Ontario Agriculture

The network for agriculture in Ontario, Canada

GFO: Research Priorities 2011- The Benefit For Corn, Soybean and Wheat Farmers


Investment in research is a long-term strategic initiative of the Grain Farmers of Ontario (GFO) for the benefit of all corn, soybean and wheat farmers. Ontario’s grain farmers have sponsored and participated in decades of practical research that has resulted in economic gains for Ontario farmers. The GFO Research Committee selects and funds projects that target the most important issues in grain production in Ontario.

Within the current Research Priorities document you will find the topics listed first by Overall Research Priority Areas, which are then sub-divided into sections of Key Priorities and specific priorities by crop. With the amalgamation of the three founding organizations to become GFO, we now hope to address all three crops through the overall priority areas: Market Development and Quality; Breeding and Genetics; Agronomy and Production; and Diseases and Insects. Within each of these sections we will endeavor to meet the research requirements of corn, soybean and wheat farmers.

1. Market Development and Quality

Key Priorities

  • Evaluate grain marketing strategies and methods to assist Ontario farmers in maximizing their returns
  • The use of corn, soy and wheat in bioproducts or for industrial/alternative uses
  • Rapid, inexpensive and accurate testing and grading technology to measure characteristics that affect quality and value of
  • corn, soy and wheat
  • Development of new food uses for corn, soy and wheat
  • Development of identity preserved markets for corn, soy and wheat

Soybean

  • Development of value-added opportunities including traits that contribute to human health

Wheat

  • Tools for rapid mycotoxin testing that are applicable for use at grain elevators and on the farm
  • Factors contributing to grain quality issues and determining how to meet markets for specific end uses
  • Development of IP systems to ensure proper channeling of wheat classes and subclasses

2. Breeding and Genetics

Key Priorities

  • Develop genetic resistance to diseases and insect pests significant in Ontario, including use of genetic modification for integration of traits into multiple-pest resistant lines
  • Breeding for traits that improve the plant’s ability to counteract the negative effects of environmental stress such as temperature stress and water stress
  • Breeding for specific markets and quality traits
  • Performance trials to assess variety performance

Corn

  • Development of genetic tolerance to Fusarium
  • Breeding for cold tolerance and new value-added traits that could lead to premium markets
  • Improved management of new hybrids including topics of population density, nitrogen use efficiency/fertility

Soybean

  • Development of new varieties with new traits designated to specific end uses
  • Breeding for resistance to insect and disease pests, including soybean cyst nematode (SCN), root rots, white mould, rust, aphids, etc.
  • Continued development of conventional varieties and food quality soybeans with superior agronomic performance

Wheat

  • Specific development of genetic tolerance to Fusarium in spring and winter wheat
  • Breeding new classes of wheat for Ontario (e.g. Durum, hard white)
  • Improve wheat quality for specific end uses

3. Agronomy and Production

Key Priorities

  • The effects of crop rotations and the parameters of soil health on production of corn, soybeans and wheat, particularly in terms of current intensive management practices
  • Nitrogen application rates, timings, and methods as well as sources of nitrogen including cover crops and other organic sources
  • Weed management topics including cost-effective strategies, environmental stewardship and emerging problem weeds including controlling and monitoring herbicide resistance
  • The effects of biomass removal on soil health, fertility, micronutrients, organic matter, erosion and sustainability
  • Evaluating the accuracy of fertilizer recommendations in light of current intensive management practices (such as seed treatments, fungicides, etc), and higher yields including nutrient and micronutrient management
  • Impacts of seeding date, rate, depth, seeding techniques and tillage systems
  • Development of efficient production techniques that combine several management factors that interact to improve production

4. Diseases and Insects

Key Priorities

  • Improve application rates, methods, and timing for control of insects and disease
  • Emerging insect and disease risks or those forecasted for the future, such as UG99 stem rust in wheat, soybean rust and climate change issues
  • Improved disease and insect diagnostics including control thresholds, accurate identification and scouting tools

Corn

  • Current and new chemical control strategies for Fusarium as well as other mycotoxin sources, and Gibberella stem and ear rot
  • Management and control of Western Bean Cutworm
  • The role of refuge management in insect and disease control
  • Management of corn diseases such as anthracnose leaf blight, northern leaf blight, Gibberella ear rot, etc.

Soybean

  • Focus on management of soybean insects including aphids, spider mites, bean leaf beetle etc.
  • Management of soybean diseases (Phytophthora, Sclerotinia, Rhizoctonia, Phomopsis, Fusarium solani, Asian soybean rust etc.)
  • Management and control of soybean viruses (soybean mosaic virus etc.)
  • Management and control of SCN

Wheat

  • Improved Fusarium management in spring and winter wheat
  • Wheat rust management research including stripe, leaf, and stem rust

Source: Grain Farmers of Ontario

Views: 48

Comment

You need to be a member of Ontario Agriculture to add comments!

Join Ontario Agriculture

Agriculture Headlines from Farms.com Canada East News - click on title for full story

Low commodity prices and high input costs a double whammy for Manitoba farmers

Manitoba farmers are facing a perfect storm of low grain prices and soaring fertilizer costs that are threatening profitability for both the current harvest and next year’s crop. Current harvest delivery prices have fallen to $7 per bushel for hard red spring wheat, $13.25 for canola, $11 for soybeans and $4 for oats, representing harvest pricing typically seed at the lows of a pricing cycle. On the cost side, fertilizer costs have climbed significantly from the numbers used in Manitoba Ag’s 2025 crop cost of production guide, which was compiled last November.  Urea has jumped to $850-900 per metric tonne, about 30 per cent higher than the $690 per tonne used in those calculations. Data from Manitoba Ag show a surge in crop production costs in 2022.  Those have stayed elevated and, when combined with current grain prices, the cost pressure is particularly acute.

US wheat finds new markets in Asia

Flour millers in Asia have ramped up imports of U.S. wheat in recent weeks, driven by competitive prices from American suppliers and delays in shipments from the Black Sea. Indonesian importers have finalized deals for around 500,000 tons, while buyers in Bangladesh secured about 250,000 tons and millers in Sri Lanka acquired around 100,000 tons. Millers are taking both U.S. soft white wheat and hard red winter wheat varieties. Apparently, there were some weather issues which delayed cargoes from the Black Sea region, and U.S. prices have been pretty competitive. This is additional demand for U.S. wheat in Asia, complementing purchases by traditional buyers such as Thailand, the Philippines and Taiwan.

Federal, Provincial and Territorial Ministers of Agriculture (FPT) Meetings Highlight Farmer Concerns

Industry leaders and government officials kicked off the FPT meetings at a Manitoba farm. Farmers and representatives from the Canola Council of Canada (CCC), CCGA, and provincial commissions shared their concerns directly with Minister MacDonald and Parliamentary Secretary Kody Blois. A key message was clear: farmers cannot borrow their way through these trade disputes, they were not of their making. Farmers are feeling the damage directly in their pockets. With canola selling at a discount between $60-$100/tonne...on an average 20MMT crop, that translates to estimated losses of $1.2–2.0 billion from lost exports to China. Federal Announcements: Some Support, but Gaps Remain The federal government announced $370 million in biofuel funding and additional trade diversification support. While these measures are a step in the right direction, they fall short of addressing the direct impact on canola farmers and exporters in lost bookings. Concerns remain over the lack of timelines for re

The Last Word (For Now) on Rest Stops During Long-Distance Transport

When the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) began to muse about requiring that cattle be unloaded and provided with a rest stop after 36 hours of transportation, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) and Canada’s beef industry funded a series of research projects led by Karen Schwartzkopf-Genswein’s team at AAFC’s Lethbridge Research Station to determine whether a rest stop would benefit weaned calves. The research began before the regulations were revised, but the regulations were revised before the research could be completed. Three consecutive research trials conducted in 2018, 2019 and 2020 found that providing a rest stop during long haul transportation offered no consistent, measurable benefits for animal welfare. A companion project led by Trevor Alexander at AAFC Lethbridge looked at bacterial populations in the respiratory tract of those same calves. In September 2023, this column described how microbiological testing from the 2018 transportation trial found that rested

Federal Plastics Registry has new compliance requirement

The federal government has created new reporting requirements under its new Federal Plastics Registry. The registry is being phased in over a few years, however phase 1 requires Canadian brand owners to report on plastic packaging placed on the market by September 29, 2025, for the 2024 calendar year.

© 2025   Created by Darren Marsland.   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service