The Alberta Barley Commission -- your source for information about barley production, research and market development.

Agronomy & Field Tests

While barley is a crop ideally suited Alberta’s growing conditions, producers are always looking for ways to improve their yields.

Numerous government agency, industry association and businesses offer production advice and support.

The Alberta Barley Commission also advances production methods and crop yields by supporting a number of research projects and test plots, including:

Alberta/Canada Barley Development Agreement – Core Funding
This project provides core funding to long-term projects on barley agronomy, breeding, disease, and germplasm development.

Cooperating scientists: Jim Helm, Patricia Juskiw, Joseph Nyachiro, Lori Oatway of the Alberta Field Crop Development Centre in Lacombe; Kelly Turkington and John O’Donovan of the Lacombe Research Centre.

Funding:
$ 250,000 Alberta Barley Commission
Additional funding from industry partners

Optimizing Water Use, Nitrogen Use, and Agronomic Practices for Irrigated Grain and Oilseed Crop Production in Alberta
This project is developing information to improve efficiencies for irrigated crop production.

Cooperating scientist: Ross McKenzie, Alberta Agriculture & Food Crop Diversification Centre – South, Lethbridge.

Funding:
$ 40,000 Alberta Barley Commission
$ 410,000 Alberta Crop Industry Development Fund (ACIDF)

Development of Barley Lines with Enhanced Water Use Efficiency Using the 13C Discriminating Technique
The goal of this project is to develop new lines of barley with high water use efficiency for the breeding of high yielding varieties of barley with yield stability under drought conditions on the Canadian prairies.

Cooperating scientist: Anthony Anyia, Alberta Research Council Inc.

Funding:
$ 25,000 Alberta Barley Commission
$ 172,500 Alberta Crop Industry Development Fund
$ 172,500 Alberta Agricultural Research Institute

Barley Plot Demos
Research conducted by Agricultural Research and Extension Council of Alberta (ARECA) with participation from local agricultural research associations. The project’s objective is to evaluate the performance of barley varieties in local agro-climatic conditions.

Funding:
$7,000 Alberta Barley Commission
Additional in-kind contributions from ARECA and local ARAs.

Plant Stand Establishment & Seeding Rate Demonstration
The objective of this project is targeting seeding rates to obtain optimal plant stands that will enhance crop competitiveness. Reduced Tillage Linkages is providing matching in-kind funds for this project.

Researcher: Peter Gamache, Reduced Tillage Linkages

Prairie Wide Regional Variety Testing of Cereal, Flax, and Pulse Crops
The objective of this project is to determine the performance of cereal and flax varieties in the provinces and ecozones of western Canada. As well, the project seeks to improve cost effectiveness and information sharing for the entire western Canadian post-registration variety testing effort.

Researcher: Gayah Sieusahai, Agricultural Research and Extension Council of Alberta (ARECA)

Funding:
$10,000 Alberta Barley Commission
$50,000 Alberta Crop Industry Development Fund (ACIDF)
$22,000 Alberta Pulse Growers
$5,000 Canadian Seed Growers Association and Alberta Seed Cleaning Plants
$10,000 in kind Alberta Research and Extension Council of Alberta (ARECA)
$2,500 in kind Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada
$5,000 in kind Viterra (formerly Agricore United)
$12,000 in kind British Columbia Grain Producers Association
$20,000 in kind Alberta Research Associations