BY: Melvin Rattai, Chair, Manitoba Pulse & Soybean Growers
I am both proud and honoured to serve as chair of Manitoba Pulse & Soybean Growers (MPSG) and as vice chair of Soy Canada. This past year has brought its share of challenges, particularly as we work to fill key positions following several retirements across both boards.
At MPSG, we will be bidding farewell to our executive director, Daryl Domitruk, who will retire in February 2026. Since joining MPSG in January 2018, Domitruk has demonstrated outstanding leadership and dedication to Manitoba’s pulse and soybean sector. His expertise in grant writing, engaging communication style and deep knowledge of Manitoba agriculture have greatly benefitted our organization and its members. On behalf of the board, I extend our sincere gratitude for his many contributions and wish him the very best in his retirement.
We are also pleased to announce that Patti Rothenburger will be joining MPSG as executive director. Rothenburger brings over 25 years of experience working across both public and private sectors – most notably as assistant deputy minister of agriculture production, innovation and resilience. She led provincial efforts to strengthen agricultural research, encourage innovation, promote sustainable agriculture production and expand knowledge-sharing to support producers across the province. Please join me in welcoming Rothenburger to MPSG.
Just as MPSG is undergoing change, so too is the Ratti family farm, where we’ve been conducting our own crop rotation experiment. Our goal is to understand how yield is affected when seeding into non-tilled (zero-till) stubble compared to tilled fields. During the 2025 growing season, we compared three canola crops seeded into different conditions – each on 160-acre plots. I seeded my canola into zero-tilled soybean stubble, my son into tilled soybean stubble and my son-in-law into tilled wheat stubble.
At harvest, we found that the zero-tilled soybean stubble produced the highest yield – about 800 bushels more than the others. Interestingly, the two tilled treatments yielded very similar results. In other words, dad’s choice of zero-till paid off – and might just help with that new combine payment!
For more information on zero-till research or other on-farm trials, visit manitobapulse.ca. Our team is always happy to connect if you have questions or would like support from the On-Farm Network for your own pulse and soybean projects.
Wishing you and your families a wonderful holiday season and a successful year ahead. I look forward to seeing many of you at conferences in 2026 – best of luck as you prepare for the next growing season.