Varietal Assessment of Forage Seed Production
At one time, Saskatchewan was the second-largest producer of forage seed in Canada. Over the past decade, overall forage seed production has declined. As a result, the Saskatchewan Forage Seed Development Commission explored opportunities for growing the sector. The Varietal Assessment of Forage Seed Production project seeks to provide seed yield data for current forage seed species and turf varieties when grown within the South Saskatchewan Irrigation Development Areas and the University of Saskatchewan.
The multi-year project, SFP 20190402, is a collaborative venture with partial funding contributed by the Saskatchewan Forage Seed Development Commission, the University of Saskatchewan, the Government of Saskatchewan, and the Government of Canada under the Canadian Agricultural Partnership. The project duration is January 7, 2020, to February 15, 2024. Fieldwork began May 29, 2020, but was delayed because of limited access to facilities and land at the trial sites due to the restrictions caused by COVID-19.
Aim: This project will help producers make more informed decisions by providing information for estimating net returns. The objectives of this multi-year project are (i) to assess seed yield of the forage seed crops commonly grown in Saskatchewan; (ii) to evaluate forage seed production as a possible irrigated cash crop and expand the sector; (iii) to explore potential turfgrass varieties as a possible diversification opportunity for the forage seed sector; and (iv) to enable the Strategic Research Program Chair in forage breeding at the University of Saskatchewan to evaluate seed production of new lines and compare to current commercial varieties.
Methodology: Project collaborators planted the forage seed variety demonstration plots for evaluation under dryland and irrigated seed production systems. The irrigated site is at the ICDC Knapik off-station location, Irrigation Crop Diversification Corporation (ICDC), Outlook, SK, and planted the varieties and breeding lines on May 29, 2020. On May 19, 2020, the second collaborator planted the same entries (cultivated varieties or cv.) and breeding lines at the Livestock and Forage Centre of Excellence near Clavet, SK. Due to poor establishment, the irrigated demonstration was seeded in 2022 with a revised selection of entries.
Evaluations under irrigated conditions (planted in 2022) include:
hybrid bromegrass entries: AC Knowles (check) compared to two breeding lines - S9073Q & S9593
meadow bromegrass: Fleet (check) and newly registered variety CDC Torsion
perennial ryegrass: Dominator, Polim and a Common seed (turf type) entry
crested wheatgrass: Kirk (check), Fairway and S9598
hybrid wheatgrass: AC Saltlander (check) and S9615
intermediate wheatgrass: Chief (check), S9578 and UM2016Syn
tall fescue: Courtenay (check), Thor and S9582
timothy: Climax (check), Classic and newly registered variety CDC Tiznow
sainfoin: Melrose (check) and AC Mountain View and a Common seed entry
red clover: single-cut Altaswede (check), breeding line SL906RC (2), and a Common seed source of double-cut red clover.
Evaluations under dryland conditions (planted in 2020) include:
hybrid bromegrass entries AC Knowles(check), AC Success and three breeding lines - S9073Q, S9570 & S9593
meadow bromegrass: Fleet (check) and S9549
smooth bromegrass Carleton
hybrid wheatgrass: AC Saltlander (check) and S9615 & S9600
crested wheatgrass: Kirk (check) and S9598
intermediate wheatgrass: Chief (check) and S9578
northern wheatgrass Elbee, and western wheatgrass Walsh
tall fescue: Courtenay’ (check) and S9582
timothy: Climax (check) and ST1 (CDC Tiznow)
sainfoin: breeding line SF900 and Common seed
other: creeping red fescue Boreal, perennial ryegrass Replicator, festolulium Lofa, cicer milkvetch Oxley II and a Common seed source of galega
Results: stand establishment was rated in spring 2021 (Clavet) and spring 2023 (Outlook). Seed yield data has been collected at Clavet for two years; stay tuned for more results from the 2023 seed harvest. See results in the Interim Report, accessed below.
Photos of the project at the dryland site are provided by project collaborator and forages breeder Dr. Bill Biligetu, Associate Professor, University of Saskatchewan College of Agriculture and Bioresources. Ministry of Agriculture Strategic Research Program (SRP) Chair in Forage Crop Breeding.
