Research

Research Topic: Oat Breeding / Popular

• Project Status: Completed
• Principal Investigators: Kirby Nilsen and Prairie Oat Breeding Consortium (POBC)
• Project Dates: April 2018 –March 2023
• Abstract/Summary: The objective of the Prairie Oat Breeding Consortium (POBC) is to develop new oat cultivars suited to production in western Canada and to end use markets identified by the Prairie Oat Growers Association (POGA) and the milling industry. The cultivars developed will have end-use quality identified as important by the industry and will carry genetic resistance to major diseases, pests, and adverse environmental conditions prevalent in the planned production areas.
  The development of cultivars that are genetically resistant to pests and adaptable to various climatic conditionswill help producers be more resilient by reducing the cost of growing oats, the fossil fuel use and greenhouse gas emissions, and the amount of pesticides used in oat production.
  Risks to oat producers and the oat processing industry will be reduced by oat cultivars that perform better agronomically, are resistant to pests and produce reliably healthy products for human and animal consumption, in Canada and around the world.
  Project partners includeAgriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Austgrains, FP Genetics, General Mills, Grain Millers Canada, Emerson Milling, SeCan, Richardson International, and POGA.

Research Topic: Nutrition/Product Creation / Popular

• Project Status: Completed
• Principal Investigators: Dr. Lingyun Chen at the University of Alberta
• Project Dates: March 2021 – Oct 2024
• Abstract/Summary: This project is a continuation of Dr. Chen’s previous work to address industry interest in using fractionated oat ingredients as a source of food product innovation. Research indicates that from a diabetic management perspective, a mere 1% decrease in glucose levels among diabetics can lead to a 21% decrease in death and a 37% decrease in heart attacks. Therefore, developing convenient diabetic-friendly drinks can help reduce the cost of treating people in Canada.
  
  The specific objectives in the next two years are to:
  1. Study competitive advantages of Canadian oats for development of healthy oat milk products; special emphasis will be placed on oat varieties that are high in yield, protein and beta-glucan.
  2. Optimize processing to enhance recovery of oat nutritional components into a nutritionally enhanced oat milk drink with significantly improved protein and beta-glucan content.
  3. Study peptides with anti-diabetic effects from oat protein for functional oat drink development and evaluate the drink hypoglycemic effect through in vivo test in diabetic animal model.

Research Topic: Oat Breeding / Popular

• Project Status: In Progress
• Principal Investigators: Dr. Aaron Beattie, Crop Development Centre (CDC) - Saskatoon, SK
• Project Dates: April 2019 –March 2029
• Abstract/Summary: Oat is considered a healthy cereal due to a number of nutritional compounds found within the grain, including beta-glucan. Beta-glucan is a soluble fiber that has been shown to lower plasma cholesterol and reduce the risk of heart disease. Oat grain also contains a number of antioxidant compounds, including the polyphenolic avenanthramides, which have anti- inflammatory effects. Oat contains 12-20% protein which is rich in globulins and contains more lysine and threonine than other cereals and provides a better balance of essential amino acids.
  
  Oats is able to be consumed by most people suffering from celiac disease and is thus considered to be gluten-free. As a result of these desirable attributes, oats remain a significant Canadian crop.
  
  To build on Saskatchewan’s (and Canada’s) position as a supplier of premium quality oats to current and developing markets, requires developing varieties with improved agronomic, quality and disease resistance.
  
  The CDC is exploring new traits for incorporation into future Canadian oat varieties that may add value to the crop.

Research Topic: Marketing

• Project Status: In Progress
• Abstract/Summary: Keep It Clean Cereals (KIC) is a program that shows Canada’s commitment to delivering consistently superior agricultural products to markets around the world. Keep it Clean is an established program started by the Canola Council of Canada and expanded with Cereals Canada, Barley Council of Canada and POGA to share best practices required for export-quality cereals and canola. The overall goal of the KIC program is to help prevent market access issues and maintain Canada’s international reputation for reliability and quality. Each importing country has different standards and qualities that must be met for that market. The KIC program best management practices checklist contains five items, accompanied by explanations of each item. This list was created to be used by growers, but it also serves as the Canadian value chain’s commitment to quality, cleanliness, and consistency.

Research Topic: Marketing / Popular

• Project Status: In Progress
• Principal Investigators: funded in part by AAFC and Manitoba Ag in Action, and directed by POGA through Emerging Ag
• Project Dates: April 2021 – March 2023
• Abstract/Summary: POGA sought to target domestic consumers in this campaign to further diversify the demand for Canadian oats. Canadian consumption of oats has been steadily increasing over the years. However oats are still perceived as a breakfast cereal rather than an ingredient to be used in food for the rest of the day. It is important to educate Canadians on the health benefits for things such as heart disease, high cholesterol, obesity and diabetes to name a few. There is an increasing desire to eat “local” as well to reduce the environmental footprint related to the transportation of goods. The website “Oats Everyday”, which was developed as a promotional campaign to the USA, is reactivated and geared to Canadian consumers (and materials will be supplied in both French and English).

Research Topic: Marketing / Popular

• Project Status: In Progress
• Principal Investigators: Funded in part by AAFC and directed by POGA through Emerging Ag
• Project Dates: April 2021 – March 2023
• Abstract/Summary: The intent is to increase demand for Canadian oats by promoting the health benefits of oats to the Japanese market. Japan is the fourth largest importer of oats globally, and Canada has been the leading exporter of oats in recent years. Canada is the largest supplier of raw oats in Japan; however the goal is to gain market share in the human-consumption arena. The campaign is focused on trade advocacy, as well as social media outreach to highlight the nutrition and health benefits of oats in daily diets

Research Topic: Marketing / Popular

• Project Status: In Progress
• Principal Investigators: Funded in part by AAFC and directed by POGA through Emerging Ag
• Project Dates: April 2021 – March 2023
• Abstract/Summary: Mexico is the third largest importer of oats globally and several other Latin American countries who import oats could offer additional opportunities for Canadian exports. A long-term strategy for POGA is to make use of the proximity to these markets, and build on the strong Canadian reputation for products in Mexico which would support the efforts to differentiate Canadian oats. This project focuses on diversification of Canadian oat exports to Mexico. The activities aim to increase per capita consumption of oats, increase Canadian oat exports to Mexico, and increase consumer awareness of the health benefits of oats. Since this project began in 2015, Canada has been able to more than triple its oat exports to Mexico.

Research Topic: Intercropping/Other / Popular

• Project Status: In Progress
• Principal Investigators: Dr. Myriam Fernandez, AAFC
• Project Dates: April 2019 – February 2027
• Abstract/Summary: This project will look at the relationship between various intercrop dynamics to see where benefits can occur. Intercrop species use soil available nutrients and soil moisture, and at given times inter- and intra-competition are expected. Specifically, the project will look to determine if intercrops with crops or a living mulch can reduce weeds compared to sole crops and will look at various seeding ratios to evaluate impact on each crop. It will aim to identify if there is a nitrogen benefit from legumes in the intercrop to its companion crop, as well as look to determine the biomass and grain yield/quality due to the intercrop dynamics. It will also look at the disease pressures, and evaluate if intercrops have less disease than monocrops, as well as develop crop growth and nutrient models for intercrop verses monocrop scenarios.

Research Topic: Intercropping/Other / Popular

• Project Status: Completed
• Principal Investigators: Lana Shaw, South East Research Farm (SERF), Garry Hnatowich, Jessica Pratchler, Robin Lokken, and Chris Holzapfel, Brian Nybo
• Project Dates: 2019 – 2021
• Abstract/Summary: This project will look at how to grow oat and pea together as a grain crop, how to separate grain components using slotted screens, and the effect of varying oat seeding rates in intercrop with pea on yield and agronomic parameters.Peas and oats are both relatively low value crops in the rotation compared withcanola. They are both beneficial to have in a crop rotation in terms of nitrogen useefficiency and mycorrhizal associations. Intercropping oats and pea in a mixed graincrop may result in a more resilient and valuable product with reduced need forherbicides and nitrogen fertilizer. Oat may have beneficial effects on pea disease orreduce weed pressure, which has implications for herbicide-resistant weeds like kochia. An oat-pea intercrop may be agronomically and economically suitable for many of thecrop zones found in Saskatchewan. An intercrop may reduce the need for glyphosate applications by reducing weed competition and may also improve soil aggregate stability. This project is funded by the ADOPT program.

Research Topic: Fertility/Climate/Environment

• Project Status: Completed
• Principal Investigators: Northeast Agriculture Research Foundation (NARF).
• Project Dates: April 2022-February 2023 and April 2023-February 2024
• Abstract/Summary: The purpose of this demonstration was to highlight the impact of fertilizer placement and rate on oat establishment, seed yields and quality. Oat response to various macronutrients has been investigated, and research has shown that oats are responsive to additions of nitrogen and sometimes phosphate. Prior research has not included different fertilizer placement methods. Some research in this area has been done on wheat, showing different responses and impacts from various placements. The intention is to demonstrate different fertilizer placements at seeding, and determine where or not these affect plant stands, yields, or crop quality. This project was run for two years (2022 and 2023 growing season) and funded by ADOPT.

Research Topic: Fertility/Climate/Environment / Popular

• Project Status: Completed
• Principal Investigators: Mike Hall, through AgriARM
• Project Dates: April 2022 – Feb 2023
• Abstract/Summary: The objective of this project is to demonstrate the response of a modern oat varieties to the historically recommended rate of 60 lb N /ac against the more recently suggested recommendation of 90 lb N/ac, and to determine the relative importance of adding phosphorus (P), potassium (K) and sulphur (S) for these different nitrogen (N) recommendations in eastern Saskatchewan. The influence of treatment on oat yield, lodging and test weight will be determined. This project is funded by the ADOPT program.

Research Topic: Intercropping/Other / Popular

• Project Status: Completed
• Principal Investigators: Dr. Aaron Beattie, CDC
  Dr. Allan Feurtado, NRC
• Project Dates: April 2022 – March 2025
• Abstract/Summary: This project will evaluate root system architecture in oat cultivars which vary in lodging resistance. It will evaluate stem and root lodging in field trials; assess impact of seeding rate on key stem and root lodging-related traits; assess the correlation between various root phenotyping methods; and compare root system architecture between Canadian oat germplasm and a diverse set of oat germplasm. Lodging and mechanical failure of the stem or root system is a significant issue for oats, leading to yield reductions for producers. Identifying root and stem traits important for lodging resistance will lead to enhancements in breeding cultivars with high standability. This project is co-funded by the Saskatchewan Agriculture Development Fund (ADF).