WESTERN PRODUCER — Saskatchewan and Canadian agriculture have some great assets unique to us that make us proud.
Plant breeding is one of the shortest and most effective routes to improving global health through better nutrition, according to the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations.
We can attest to that through the efforts of Crop Development Centre plant breeders Bryan Harvey (2006), Brian Rossnagel (2010) and Gordon Rowland (2013).
Collectively, these men and their development teams have created more than 100 barley, oat and flax varieties that have positively affected Canada’s agriculture and food industries.
Notable varieties include CDC Harrington, CDC Congress and CDC Austenson for barley; Calibre, CDC Dancer and Derby for oats; and CDC Bethune and CDC Vimy for flax. As well, they established and maintained a diverse germplasm base for future breeders to draw upon.
Harvey, who is originally from Wales, and Rowland, originally from Winnipeg, weren’t born on farms, but worked to get there as soon as they could.
Rossnagel was born on a farm but life circumstances changed his farming dream.
Although none of the three researchers farmed, they agree their career paths in plant breeding enabled them to gain a deep understanding of agriculture and allowed them to be closely involved in many aspects of agriculture, including being in close contact with producers.
They maintain that their close relationships with farmers was key to their success because it kept them grounded and provided solid commentary on what was required. The support from producers, combined with their communication efforts with end users proved to be a formula for success.
Since induction in the Saskatchewan Agricultural Hall of Fame, Harvey has retired but stays active on several industry and university organizations. As well, he continues to curl and golf. In July 2020, he was inducted into the Canadian Agricultural Hall of Fame. His citation suggests that one of his varieties, CDC Copeland, has grown enough acres to brew 30 bottles of beer for every person on Earth. An earlier variety of his, Harrington, accounted for 75 percent of the 1991 malt barley acreage.
Rossnagel retired in 2011, but continued part-time involvement with CDC barley and oat programs and was active with the Saskatoon Prairieland Park board until 2019, when he and his wife moved to Victoria.
A CDC report on the economic impact of the centre’s varieties says that in 2016 Rossnagel’s feed barley varieties accounted for 65 percent of feed barley varieties used from 1995 to 2006. His oat program research gave rise to several improvements to milling oat varieties, which led to Canada being a significant supplier of oats for food in the world.
Rowland had retired previous to his induction into the Saskatchewan hall and moved to British Columbia to be closer to the grandkids. From 2005 to 2009, CDC Bethune accounted for more than 60 percent of Saskatchewan flax acreage, according to the CDC report.
All three researchers agree that the biggest challenge facing agriculture today is the misinformation about science and agriculture, and the declining understanding of the central role agriculture plays in society.
They agree that leadership is vital to address the issue and to re-establish public trust in agriculture.
They also offer advice for future plant breeders.
“Focus on what matters to farmers, the rest will follow,” says Rossnagel.
Harvey advises future researchers to “keep the end user firmly in mind and avoid the flavour of the month mentality (plant breeding is a long-term strategy).”
Rowland’s message is simple: “be patient and be humble.”
When it comes to plant breeders around the world, Saskatchewan acclaims these provincial assets.
As singer Tina Turner would say, “you’re simply the best, better than all the rest.”
Linda Braun is president of Food Focus Saskatoon.
