LPI under a closed-loop commercial production system, which means producers have to sell all the seed back to LPI, and no seed can be saved.

There are both food and feed markets for lupin. The seed is high in protein (range 35-40% depending on the lupin species), high in fibre (25% hull), oil (6-8%) and low in starch (<2%). These attributes make the processing of seeds different from other pulse crops. Lupin has excellent emulsification properties for food, which is a fit for plant-based ice cream, mayonnaise, salad dressings, cheese and cheese spreads, egg replacement, and alternative milk. For feed, both the Australian and South Korean dairy industries use lupin to increase milk fat and milk production; currently, a dairy in Central Alberta has been feeding lupin successfully for eight months, mirroring these results.         

Alberta Grain Demonstration: Enhanced Efficiency Fertilizers Trial

Alberta Grains is partnering again with three Applied Research Associations to evaluate the impact of different nitrogen fertilizers on wheat yield and protein. NPARA, SARDA, PCBFA and MARA are hosting sites for this trial, where Enhanced Efficiency Fertilisers (EEF), such as Environmentally Smart Nitrogen (ESN) and Super U, are evaluated compared to Urea. This project explores the effects of different EEF set at different rates and placed banded at various developmental stages. MARA assesses the impact of EEF side banded at the seeding stage at  70% and 100% recommended rates for regular and higher targeted yields.

Alberta Grains Demonstration: Wheat Seeding Rate Trial

Continuing the seeding rate demonstration trial from Alberta Grains, MARA evaluates the effect of different seeding rates (25, 30, 35, and 40 plants per square foot) on the yield and quality (protein) of 4 wheat varieties. This trial is being conducted at four locations in the Peace Region: NPARA, Manning, SARDA, Falher, PCBFA, Fairview and MARA, Fort Vermilion. This project builds upon similar projects conducted in previous years (2019-2021) where AAC Brandon and AAC Connery were evaluated but includes AAC Brandon, AAC Wheatland, AAC Viewfield and AAC Redberry. AAC Viewfield has a slightly higher yield than AAC Brandon, while Redberry is an early maturing variety (three days earlier than AAC Brandon).

Grain Miller Canada Corp Organic Oat Trials

In collaboration with one of its long-term partners, the Grain Millers Canada Corp (GMCC), Saskatchewan, MARA is hosting a trial for evaluating 12 milling Oat varieties under the organic system to test the various agronomic traits like disease resistance, lodging and yield. This year, GMCC has added three new varieties, AAC Neville, CDC Byer and AAC Douglas, in the trial.

Peace Region Living Labs (PRLL): Intercropping trial

In partnership with Peace Region Living Lab and AAFC, MARA is hosting a long-term intercropping trial (5 years) entitled “Optimizing Intercrops for the Peace Region” in collaboration with NPARA and SARDA. This project aims to identify suitable companion crops (wheat or canola) for legumes (peas) grown in northern climates. It would also focus on the economic component of farming, which will consider factors like crop yield, market price, inputs, labour, and seed separation costs. In addition, the benefits of intercropping on soil health regarding weed control and fertility will be investigated.

Carbon Sequestration

Good rangeland management can enhance soil carbon sequestration and reduce the likelihood of the release of greenhouse gases. These management practices impose a significant impact on rangeland by altering water and nutrient cycles through defoliation and trampling. The aim is to work with producers to obtain detailed information on soil and site conditions, historical management practice and carbon information on the rangeland

Regional Silage Variety Testing

MARA has been participating in the province-wide silage variety program since 2016. We are assessing agronomic performance and nutritional qualities of different forage barley, triticale, and their mixture with forage peas.