From the early days of agricultural production in the 1800s through to the present day, farmers, agronomists, and other motivated people have worked to improve crop production through pest management and surveillance, selection of crop genotypes and agronomic innovations such as reduced and zero-tillage. These essential contributions also helped raise awareness of the practical problems that farmers have faced, of the potential solutions to those problems, and the problems that remain to be solved. In many cases, farmers have organized their efforts to support research to address agricultural challenges through commodity organizations who actively fund research, raise awareness of science, and encourage participation in activities such as pest monitoring and on-farm research trials. This review highlights some of the important contributions of Canadian community scientists. The future of a biovigilance approach to crop production depends on the continued participation of agricultural community members.

Winter canola production in eastern Canada is a growing segment of the Canadian canola industry. Crop establishment and survival overwinter have been identified as two of the major challenges associated with the production of winter canola. Environmental conditions can interact with agronomic practices, including seeding date, plant population density, fertility, and residue management, to influence stand establishment in autumn and overwinter survival. The objective of the current research was to evaluate the impact and interaction of preceding crop residue and tillage practices on the establishment, overwinter survival, and yield of winter canola in southern Ontario. Winter canola was seeded following either winter wheat or soybean and using conventional, no-till, or strip-till practices. Over the course of the 3 years of study, the annual decline in winter canola plant population density was influenced by the type of tillage practice used but not by the preceding crop. The overwinter decrease in plant population density was largest in no-till, followed by strip-till, and finally conventional tillage. At physiological maturity, winter canola yields in reduced tillage practices (i.e., no-till and strip-till) were equivalent to those achieved utilizing conventional tillage practices. When grain yields were standardized as a function of the spring plant population density, the highest and lowest yield per plant coincided with the lowest and highest plant population densities and were observed in strip-till (14.2 g plant⁻¹⁾ and no-till (9.1 g plant⁻¹), respectively. Results of this research have established that winter canola can be successfully produced in Ontario utilizing a range of tillage practices.

Soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merr.) production in Manitoba has increased substantially over the last 20 years, raising questions about phosphorus (P) fertilization in this region. Between 2013 and 2015, a study was conducted across 28 sites in Manitoba to evaluate the effect of P fertilizer rate and placement on soybean plant stand and seed yield. Treatments were 22.5, 45, and 90 kg P₂O₅ ha⁻¹ applied as monoammonium phosphate, seed-placed, side-banded or broadcast, plus an unfertilized control treatment. Plant stand reduction due to seed-placed fertilizer toxicity was observed at five of 28 site-years, typically at the rate of 90 kg P₂O₅ ha⁻¹. Stand reduction was most frequent on medium- to coarse-textured soils, dry soils or when seeding equipment had low seedbed utilization. Seed yield was reduced at two site-years due to seed placing 90 kg P₂O₅ ha⁻¹, which reduced plant stands below the recommended threshold of 247 000 plants ha⁻¹. Phosphorus fertilization did not increase seed yield, regardless of P rate, P placement, or Olsen soil test P level, except for one site-year where 45 and 90 kg P₂O₅ ha⁻¹ increased seed yield by 343 and 430 kg ha⁻¹, respectively. The extremely infrequent response to P fertilizer in combination with the high rate of P removal indicates that soybeans can use soil P reservoirs that are less available to other crops. Nevertheless, soybean growers in Manitoba should consider strategies for applying supplemental P to soybean or other crops in their rotation to maintain P fertility in soil.

Ascochyta blight, caused by Ascochyta rabiei, is a serious constraint to chickpea production, managed primarily via foliar fungicides and genetic resistance. Imidazolinone (IMI) herbicides, used for in-crop weed management, can injure susceptible chickpea cultivars and so increase ascochyta risk. The impact of IMI application on susceptible and tolerant cultivars was assessed in combination with blight management options (starting fungicide application prior to symptom development, two versus four fungicide applications, genetic resistance) in small plot trials in Saskatchewan in 2019, 2021, and 2022. Two kabuli-type chickpea cultivars (CDC Orion, CDC Orkney) and two desi-types (CDC Vanguard, CDC Cory) were grown with or without IMI herbicide. CDC Orion and CDC Vanguard were susceptible to IMI herbicides, CDC Orkney and CDC Cory were tolerant. The severity of ascochyta blight (0–9 scale) was very low in 2019 and 2021 (1.3 in 2019, 0.5 in 2021) and generally did not differ among treatments. In 2022, the desi cultivars had less disease at the end of the season than kabuli cultivars (mean 3.1 vs. 4.3). In 2022, two applications of fungicide (starting before or after symptoms appeared) reduced severity relative to the control (3.5 vs. 4.6). Four applications did not provide additional reduction. IMI herbicides resulted in <15% injury on IMI-susceptible and none on IMI-tolerant cultivars. Waiting for ascochyta symptoms, rated 1, to apply fungicide was just as effective as applying fungicide before symptom development. Fungicides provide yield and disease management benefits when disease is moderate, but not when weather is hot and dry.

Lentils are a good dietary source of essential minerals for the proper functioning of the human body. We evaluated 34 cultivars and elite lentil lines representing the breadth of the Canadian breeding program. Trials were established in 10 site-years across Saskatchewan. Concentrations of 27 minerals were quantified with an inductive coupled argon plasma emission spectrometer in whole and dehulled lentil seeds. Lithium (Li), vanadium (V), chromium (Cr), cobalt (Co), arsenic (As), silver (Ag), cadmium (Cd), tin (Sn), lanthanum (La), mercury (Hg), and lead (Pb) had concentrations below the quantification limit and were excluded from further analysis. The effects of site year, tissue type (whole and dehulled), and lentil genotypes were analyzed using a mixed model. Mineral concentrations of iron (Fe), zinc (Zn), magnesium (Mg), sodium (Na), potassium (K), phosphorus (P), sulfur (S), manganese (Mn), copper (Cu), molybdenum (Mo), boron (B), nickel (Ni), selenium (Se), aluminum (Al), and barium (Ba) was different among genotypes and across environments. Most minerals except Cu had significantly different concentrations between whole and dehulled seeds. Ca, Fe, Mg, Mn, B, Al, and Ba were more concentrated in whole seeds, while K, S, and Ni were higher in dehulled seeds. Among the 34 genotypes, CDC Impala had the highest Fe, Zn, K, P, S, and Cu concentrations. Lentil genotypes with a higher composition of several minerals could be a starting point for enhancing mineral composition in lentils.

The performance of cropping systems is a function of crop and management practice interaction in a given growing environment. However, the critical factors affecting productivity remains unclear under varying climate conditions. We conducted a 5 year study at six sites in western Canada to identify the critical factors affecting the productivity, standardized as protein-based yield (PBY), and quantify the relationships between yield and critical factors. We tested six crop rotations, including conventional system (Control), pulse- or oilseed-intensified system (Intensified), diversified system (Diversified), market-driven system (Market-driven), high-risk and potentially high reward system (High-risk), and soil-health enhanced system (Soil-health). The importance index and structural equation modeling were used to identify key factors and explore the underlying relationships among them. Results showed that Market-driven and Diversified rotations outperformed the Control by 2%–6% in PBY, while Soil-health and High-risk yielded 23%–26% lower than the Control. Relative to the Control, all rotations showed an increase trend in PBY over time, with Diversified rotations increasing 13%–28% faster than Market-driven and Intensified rotations. Precipitation and nitrogen (N) management are the primary factors affecting cropping system productivity, explaining 25% and 21% yield variations, respectively. Structural equation modeling analysis revealed that precipitation had a significant indirect effect on yield through affecting biological N fixation of pulse crops, in addition to a significant direct effect. Increasing pulse frequency and rotation complexity mitigated PBY loss by 10%–24% during low rainfall seasons. We recommend integrating pulse crops into cropping systems to enhance N management and mitigate yield loss in low precipitation regions.

For temperate climate, there is little information on the effects cover crops grown in fall (CCs) on the nitrogen (N) supply for next year's sugar beet (SB). Four field trials were conducted on silty soils to establish the CC N effect (N_eff) compared to bare fallow separately for the periods sowing-summer and summer-autumn harvest. Biomass characteristics of radish (Raphanus sativus L.), spring vetch (Vicia sativa L.), saia oat (Avena strigosa Schreb.), and winter rye (Secale cereale L.) CCs before winter, soil mineral nitrogen in spring (SMN), and SB N accumulation and sugar yield (SY) were measured. In the period sowing-summer, characterized by a high SB N demand, N_eff of overwintering, high biomass yielding rye CC was negative up to –50 kg N ha⁻¹ at three site/years and varied around zero for the other CCs except vetch, for which N_eff was positive. At SB autumn-harvest, N_eff was negative up to –100 kg N ha⁻¹ except for vetch in one trial. SY was lowest after rye CC. Regression analyses indicated a negative impact of CC biomass, C:N ratio and the difference in SMN between fallow (high SMN) and CCs (low SMN) on N_eff. To conclude, if CCs yield a high amount of biomass surviving until spring and thus remove SMN from the soil which otherwise remains available for SB, early season mineralization of CC biomass N can be too low to ensure a N supply sufficient for maximum SB yield. Choosing leguminous CCs or early termination of CCs might alleviate this constraint.

Western corn rootworm (WCR), Diabrotica virgifera virgifera, was first detected in British Columbia (BC) in 2016, resulting in the need for a trapping method that can detect beetles at low population levels and that can potentially mass trap beetles in sweet corn processing and distribution outlets. Based on early field experiments run in BC in 2019 and 2020, four trap types, baited with sex pheromone or floral lures, were evaluated in BC, Ontario, and Quebec for two 2-week periods during the swarming period in 2021. Trap captures were scored 0–10 based on relative captures, with the method with greatest captures scored as 10. Captures of male beetles were greatest on pheromone-baited PAL (“cloak”) (mean score of all 2021 experiments = 9.6) and PALs traps (8.6), and significantly lower with pheromone-baited Delta (3.4) and KLP (“hat”) (1.5), or floral-baited PAL (2.1) and PALs traps (1.9). Captures of female beetles were greatest on floral-baited PALs (8.7), PAL (8.4), and Delta traps (5.0), and low on KLP (1.5) and all other trapping methods (<1). In follow-up experiments run in 2023, pheromone-baited PAL traps captured >180× more beetles than non-baited Pherocon AM traps. Together these results indicate that PAL, PALs, and Delta traps can be used for the early detection of male and female WCR when baited with pheromone and floral lures, respectively, in Canada, both to determine the onset of the beetle swarming season for timing of foliar insecticide applications, and to monitor the spread of WCR to new areas.

Participatory plant breeding (PPB) has the potential to be an alternative to a centralized breeding model for niche markets that are historically underserved. Our objectives were to evaluate the performance of two parental cultivars from a Canadian PPB program: a modern spring wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) cultivar (5602HR) and a landrace (Red Fife)—with the progeny of the cross when selected by two farmers located 1800 km apart (denoted Farm1 and Farm2) and evaluate progeny differences from each other under organic conditions. Red Fife was 18 cm taller, matured 5 days later, and had greater lodging susceptibility, greater seed mass, and 3.5% lower protein concentration than 5602HR. Farmer genotypes were similar to 5602HR in protein concentration and lodging severity, and similar to Red Fife in plant height (14 cm taller than 5602HR) and seed mass. Farmer genotypes did not yield differently from either parent. Farmer genotypes did not differ from each other in most parameters measured; however, Farm1 had greater lodging resistance under high fertility conditions than Farm2 despite similar plant height. This research provides a proof of concept for the role that farmer selectors can play in selecting for positive traits for organic production and provide insight into organic farmers’ preferences. The research also demonstrated that using an older landrace (i.e., Red Fife) allowed positive features such as tall stature to be incorporated into the resulting progeny.

Pea-based intercrops provide nitrogen (N) benefits and often improve land productivity through functional diversification. However, their impact on grain quality and soil health remains unclear. We conducted a 2-year (2021 and 2022) intercrop study at Swift Current and Melfort, Saskatchewan, assessing productivity, grain quality, and soil water-extractable organic carbon (WEOC) and water-extractable dissolved N (WEDN). Nine treatments included pea–oat (PO) intercrops with three N rates (0, 1/4, and 1/2 of full recommended N rate for oat monocrop), pea–canola (PC) intercrops with three N rates (0, 1/4, and 1/2 of full recommended N rate for canola monocrop), and three monocrops (pea, oat, and canola). Pea monocrop received no N fertilizer, while oat and canola monocrops received the full recommended N rate. In intercrops, pea was seeded at 2/3 and the companion crop at 1/2 of their recommended rates. PO intercrops consistently produced higher energy-based yields than PC intercrops. Intercrops outperformed monocrops at Melfort but not at Swift Current. Intercropping reduced canola protein content by 6–9% and oat protein content by 6–8%, compared to monocrops. PO intercrops increased WEOC level by 5%–9% compared to monocrops. PC intercrops resulted in 10% higher WEDN than PO intercrops, attributed to a higher pea plant stand in PC. Nitrogen fertilizer rates in intercrops did not affect yields or soil labile C and N. The results showed that applying N fertilizers to pea-based intercrops did not improve productivity, but seeding rate ratio in intercrops should be finetuned based on crop competitiveness to improve overall performance.

In this study, we investigated the differences in soil physical and chemical properties as well as kiwifruit yield, between rain-shelter cultivation (BY) and open-field cultivation (CK) in Southwest China from 2020 to 2021. The results indicated that the BY treatment significantly improved the nutrient supply capacity of the soil and increased fruit yield. Compared with CK, soil moisture, bulk density, pH, total nitrogen, total phosphorus, total potassium, and organic matter content were lower under the BY treatment, whereas soil conductivity, available nitrogen, available phosphorus, and available potassium were significantly higher. Principal component analysis revealed significant differences in the soil physical and chemical properties between the two cultivation methods at each sampling period. Correlation analysis between yield and soil physical and chemical properties showed that except for pH, all indicators were highly correlated with yield (R² > 0.87^**). The BY treatment significantly increased yield by enhancing soil contents such as soil available nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium, while reducing water content and bulk density. However, owing to the increase in soil electrical conductivity, there is a potential risk of salinization. To mitigate this, it is essential to supplement the soil with total nitrogen, total phosphorus, total potassium, and organic matter to maintain soil health.

Japanese millet (Echinochloa esculenta (A. Braun) H. Scholz) is an annual warm-season grass species that can be used as emergency forage source. An experiment was conducted for 2 years in southwestern Quebec to determine the effects of seeding rate and developmental stage at harvest on forage yields. Seeding rates (15–30 kg ha⁻¹) had no effect on yields; in contrast, response to harvest stage differed depending on the year but yields were always maximized with one harvest at heading stage (6569 kg dry matter (DM) ha⁻¹) and lowest with two harvests at a vegetative stage (3166 kg DM ha⁻¹).

Buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum Moench) is a common cover crop typically grown for its rapid establishment and superior weed suppression. One challenge of incorporating buckwheat into crop rotations, however, is its short generation time, which requires in-season management to prevent viable seed production and volunteers in subsequent crops. Mixing buckwheat at reduced seeding rates with other cover crop species is one way for producers to reduce volunteer potential; however, this may compromise weed suppression. To investigate mechanisms behind buckwheat weed suppression and how using buckwheat in mixtures can affect suppression, we collected a series of morphological measurements in buckwheat monocultures and in three, two-way and four, three-way cover crop species mixtures and modeled their response over the growing season. We found that while buckwheat height and relative growth rate were unaffected with increasing species richness, there was a significant reduction in maximum leaf area index (3.75 vs. 2.85 vs. 2.82 cm² cm⁻²) in mixture. Buckwheat monocultures provided superior season-long weed suppression compared to mixtures (85% vs. 53% vs. 50%). Principal component analysis showed that increased height and leaf area index values were associated with greater weed suppression. The link between reduced leaf area index and weed suppression in mixtures compared to buckwheat monocultures suggests that the rapid leaf development and canopy cover associated with buckwheat is a key mechanism behind weed suppression. In practice, producers should expect a dilution effect and weed suppression to be compromised when the buckwheat seeding rate is reduced in mixtures.

AAC Dutton (BW1094) is a hollow-stemmed, awned, and high yielding Canada Western Red Spring (CWRS) wheat cultivar suited to the growing conditions of Western Canada. AAC Dutton was 1% higher yielding than AAC Viewfield, the highest yielding check in the Central Bread Wheat Cooperative registration trials (2019–2021). Within the same test, AAC Dutton was 10% higher yielding than Carberry. AAC Dutton matured 1 day earlier than Glenn, Carberry, and AAC Viewfield and less than a day later than Unity: Unity being the earliest maturing check in the registration trial. AAC Dutton was 10 cm shorter than Unity with lodging score lower than the mean of the checks. The test weight of AAC Dutton was similar to Unity while the 1000-kernel weight was higher than AAC Viewfield. The grain protein content of AAC Dutton was lower than all the checks. AAC Dutton had a moderately resistant reaction to Fusarium head blight (Fusarium graminearum Schwabe) and stripe rust (Puccinia striiformis Westend). AAC Dutton had optimal resistance to leaf rust (Puccinia triticina Erikss.), stem rust (Puccinia graminis Pers. f. sp. tritici Eriks. & E. Henn), common bunt (Tilletia caries [DC] Tul. & C. Tul.), and to orange blossom wheat midge (Sitodiplosis mosellana Géhin). AAC Dutton was registered under the CWRS class.

AAC Planet is a semi-leafless and powdery mildew (caused by Erysiphe pisi Syd.) resistant field pea (Pisum sativum L.) variety developed at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Lacombe Research and Development Centre, Lacombe, Alberta, Canada. It has high yielding potential, late maturity, tall plant height with good lodging resistance, medium seed size, round seed shape, and low seed coat breakage. It has maturity of 100 days, and thousand-seed weight of 221 g with seed protein content of 24.6%. AAC Planet has a lodging score of 3.2 on the scale of 1–9. It is moderately susceptible to mycosphaerella blight (caused by Mycosphaerella pinodes) and fusarium root rot (caused by Fusarium avenaceum and F. solani).

AAC McMurphy is a semi-leafless, yellow cotyledonary field pea (Pisum sativum L.) cultivar developed at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada Lacombe Research and Development Centre, Lacombe, Alberta, Canada. It has a maturity of 90 days, one-thousand-seed weight of 246 g, and a lodging score of 2.9 on the scale of 1–9. The seed crude protein content of AAC McMurphy is 24.2%. AAC McMurphy is resistant to powdery mildew (caused by Erysiphe pisi) and moderately susceptible to mycosphaerella blight (caused by Mycosphaerella pinodes) and fusarium root rot (caused by Fusarium avenaceum).

AAC Hassler (PT496) is an early maturing, high yielding, awned, and hollow stemmed Canada Western Red Spring (CWRS) wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) cultivar suited to growing conditions in the northern Canadian Prairies. AAC Hassler yielded 8% more than Glenn, 6% more than Parata, and 6% more than Carberry in the Parkland Wheat Registration Trials (2019–2021). AAC Hassler matured 4 days earlier than Carberry and had similar maturity as Parata. AAC Hassler had similar height to Glenn and the lodging score was similar to Parata. The test weight of AAC Hassler was 2% lower than the mean of the checks and the thousand kernel weight was similar to Glenn. AAC Hassler had protein content 0.1% higher than Carberry. AAC Hassler expressed an intermediate resistant reaction to Fusarium head blight (FHB; Fusarium graminearum Schwabe). AAC Hassler was moderately resistant to the prevalent races of stem rust (Puccinia graminis Pers. f. sp. tritici Eriks. & E. Henn) and moderately susceptible to common bunt (Tilletia caries (DC) Tul. & C. Tul.). It was resistant to prevalent races of leaf rust (Puccinia triticina Erikss.) and stripe rust (Puccinia striiformis Westend). AAC Hassler was susceptible to orange wheat blossom midge (Sitodiplosis mosellana Géhin). AAC Hassler was registered under the CWRS class.

AAC Darby (PT495) is an early maturing, high yielding, awned and hollow stemmed Canada Western Red Spring (CWRS) wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) cultivar suited to the growing conditions in the northern Canadian Prairies. AAC Darby was higher yielding than all the check varieties in the Parkland Wheat Cooperative (Park C) registration trials (2018–2020). AAC Darby was 6% higher yielding than Parata and 5% higher yielding than Carberry. AAC Darby matured 5 days earlier than Carberry and 1 day earlier than Parata. AAC Darby was similar in height to Glenn at 2 cm taller. The lodging score for AAC Darby was similar to the mean of the checks. The test weight of AAC Darby was similar to Carberry and the 1000-kernel weight was similar to Glenn and higher than Parata. AAC Darby had protein content only 0.07% lower than Carberry. AAC Darby expressed an intermediate resistant reaction to Fusarium head blight (FHB; Fusarium graminearum Schwabe). AAC Darby was moderately resistant to the prevalent races of stem rust (Puccinia graminis Pers. f. sp. tritici Eriks. & E. Henn) and moderately susceptible to common bunt [Tilletia caries (DC) Tul. & C. Tul.]. It was resistant to prevalent races of leaf rust (Puccinia triticina Erikss.) and stripe rust (Puccinia striiformis Westend). AAC Darby was resistant to orange wheat blossom midge (OBWM) (Sitodiplosis mosellana Géhin). AAC Darby was registered under the CWRS class.

AAC Stockton is a hulled two-row spring general purpose barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) cultivar widely adapted to western Canada. It was developed from the cross TR11219/CDC Kindersley made in 2012, and it was evaluated in the Western Cooperative Two-row Barley Registration Test (2020–2021) before being registered in 2023. AAC Stockton will offer a good production choice for barley growers across the Prairies due to its grain yield potential, lodging resistance, and improved Fusarium head blight resistance.