July 22, 2008

Saskatchewan Oat Growers Invest in CDC Research

Saskatchewan oat growers have committed to invest $500,000 in University of Saskatchewan research on high-yielding and disease-resistant oat varieties.

The Saskatchewan Oat Development Commission (SODC) will provide $100,000 per year over five years to the U of S Crop Development Centre (CDC) and plant sciences department to hire research technicians, train summer students, and fund graduate students in oat agronomy, pathology, plant breeding, and genomics. 

"Research is critically needed in oats," says CDC Chairman Dwayne Anderson, "but now targeting funds to address specific farmer needs should help us move closer to the goal of making oats a more profitable crop. We hope to see improvements to varieties for both human and livestock food. Potentially, that could include better forage varieties."

"Saskatchewan oat producers are now truly one of our research partners and are more closely involved in maximizing R&D’s benefit to the oat industry," adds CDC oat and barley breeder Brian Rossnagel. "We are extremely proud that the SODC has chosen to invest in our U of S program to help continue to improve the bottom line for Saskatchewan oat producers."

The new research funded by SODC builds on the U of S’s history of outstanding oat research into varieties with exceptionally high milling quality for the oat food market.

"It’s extremely important that we work together with all those involved in the western Canadian oat industry, from the farmers to the millers," says plant sciences agronomist Steve Shirtliffe. "The feedback and support we receive from our research partners and supporters such as SODC are critical to future planning and the success of our oat R&D programs."

Established within the U of S plant sciences department in 1971, the CDC is a nationally renowned centre of excellence in crop research. The CDC seeks to increase diversification of crops and their products for the farmers and agriculture industry of Saskatchewan by improving existing crops, creating new uses for traditional crops, and developing new crops.

Formed in 2006, the SODC represents farmers who allocate 50 cents per metric tonne from Saskatchewan-grown oats sales to support research and development into new market opportunities, higher quality crops, and improved yields. In 2008 the SODC board directed a relatively small ($25,000 – one time contribution) amount to assist CDC work on "high groat fat" oat varieties, potentially with livestock applications.

"We view this new five-year investment plan as a template-strategy which will pay dividends to growers down the road," says Dwayne Anderson.

September 10, 2007

Saskatchewan Oat Development Commission Elections

Nominations are being accepted now for the first elected board of directors to the Saskatchewan Oat Development Commission (SODC). The SODC was mandated by Order in Council of the Saskatchewan cabinet in April of 2006 and has operated with an appointed interim board of six directors since that time.

Directors are not paid a salary but receive a per diem for time spent on SODC business and their expenses are reimbursed.

A director’s obligations include attendance at scheduled board meetings (about four per year) and involves commitment of a certain amount of additional time committed to SODC business matters. This is handled in conjunction with an executive director who is responsible for the SODC business office. From time to time directors are asked to represent SODC at industry functions and other selected events related to oats. A director may be asked to commit up to 15 days per year.

Who can be nominated and who can vote?

To stand for office, nominate or vote you must be a registered producer with the SODC. A registered producer is someone has had a Saskatchewan Oat Development Commission check-off deducted from the commercial sale of Saskatchewan-grown oats since August 1, 2006 and who has not received a refund of those funds.

Anyone selling Saskatchewan-grown oats commercially is automatically registered with SODC and any registered oat producer who is a corporation, partnership, association, society, or any individual carrying on business under a corporate name, trade name, farm name or other designation, is entitled to vote and to hold office through a designated representative who has been appointed in writing. No individual is entitled to more than one vote.

Nominations

Any registered member of the SODC may be nominated as a director. To be eligible, every nomination must be:

• Received by the returning officer as specified on the nomination form by noon October 12, 2007;
• Signed by three or more registered producers of the SODC; and
• Accompanied by the written consent of the registered producer being nominated for the position as SODC director.

Important Information

A person who has received a refund of the SODC check off levy is not eligible to be a registered producer with the commission for a period of two years and is not eligible to be nominated as a director or to sign a nomination form during this time.

Nomination forms are available from the SODC office at the co ordinates given below. It is important that the requested biographical information be included so that it may be included with the ballot at election time

Election

If an election is required, ballots will be mailed to registered members of SODC with the official results announced at the Annual General Meeting in Saskatoon, January 8, 2008.

To receive nomination forms:

Contact the SODC office:
Phone (306) 744 2775
Fax (306) 744 2770
E mail POGA@imagewireless.ca

June 21, 2007

First Producer-Fund Investments

Saskatchewan oat growers have (for now) made a relatively small but significant contribution to oat research through the recently mandated Saskatchewan Oat Development Commission (SODC). The commission’s board of directors has voted a $25,000.00 contribution to oat research at the University of Saskatchewan Crop Development Centre (CDC) in Saskatoon.

SODC interim chair Dwayne Anderson of Fosston says it’s the first allocation to research of funds contributed by farmers through a fifty cent per tonne check-off on the commercial sale of oats in the province. “The directors realize that in the world of research twenty five thousand isn’t a lot of money, but it is more or less the first time that Saskatchewan oat growers have collectively channelled some of their funds towards further development of this industry. But that was the main reason for establishment of the SODC, and we see this as just a beginning step in what we expect will be an on-going and effective management strategy by oat producers.”

The money will go to what is described by lead CDC oat researcher Dr. Brian Rossnagel as a “sub-project” in the development of new fed oat varieties.

Noting that oat groats are among the most nutritious, easily digestible and energy dense food or feed ingredients available, Rossnagel confirms that a major reason for the high energy density in oat, is that, unlike other cereal grains (which typically have about 2% fat), the oat groat typically has about 5% fat.  Since one unit of fat has 2.2 times the energy density of one unit of starch, oat groats are described as having high energy density. 

But Rossnagel also describes a tactic to even further increase energy density. That is  to increase the groat fat content.  He explains that since oat germplasm exists with % fat as high as 14%, plant breeders can select for higher energy density oat groats by making appropriate crosses and selecting among the progeny for increased % groat fat.  The resulting high fat oat groats, with greater energy density, will be an excellent feed ingredient for livestock requiring high energy feeds with high digestibility.  The most obvious livestock class with this need, he says, is weaner pigs.

Rossnagel describes the objective of the CDC high groat fat breeding program as being the development of agronomically acceptable hulled oat varieties with 10% groat fat, which should provide oat groats as a high energy density ingredient for the feed industry.  However, due to the great deal of practical difficulty oat producers would have dealing with the harvest, storage and handling of hulless oat, especially high groat fat content oat, the program is developing these high groat fat oat in a normal hulled oat type.   Another primary objective then, in addition to high groat fat, is very low % hull,  such as that provided by the CDC's recent varieties like CDC Dancer and CDC Weaver.

With their beginning contribution, the SODC members join other supporters of the CDC oat research and development program. These include Quaker Tropicana Gatorade Canada, FarmPure Seeds, Cargill, Super Oats Canada, CanOat Milling and Grain Millers. Core support for the program comes from Saskatchewan Agriculture and Food and the University of Saskatchewan.

In addition to the investment directly in oat research the SODC interim directors recently voted to become supporter-members of the Saskatchewan arm of Agriculture in the Classroom, and for the second year will be among the sponsors of Crops of the Parkland, a joint educational and tourism venture at Yorkton.

June 21, 2007

Oats in the Classroom

Education can take place at many levels, but the first that springs top of mind is usually “kids in school.”  With that idea in mind the Saskatchewan Oat Development Commission has become a member of Ag in the Classroom (AITC), Saskatchewan, with a modest investment of $2,000, a level which brings the title “Benefactor”, and one of five levels of sponsorship offered by AITC.

SODC chair Dwayne Anderson points out that education was among the early priorities discussed by the interim directors of the SODC when it was established in 2006. “We know that education can take place at many levels from producers to agribusiness and the consuming public, but among the most important would be at the grade school level. Putting agriculture issues in front of the eyeballs of students in an agriculture province is just ‘good old common sense’ Prairie style!”, he states.

Executive director for AITC, Sara Shymko, says as a provincial organization, AITC has a mandate to ensure that agriculture-education resources are available to every classroom, both urban and rural. ‘It just depends on what sorts of requests come into use for classroom presentations, or resources.”  She notes that AITC is (among other projects)  part of two major events for students – the “Agri_Ed Showcase” during Agribition each November in Regina and the Prairieland Park Corporation school tours in Saskatoon – part of Crop Week. Despite the fact that these are staged in the cities, Shymko says AITC operates as much in rural areas it does in the urbans.

Ms. Shymko acknowledges that it is difficult to measure the impact of these programs, but since March of 2006 Ag in the Classroom has distributed over ten thousand resources to teachers in various ways, some from direct teacher requests and personally reached over 850 students directly, not including the estimated 7500 children who experienced the Agri Ed Showcase in Regina. It’s annual operating budget currently is a modest $150 thousand dollars with just the full-time executive director and one other half time office manager. Saskatchewan Agriculture and Food provides $50 thousand annually, with the balance from industry supporters.

Shymko notes, “Teachers are telling us they don’t need more books (on these areas of study). They want more hands on things that they can do – tools that they can use to teach.”

June 21, 2007

SODC Sponsors Public Ed Crop Tours

A popular book and movie (even a song), a few years back, proclaimed, “Please, please don’t eat the daisies!” But the same is not true of some of the prairie’s most spectacular floral explosions!

Each summer motorist by the thousands are startled by the endless fields of yellow and purple evident in the prairie landscape – the difference being that we do, in fact, encourage people to eat lots of canola and flax products reflected in those fields.
And now, it seems, some insightful people in the Yorkton area, who saw something more in those colourful horizons, have further capitalized on those beautiful landscapes with something called Crops of the Parkland.

Undertaken jointly in 2006 by Tourism Yorkton and Saskatchewan Wheat Pool, with a variety of sponsors, including the Saskatchewan Oat Development Commission, Crops of the Parkland is a joint educational and promotional venture. “Crops” invites people who might have been impressed with the beauty of fields they have passed, to get out of their cars and motor homes and to take a walking tour among them.

The tour is self-guided, through crop plots adjacent to the tourism centre, at Yorkton’s eastern access. Visitors receive samples of oatmeal and an oatmeal cookie recipe courtesy of Grain Millers Canada and a small bag of red lentils with a soup recipe, compliments of SaskCan Pulses. Sask Pool agronomist Thom Weir notes the oat and lentil sample program is a great way to profile the health aspects of locally grown crops. Tourism Yorkton manager Randy Goulden recounts exceptional feed-back from people who received the samples and have positive comments. A member of the planning board for this year, Weir notes, “We are hoping to make a weekly draw for a hamper of food items that are made from the crops grown on site.”

Unfortunately, the tours ended abruptly last August, when Crops of the Parkland, along with some other local crops and gardens, were shredded by a sudden August hail storm!

For the second year, Crops of the Parkland will also feature “heritage crops”, Weir explains, this year featuring Marquis wheat. Celebrations are being held elsewhere to mark the 100th anniversary of the development of Marquis, which revolutionized prairie wheat production. “This year we are including ancient or "artisan" grains such as emmer, einchorn and spelt in the plots,” Weir notes, plus the addition of industrial hemp, buckwheat and seed potatoes. ”For the oats area, we have included the high Beta-glucan oat variety CDCSolFi.”

Saskatchewan Oat Development Commission (SODC) Chair, Dwayne Anderson notes, “Part of the mandate of SODC is to promote Saskatchewan oats and to promote public education about oats on behalf of our farmer members, and we view Crops of the Parkland as an excellent way to move forward on both those missions.”

According to Thom Weir, another “fun side” feature has been added to Crops of the Parkland for 2007. Tourism Yorkton will erect a life-sized rendition of the  well- recognized American Gothic painting with cut-outs so that the travelling public can have their picture taken in the classic pose. Talented students at Yorkton Regional High School did the painting.

Find out more at www.tourismyorkton.com.

March 5, 2006

Grain Millers Canada invests in oat industry future through U of S research

The University of Saskatchewan’s Crop Development Centre (CDC) is receiving a $15,000 boost from Grain Millers Canada of Yorkton to support future development and youth training in Saskatchewan’s oat industry.

"Oat research and development, especially the development of improved milling varieties well adapted to Saskatchewan growing conditions, is critical to our long-term success," says Terry Tyson, commodity procurement manager with Grain Millers Canada.

Grain Millers Canada has maintained a working relationship with the CDC since it purchased Yorkton’s Popowich Milling in 2001, recognizing the CDC's efforts to produce premium quality varieties. Recent releases, such as CDC Dancer, CDC Orrin and CDC Weaver all offer the exceptional quality demanded by Grain Millers' oat product production system.

"It’s extremely important that we work together with western Canadian millers, especially those in Saskatchewan," says Brian Rossnagel, oat and barley breeder at the CDC. "The feedback and support we receive from oat processors such as Grain Millers are critical to future planning and the success of our oat breeding program."

The funds provided by Grain Millers will primarily fund summer student and casual labour to help with the CDC oat program field and quality screening programs.

Established in 1971, the U of S CDC is a nationally-renowned centre of excellence in crop research. The CDC seeks to increase diversification of crops and their products for the farmers and agriculture industry of Saskatchewan by improving existing crops, creating new uses for traditional crops, and introducing new crops.

Grain Millers Canada joins other oat industry players, including Quaker Tropicana Gatorade Canada, CanOat Milling, Cargill and Super Oats Canada as on-going supporters of the CDC oat research and development program. Core support for the program comes from Saskatchewan Agriculture and Food and the U of S.