Soybean has been widely grown by Canadian farmers for more than 80 years, especially in southern Ontario. In recent decades, the Canadian growing region has expanded east and north. An average of 1% soybean yield improvement is achieved annually, thanks to efforts by public and private soybean breeding programs. However, to meet future food demands, an average 2.4% annual increase in soybean yield is required. Soybean breeders are mostly dealing with complex traits that are under control by several intrinsic and extrinsic factors, so sufficient information about past and current breeding efforts is required to modify future breeding programs accordingly. Here, we review public soybean breeding efforts over the past 25 years in southern Ontario, one of the most productive regions for Canadian soybean growers. Furthermore, we explain how recent advances could facilitate soybean breeding programs by reducing the time and cost and increasing selection accuracy in a large breeding population. Finally, we summarize future directions in three important sections, that is, multi-omics, environmental, and data-driven approaches, and provide a vision for future soybean breeding programs.

To evaluate how enhanced efficiency liquid nitrogen (N) fertilizers affect winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) production under irrigated and rain-fed environments, experiments were conducted at two irrigated and five rain-fed sites across the Canadian Prairies from 2013 to 2018 (22 site-years). The N fertilizers included urea ammonium nitrate (UAN) treated with (i) urease inhibitor N-(n-butyl) thiophosphoric triamide (NBPT), (ii) NBPT plus nitrification inhibitor dicyandiamide, and (iii) nitrification inhibitor nitrapyrin (Nitrapyrin), as well as untreated UAN and urea, and polymer-coated urea (PCU). All fertilizers were applied by banding 50% at planting and 50% in-crop in early-spring, except PCU, where PCU was applied at planting and urea was applied in early-spring. Nitrous oxide (N₂O) emissions and methane (CH₄) uptake were measured at one rain-fed site from 2014 to 2017. NBPT increased grain yield by 1.2%–14% and 2.8%–4% under irrigated and rain-fed environments, respectively, relative to all the other N sources except untreated urea in the rain-fed environment. Total N uptake with NBPT was between 0% and 12% higher than the other N sources across irrigated and rain-fed environments. The results suggested that both grain yield and N use efficiency were optimized when UAN contained a urease inhibitor. All liquid enhanced efficiency fertilizers produced grain protein content greater than 11%, except Nitrapyrin under irrigated environments. Data from three site-years indicated that greenhouse gas emissions were unaffected by N source under rain-fed conditions. Liquid UAN with a urease inhibitor may have the most potential to optimize winter wheat production and N use efficiency in the Canadian Prairies.

Optimizing the timing of nitrogen (N) enhanced efficiency fertilizers (EEFs) may maximize winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) grain yield, protein content, and N-use efficiency (NUE). From 2013 to 2018, experiments were conducted at two irrigated and six rain-fed sites across the Canadian Prairies (24 site-years) to evaluate winter wheat responses to N source and timing/placement effects of EEFs. Nitrogen sources included untreated urea, nitrification inhibitor nitrapyrin treated urea, urease inhibitor N-(n-butyl) thiophosphoric triamide (NBPT) plus nitrification inhibitor dicyandiamide (DCD)-treated urea (NBPT + DCD), and polymer-coated urea (PCU). The N sources were all side-banded at planting, 30% side-banded at planting plus 70% broadcast in-crop late-fall (averaged 38 days after planting; split-applied late-fall), or 30% side-banded at planting plus 70% broadcast in-crop early-spring (averaged 224 days after planting; split-applied early-spring). Nitrous oxide and methane emissions were measured at one rain-fed site to test whether N source and timing/placement influenced CO₂-equivalents (CO₂-eq; nitrous oxide + methane). Under irrigation, NBPT + DCD consistently produced the highest yields regardless of timing/placement; however, the 80% of the recommended rate caused suboptimal protein responses (≤11%) unless split-application of N was adopted. Untreated urea produced the highest net CO₂-eq and yield-scaled CO₂-eq emissions, with the highest emissions when urea was split-applied early-spring. To optimize winter wheat production and NUE, we conclude that NBPT + DCD all-banded during seeding operations or split-applied early-spring provided similar and often superior results to other sources, including a more typical system of urea side-banded at the time of seeding.

Cicer milkvetch (Astragalus cicer L.) is a non-bloating perennial forage legume suitable for stockpiled grazing in the fall because of its rapid regrowth and high nutritive value. Genetically diverse germplasm are needed for the development of improved cicer milkvetch cultivars that can provide consistent production across variable climatic conditions. The objective of this research was to assess the diversity and relationship of 27 cicer milkvetch populations to inform the selection of populations for future cultivars that have superior agro-morphological traits during summer and fall growth. A completely randomized field trial was established in 2019 near Clavet, Saskatchewan. In 2020 and 2021, forage dry matter yield (DMY), maximum stem length, leaf number per stem, rhizome spread, and stem density were recorded on 27 populations of cicer milkvetch in late June at a first harvest and mid-October at a stockpile harvest. All five traits were different (p < 0.05) among the populations at both harvests except for leaf number per stem in late June. Principal component analysis identified that the first three principal components described 89% of the variation in agro-morphological traits at the first and stockpile harvests. Of the agro-morphological traits, maximum stem length had the greatest correlation with forage DMY at the first harvest (r = 0.69) and stockpile harvest (r = 0.6). Our research demonstrates that there is a high morphological diversity among cicer milkvetch populations, and plant introductions, PI 362266, PI 576963, PI 440143, and PI 362254 could be used as novel genetic resources for the development of climate-resilient cultivars.

Drought imposes a significant challenge for crop production. However, little is known about the impact of drought priming and nitrogen (N) application and their interactive effects on drought resilience, yield, and grain quality in wheat. Spring wheat (cv. Stettler) was grown in plastic pots (25 cm diameter) with high, moderate, and low soil water levels and received N (added N) or without N (no N added), and subjected to acute drought for 10 days, then rewatering at the tillering stage. Canopy temperature, maximum efficiency of photosystem II, and normalized difference vegetation index were measured at 3-day intervals during drought-recovery periods to quantify drought resistance and resilience. Above-ground dry matter, straw dry matter, seed dry matter, harvest index, and grain N, phosphorus (P), and zinc (Zn) concentrations were determined. Both moderate- and low-water-grown plants had higher drought resistance than high-water-grown plants. The addition of N alleviated acute drought stress in high- and moderate-water-grown plants but exacerbated drought stress in low-water-grown plants. Both high and moderate water resulted in higher grain yields, but had a lower harvest index than low water. The highest and lowest grain N were observed in the low- and high-water-grown plants, respectively. The addition of N increased N and N:P in grains but decreased grain Zn:N. This study showed that moderate drought priming along with N application can improve drought resistance, yield, and grain quality. The results also indicated that canopy thermal imaging is a useful tool for high-throughput quantification of the drought resistance of wheat.

Low seed protein content in soybeans [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] grown in Western Canada can result in soybean meal that does not meet the 48% protein standard. The objectives of this study were to quantify seed composition, agronomic differences between Eastern and Western Canada-grown soybeans, and to determine the yield cost of raising Western soybean protein. Twenty high-to-low protein, including one non-nodulating, genotypes were grown at two locations in Eastern Canada, and eight locations in Western Canada from 2018 to 2021 to determine seed protein, seed composition, and agronomic traits. Over all environments, genotype seed protein ranged from 36.8% to 46.9% with 35.0% for the non-nodulating line. Average seed protein was significantly higher in Eastern Canada (41.6%) compared with Eastern Prairie (39.3%) and Prairie sites (39.7%). There are not separate east–west mega-environments for seed protein in Canada; a high protein genotype is high protein across Canada. With an increase of seed protein by 1%, seed yield dropped by 45.3 kg ha⁻¹ in Eastern Canada, 53.1 kg ha⁻¹ in the Eastern Prairie, and 78.4 kg ha⁻¹ in Prairie sites. In Western Canada, plants were taller but lower yielding with fewer and smaller seeds, and produced lower fixed nitrogen protein yield compared with Eastern Canada. Seed protein quality, quantified with the 11S:7S ratio, was higher in Western Canada compared with Eastern Canada. Plant breeders and growers may need to select higher protein genotypes at the cost of lower yield, if the soybean industry is unable to exploit the protein quality advantage in Western Canada.

In this study, we report an updated panel of 32 DNA markers used for identification of wheat varieties and assess their performance in the OpenArray and SmartChip high-throughput genotyping systems. While both systems are unique and offer different advantages and disadvantages, both systems can successfully identify Canadian wheat varieties.

Redcliff hard red spring wheat was developed at the University of Alberta using a modified bulk breeding method. In 3 years of evaluation in the Parkland Cooperative test from 2018 to 2020, Redcliff produced 7.3% more grain and matured 1.9 days earlier than the highest yielding check Carberry. Redcliff had 3.9 cm taller plants than Carberry but shorter than the other checks and displayed good lodging tolerance. The test weight of Redcliff was slightly higher than Carberry and Parata but lower than Glenn. The grain weight of Redcliff was higher than Parata and similar to the other checks. Grain protein content was within the range of the checks. Redcliff was rated “resistant” to the prevalent races of stem rust, “resistant” to “moderately resistant” to Fusarium head blight, “intermediate” to leaf and stripe rusts, whereas “moderately susceptible” to common bunt. Three years of end-use quality evaluation have indicated that Redcliff is acceptable for the Canada Western Red Spring wheat market class, with improvements in flour yield.