Page 57 - PC2019 Program & Proceedings

PLANT CANADA 2019

PS4. Tuesday, July 9, morning session at 8:30 am

Dr. Brian Fowler

University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK

Winter wheat production in the high winter stress climate of
western Canada – An experiment in crop adaptation.

Abstract: The winter wheat production area on the North American Great Plains only extended as far north
as southern Alberta in the 1970’s. At that time, a research and development program was initiated with the
objective of expanding production north and east into higher winter stress areas of the Canadian prairies.
Winter survival was considered the main limitation in this region while market access, diseases and agronomic
problems also restricted its acceptance as a viable cropping option. Intensive plant breeding efforts to increase
cultivar winter hardiness were unsuccessful. However, research and development work started in the 1970’s
demonstrated that no-till seeding into standing stubble for snow trapping could successfully overwinter winter
wheat if available cold hardy cultivars were grown using recommended management practices. Subsequent
plant breeding improvements increased yield potential, straw strength, and rust resistance and winter wheat
became one of the most environmentally sustainable cropping options. Commercial grain yield ranged from
125 to 149% of spring wheat and production increased to a high of 1.2 million ha in 2007 in Saskatchewan and
Manitoba. In light of recent environmental concerns, changing weather patterns, diminishing world wheat
reserves, and an ever increasing global population to feed, one would assume that winter wheat production in
western Canada would continue to expand. However, marketing obstacles and difficulties inserting winter
wheat into spring crop rotations, both of which have a direct influence on farmers’ net returns, remain to be
overcome before the full potential of this cropping option will be realized.

Bio:

Brian Fowler is a Professor in the Department of Plant Sciences at the University of Saskatchewan where his
primary responsibilities have been in the areas of winter wheat plant breeding, genetics, drought, and mineral
stresses, with special emphasis on cold hardiness and conservation farming systems. He has been a leader in
winter cereal variety development and no-till research in the Great Plains region of North America. These efforts
involved close co-operation with farmer and environmental groups that has been recognized by awards from the
Manitoba-North Dakota Zero Tillage Farmers Association, the Saskatchewan Soil Conservation Association, the
Alberta and Saskatchewan Winter Wheat Commissions and Winter Cereals Manitoba. In 2011, he was presented
a Ducks Unlimited North American Recognition Award “for his passion of preserving the natural landscape across
Canada”. He was made a Fellow of both the Canadian and American Societies of Agronomy in recognition of his
"significant contributions to the development of winter cereal production and conservation farming systems on
the Canadian Prairies and the Northern Great Plains". In 2018, he was inducted into the Saskatchewan Agriculture
Hall of Fame.

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/David_Fowler6;

https://www.wheatworkers.ca/wcsm.php
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