How MPSG’s variety testing program helps Manitoba producers dial in the best crop varieties for their farms
BY: Mark Halsall, writer
There are lots of reasons why growing a diverse set of crops can pay off for producers. One is increased market opportunities, but there are numerous agronomic benefits as well, such as longer, more resilient crop rotations that can boost the productivity – and profitability – of a farm.
Manitoba Pulse & Soybean Growers (MPSG) and Manitoba Agriculture are doing their bit to help boost the diversity of crops grown in the province by co-ordinating regional variety evaluation trials of soybeans, dry beans and faba beans.
The trials, which have been running for more than 30 years, also create opportunities to test new pulse crops like lupins. Lupins were added to the variety testing program in 2022 and trial locations have since expanded.
MPSG also co-sponsors field pea regional variety evaluation trials that are commissioned, approved and overseen by the Manitoba Crop Variety Evaluation Trails (MCVET) team, which comprises representatives from Manitoba Agriculture, MPSG, Manitoba Seed Growers’ Association (MSGA), Manitoba Crop Alliance, Seeds Canada, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) and the University of Manitoba.
The annual Seed Manitoba report produced by MCVET includes soybeans, pulses and many other crops. It’s intended to provide producers, agronomists and others in the ag industry with fair and accurate third-party varietal performance information that’s relevant to Manitoba growing conditions.
Jennifer McCombe-Theroux, a production specialist with MPSG who helps to oversee the association’s
soybean, dry bean, faba bean and lupin trials, says farmers count on the variety evaluation results to show them how different varieties will fare in various regions around the province. This enables producers to choose high-yielding varieties suited to local growing conditions, she explains, while also making farming an unfamiliar variety or new crop like lupin a safer bet.
“It’s about providing farmers with the right type of variety for their area,” says McCombe-Theroux, noting the trial data can be really helpful for farmers wrestling with specific challenges like iron deficiency chlorosis (IDC) or Phytophthora root rot (PRR), since soybean variety selection can be part of the solution for managing these.
She notes lupins were introduced to the testing program after a Calgary, Alta. agribusiness called Lupin Platform started contracting lupin acres in Manitoba, sparking farmer interest in growing the crop.
“Farmers were asking questions on how to grow lupins, so with that, we started including lupins in the regional variety trials to get more Manitoba-specific information about them,” adds McCombe-Theroux.
The move is in line with MPSG’s commitment to expand crop alternatives for Manitoba producers. McCombe-Theroux notes while dry beans, field peas and faba beans are less common than the major crops grown in the province, they all help to promote crop diversity.
“In the future, something else like adzuki bean might potentially be included,” says McCombe-Theroux. “It provides the opportunity for farmers to get regional Manitoba data before taking that risk on their own farms.”
For the pulse and soybean variety testing, seed companies submit varieties for third-party evaluation by independent contractors who conduct small plot trials throughout the province.
According to McCombe-Theroux, Manitoba Agriculture plays a critical role in the regional variety evaluation trials.
She says tasks like trial co-ordination, plot planning and statistical analysis, as well as overseeing maturity ratings and IDC trials and ratings, are performed by Dennis Lange, the provincial pulse and soybean specialist, with the help of Chami Amarasinghe, a research and innovation specialist with Manitoba Agriculture.
“Dennis Lange has been the backbone of these trials, doing the heavy lifting and behind the scenes work,” McCombe-Theroux says.
As she points out, there are many others who contribute to the success of the variety testing program as well. This includes AAFC, Manitoba’s four crop diversification centres (WADO, PCDF, PESAI and MCDC) and private research companies.
All the trials in the regional variety evaluation program require three replicates and randomization of varieties to enable statistical analysis. Each trial spans the entire growing season, from seeding to harvest and everything in between.
Rigorous standards are in place for the trials, and plots or trial locations that fail to meet them are rejected.
McCombe-Theroux notes that trials are checked regularly throughout the growing season by MPSG staff and Lange, who monitor plots for crop establishment, pests and environmental conditions to ensure high-quality information is collected. Stringent reviews are also conducted by the MCVET committee once the final data is submitted.
For each trial, varieties are compared to a check variety for each crop type or region to account for differences in conditions across sites and years. The number of years a variety has been tested at a particular site is also recorded.
Yield and days to maturity are standard measurements in every trial. Other important agronomic data is recorded as well, but this varies by crop and location.
Some of these additional measurements are:
- Soybeans: IDC ratings, which are determined in three-year IDC trials for each new variety conducted at an IDC-prone site located near Winnipeg.
- Dry beans: plant and pod heights and scores for white mould incidence and common bacterial blight incidence and severity.
- Lupins: plant height, total seed weight per 1,000 seeds and resistance to lodging.
In 2024, the soybean and pulse trials took place at close to 20 different locations. The total number of test sites was 47, which were split as follows among the five crops:
- 13 for herbicide-tolerant soybeans
- 10 for conventional soybeans
- 10 for field peas
- four for dry beans (wide row)
- four for dry beans (narrow row)
- three for faba beans
- three for lupins
Amarasinghe says one of the best things about the regional variety evaluation trials is they provide an additional layer of information for farmers.
“Usually, the agronomic and disease data from a variety’s registration trial doesn’t provide enough information about how it compares to other varieties and regional adaptations,” she says. “Our trials clearly can be used to compare varieties.”
McCombe-Theroux says the variety testing program also creates opportunities for additional research. For instance, all soybean varieties are now tested for protein and the results help inform a study looking at the critical amino acid values of varieties grown in Manitoba. Since 2022, the trial data is being used for a MPSG-sponsored pilot program assessing varietal field tolerance to PRR.
Another example is food grade testing for conventional soybeans, which was added to the trials in 2022. The data is part of Soy Canada’s Food-Grade Variety Finder program, a database for buyers looking to access information on specific food-grade qualities of Canadian soybeans.
The results of the regional variety testing for soybeans, dry beans, field peas, faba beans and lupins are reported annually in MPSG’s Pulse and Soybean Guide, which accompanies the issue of Pulse Beat mailed out to association members in December. The information is also published online.
The Seed Manitoba seed guide published by Manitoba Agriculture and MSGA that includes the soybean and pulse variety trial results comes out in December as well. It’s available at Manitoba Agriculture and ag industry offices and is also available online.