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| 2007 - Archive |
AC Barrie was announced as Seed of the Year on
November 7, at the Royal Winter Fair. Martin Harry, right, a Seed of
the Year Selection Board Member and Radhey Pandeya, left, an
Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada representative presents this award to
Lia DePauw. Lia accepted the award on behalf of her father Ron DePauw
and the other AC Barrie breeders Tom McCaig, John Clarke, Grant J
McLeod, Myriam Fernandez and Ron Knox.
Seed of the Year finalists and representatives at awards banquet. From left to right: Radhey Pandeya represents Chapais Barley from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada; Martin Harry, SeCan and Seed of the Year Selection Board Member; Lia DePauw, representative for Ron DePauw breeder of AC Barrie Hard Red Spring Wheat; Jay Subramanian and Neil Miles, breeders of VentureTM Peach; and Peter Pauls, breeder of OAC Rex White Bean. FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - NOVEMBER 7, 2007 Leading Canadian wheat variety crowned Seed of the Year (TORONTO, Ont.) – A hard red spring wheat variety with outstanding performance, sustainability, marketability and industry impact topped entries today in the third annual Seed of the Year competition. AC Barrie, developed by Drs. Ron De Pauw, Tom McCaig, John Clarke, Grant J McLeod, Myriam Fernandez and Ron Knox of the Semiarid Prairie Agriculture Research Centre, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, was named Seed of the Year at a recognition event at the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair. Since its introduction in 1997, AC Barrie has been grown on more than 41 million acres of crop land in Canada. AC Barrie became the dominant wheat variety after only two years of being on the certified seed sales market, and remained in the top position until 2006. In 2006, 40 per cent of Manitoba’s hard red spring wheat acreage was predominantly AC Barrie. AC Barrie has better resistance to Fusarium head blight than other varieties. It has a very high protein content which makes it suitable for baking and milling. Three other finalists for the Seed of the Year were also recognized at the event. OAC Rex is a white bean variety developed by University of Guelph professor Peter Pauls, former professor Tom Michaels and technician Tom Smith. Venture Peach, a processing peach variety, was developed by University of Guelph professors Jayasankar Subramanian, Neil Miles, and grape- and tender fruit extension specialist with OMAFRA Ken Slingerland. Chapais, a barley variety, was developed by Dr. Jean-Pierre Dubuc of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada in Quebec. The Seed of the Year competition encourages public breeders to highlight their research accomplishments in developing a new field crop, forage, fruit, vegetable or herb variety. Any publicly developed Canadian variety is eligible to compete. This was a bench-mark year for the competition having expanded nationally, and the selection committee was pleased to see contributions of varieties from across Canada. The competition was designed by University of Guelph and SeCan, with support from the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food, and Rural Affairs and Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. Additional sponsorship was provided by Ontario White Bean Producers, Canadian Wheat Board, Ontario Soybean Growers, and the Ontario Wheat Producers’ Marketing Board. FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - May 2, 2007 Seed of the Year finalists for 2007 announced Winner to be unveiled at the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair ( GUELPH, ON, May 2, 2007)- Four Canadian seed varieties have been named as finalists in the third annual Seed of the Year competition. AC Barrie hard red spring wheat, Chapais barley, OAC Rex white bean, and Venture TM processing peach are the finalists in the 2007 competition. Two of the varieties were developed at the University of Guelph by plant science researchers, and two were developed at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada research stations in Quebec and Saskatchewan. The finalists will be honoured at the Seed of the Year recognition event at the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair in Toronto in November. The winner will be unveiled at that time. The event is open to industry professionals, plant breeders, farming community members, young aspiring plant breeders and media. This year is a bench-mark for the competition. It has expanded nationally, and the selection committee was pleased to see contributions of varieties from all over Canada. “The Seed of the Year program has always intended to expand nationally. There are so many excellent varieties that have made outstanding contributions to Canadian agriculture,” says Martin Harry, eastern marketing manager of SeCan, a Seed of the Year selection committee member. Through the Seed of the Year application process, breeders are encouraged to highlight their research accomplishments in developing a new field crop, forage, fruit, vegetable or herb variety. Any publicly developed Canadian variety is eligible to compete. Entries are evaluated based on innovation, presence throughout the value chain, sustainability, marketability and overall impact on the Canadian agri-food industry. Other selection committee members are Prof. Rene Van Acker, chair of the Department of Plant Agriculture, University of Guelph, Stuart Budd, research analyst for Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, and Owen Roberts, director of research communications, University of Guelph. The Seed of the Year competition was designed by the University of Guelph and SeCan with support from the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, and Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. -30- For more information contact: Owen Roberts Lindsay Brown, Seed of the Year coordinator Seed of the Year is a new initiative recognizing Canadian public seed breeders. Through the program's application process, public breeders are encouraged to highlight their research accomplishments in developing a new variety of fruit, vegetables, forages or field crops. In its inaugural year, Seed of the Year focused on attracting submissions from public seed breeders in Eastern Canada . Seed varieties were evaluated based on their performance, sustainability, marketability, value chain and end use potential, and overall impact on industry. The competition has been designed by representatives from SeCan, the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada and the University of Guelph . Additional sponsorship has been provided by Ontario Bean Producers’ Marketing Board, Ontario Soybean Growers and Ontario Wheat Producers’ Marketing Board. -30- Back To Top |
