10 Story Idea? Email Paul.Nolan@Farms.com Better Farming | April 2024 Beyond the Barn ALBERTA FARMERS WARNED ABOUT GRAIN SPOILAGE Warm winter temperatures with interspersed record cold spells could mean spoilage in stored grain for some Alberta farmers. A recent release from the Alberta government warns farmers in the province to monitor their crops to avoid loss in crop that hasn’t been marketed. “Stored crops are important to monitor,” said Neil Blue, provincial crops market analyst with the Alberta government, in the release. “Several cases of spoiling crops have showed up lately, leading to marketing difficulty and large price discounts. Perhaps the mostly warm temperatures this winter and the January period of record cold temperatures have been a factor.” For the first month of storage, grains and oilseeds can respire and release moisture, causing spoilage later in the winter. This is more common with denser crops, like canola. Crops harvested on warm days will also have a greater difference in temperature when cooled to winter temperatures, increasing spoilage risk. As cooling occurs, moisture will move down the bin walls and into the bottom of the grain. The risk of heating also increases as air moves up the centre of the bin and the warmer, moist air hits cooler grain. Winter spoilage occurs most often at the top of the bin due to this. There are some strategies to avoid spoilage. “Aerating and turning will help to even out the temperature of the stored crop and break up the natural temperature and moisture flow within the bin,” explained Blue. “Many producers also use in-bin monitoring systems to detect potential storage trouble. While lower than last crop year’s prices, crop prices are still historically high, and worth protecting in storage.” BF Following Saskatchewan Pulse Growers (SPG)’s February announcement of $5 million going to research projects improving pulse productivity and mitigating risks to the industry, a list of funded projects has now been released. SPG’s list of projects will all be receiving funding from grower levy dollars and government and industry funding under the Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership (CAP) AgriScience Program Clusters Component. Projects that will receive funding under this program include: Selection of Early Maturing Dry Bean Germplasm and Cultivars for Sustainability and Improved Productivity Under Irrigation; Breed for Top-Performing Field Pea Varieties and Develop SNPbased Markers for Marker-Assisted Selection for Grain and Protein Yield Maturity, Standability, and Seed Size; Large Root Systems in Pulses for Drought Tolerance, Carbon Sequestration, and Root Rot Resistance; Accelerating Solutions to Root Rot of Pea and Lentil Using a Multifaceted and Integrative Approach; Diversity Set for Genomic Improvement of Faba; Identifying Potential Resistance to Pea Aphids and Aphid Transmitted Viruses in Lentil; Phenotyping Pulse Crops for Improved Performance Under Climate Change; An Integrated Approach for Accelerating Genetic Improvement of Yield and Agronomic Characteristics of Chickpea; Development of Improved Pea Cultivars to Enhance Canada’s Leading Role in International Pea Markets. “Research that will increase on-farm productivity and reduce agronomic challenges is a top priority for SPG,” said Winston van Staveren, SPG Board Chair and Creelman-area pulse farmer, in the release. “We are targeting our research investments into projects that will create improved pulse crops and management practices for producers as we face challenges such as climate change and increased disease pressure.” The five-year Pulse Cluster will support research with a total value of $21 million, with $11 million of that coming from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. The remaining funding will come from contributors, including Alberta Pulse Growers, Manitoba Pulse and Soybean Growers, and Ontario Bean Growers and other industry partners. BF PULSE GROWERS ANNOUNCE RESEARCH Farm & Food Care Saskatchewan photo
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