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How research delivers value

Canada has already built the base. Now it needs to leverage that into new opportunities.

Canada delivers over $24 billion worth of agriculture and food products to more than 180 countries around the world every year.

Three big drivers of that are wheat production, barley production and livestock production, which account for a large portion of that total. Livestock production counts on barley and wheat as major feed sources and all three sectors of production depend heavily on crop development research to be successful.

Adding value to Canada's high-volume crops

And this research has delivered. Take yield jumps for example. Crop development advances have ensured a steady rise in yield potential, to the point where today's cereal varieties yield 10 to 20 percent higher than varieties did 10 years ago. That alone represents profits to the producer that far exceed the initial investment in this research. It also ensures supply to anchor the grains industry as a whole.

Disease resistance has also improved dramatically in that timeframe. Today's varieties now have genetic resistance to many key diseases that previously required costly herbicide treatment or resulted in major production losses. That again would alone return far more than the initial research investment.

These are just two examples that are repeated many times over in other areas of genetic improvement, including: grade potential, pest resistance, time to maturity, straw stature and strength, drought tolerance, and several others.

Diversifying the quality portfolio for top markets

For the cereals sector as a whole, crop development has strengthened and diversified the quality of these grains to bolster Canada's competitiveness both at home and in key world markets.

Wheat and barley are leading examples. In wheat, white-seeded hard wheat has been added, which is preferred by several markets over Canada's traditional red-seeded wheat. Gluten strength has been increased in durum wheat to position it for a greater share of higher quality, more lucrative markets. New classes of slightly lower protein wheat have been added to diversify options for milling wheat markets. And new winter wheat classes have been added to offer producers a new option for improved production flexibility and soil conservation.

In barley, new feed types have been developed that offer sophisticated tailoring to meet the nutritional needs of livestock, resulting in higher performing animals that produce less waste. A new generation of malting barley varieties has also been launched, which reflects widening international preferences and has renewed demand for Canadian barley to supply top malsters and brewers. At the same time, innovative "hulless" and specialty starch barleys have been developed to capitalize on expanding opportunities in human food, health and industrial markets.

This progress is mirrored in crop development for other important cereal crops, such as oats, flax, rye, and triticale.

Driving progress in new economic battlegrounds

Unquestionably, progress in variety development is a major driving force in Canada's agriculture success, with an influence that is becoming more dramatic every year as science continues to rapidly advance.

Innovations in new crop varieties have caused flip-flops in the leadership positions of Canada and its competitors in many long-standing, multi-billion dollar markets, and at the same time have opened new opportunities that have become key economic battlegrounds of the future.

Crop-based bio-products, including health supplements, functional foods, nutraceuticals and alternative energy - these are just a few of the emerging opportunities anchored by today's crop development progress.

Next: What are our competitors doing?