The greatly anticipated Alberta Seed Guide will be arriving in producer mailboxes soon, and growers will be scouring the tables to see the latest, greatest options for the next growing season.
Variety selection is a huge part of decision-making on Alberta farms. Each year, farmers decide if they will be ‘upgrading’ to a new variety. After harvest, growers will assess the yield performance, standability, disease tolerance, insect resistance and grain quality of the variety they grew. There are many scenarios where growers are looking for something better. However, it can be a challenge for growers to choose the best variety for their farming operation.
The Alberta Seed Guide is an important resource for cereal variety selection. It provides unbiased information on variety performance that is vetted by over 40 industry experts from across the seed value chain. To ensure the accuracy of variety performance, the seed guide uses the following protocols and quality checks: - - -
- Regional variety trials (RVT) are conducted at multiple sites across different regions of the province. This ensures variety performance is tested under different soil zones and environmental conditions (Figure 1 on Page 7).
- Regional variety trials are planted and maintained following the agronomic practices that align with commercial producers, so variety performance from the RVT trials aligns with how they perform in farmers’ fields.
- New spring wheat and barley varieties are tested for at least 2 growing seasons before being included in the seed tables. A variety is grown in trials for a minimum of three growing seasons before it is considered fully tested. This ensures there are sufficient and accurate performance data.