Events

Lacombe Field Day 2021

Date: July 28 - 28 @ 9:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. | Location: Field Crop Development Centre, Lacombe, AB | Cost: $10

Lacombe Field Day

Wednesday, July 28, 2021

Join Olds College and the Field Crop Development Centre (FCDC) for the 2021 Lacombe Field Day presented by Alberta Barley on Wednesday, July 28, 2021. Take part in this annual event to learn more about the amazing research and industry collaboration taking place at FCDC.

9 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.

$10 Registration Fee | Lunch provided

Registration closes July 19

Register Today!

Event Details

Registration opens at 8:30 a.m, followed by welcome messages from Mark MacNaughton, FCDC Director and Stuart Cullum, Olds College President at 9 a.m. Guests will then break into their registered groups for the in-field tour through demonstrations, with  lunch being served at 12:30 p.m.

Registration: 8:30 a.m.

Tour begins: 9:00 a.m.

Lunch: 12:30 p.m.

Demonstrations

Malting

Speakers:
Dr. Flavio Capettini, Field Crop Development Centre 
Dr. Jennifer Zantinge, Field Crop Development Centre
Peter Johnston-Berresford, Olds College Brewery

New malting barley varieties undergo extensive testing to ensure they have the quality parameters needed for making the best malt products. With increasing numbers of craft brewers and distillers in Alberta, FCDC is in close contact to assure their varieties meet the needs of both craft and mainstream users. This includes selecting varieties with special quality profiles like improved flavor, non-GN (non-glycoside nitrile producer) and LOX-less (non lipoxygenase producer) characteristics. Dr. Flavio Capettini will discuss the significance of these traits, and how FCDC incorporates them into varieties that are also competitive in yield potential, standability and disease resistance. Dr. Jennifer Zantinge will discuss how the latest breeding technologies, including marker assisted gene pyramiding, are used to speed up the breeding process and combine disease resistance with malting quality. Peter Johnston-Berresford of the Olds College Brewery will discuss how closer collaboration will allow a more efficient response to market demands.

Feed and Forage

Speakers:
Dr. Yadeta Kabeta, Field Crop Development Centre
Lori Oatway, Field Crop Development Centre
Representative from Alberta Milk

The FCDC has a long history of developing new feed and forage lines for producers, but are always looking for new methods and traits to enhance our varieties. Dr. Yadeta Kabeta, lead scientist for the feed and forage program, will discuss the ongoing changes to this innovative program showing how we are looking at new technology, such as targeted marker-assisted selection and new germplasm that will enhance the value of barley for the feed industry. Lori Oatway, lead scientist for the quality program, will discuss unique quality traits in newly released lines that were tailored for dairy diets and how NIRS allows early selection of quality traits such as rumen fiber digestibility. These scientists will be joined by a representative from Alberta Milk and Alberta Beef who will give an industry perspective on this program and discuss how new varieties targeted for feed can impact the industry and provide new opportunities.

Pathology

Speakers:
Dr. Kequan Xi, Field Crop Development Centre
Sasha Waterman, Field Crop Development Centre
Jeremy Boychyn and Dr. Sheri Strydhorst, Alberta Barley

Ongoing and relevant information on host resistance and virulence of the scald, stripe rust, and net form pathogens is important. FCDC assesses shifts in race frequency of Rhynchosporium commune (scald), Pyrenophora teres (net blotch) and Puccinia striiformis (stripe rust) in central Alberta and North America. In western Canada there is a risk of major gene resistance being overcome as races shift, as well as the potential for adaptation to fungicides. The FCDC Pathology team will be joined by Alberta Barley agronomists to discuss how as some older and commonly used fungicides are becoming ineffective in the control of some pathogen isolates, it is important for farmers and industry to not rely solely on fungicides for disease control and to add barley with known disease resistance to their rotations.

Triticale

Speakers:
Mazen Aljarrah, Field Crop Development Centre

The triticale breeding program at the FCDC at Olds College produces dual purpose (feed and forage) spring and winter triticale types adapted to the western prairies of Canada. The versatility of this crop will be discussed, including adaptability to biotic stresses such as rusts and powdery mildew, as well as abiotic stresses like lodging and drought. We will take a look at our new, upcoming winter and spring triticale varieties, and examine the potential for both forage and grazing, including higher biomass, reduced awns, and better digestibility. We will also take a look at how FCDC is improving the future of triticale - as a relatively new crop compared to other cereals, triticale has a narrow genetic base. FCDC is working to widen this gene pool and increase diversity by crossing spring triticale to winter triticale, and triticale to wheat.