b'Without sustained funding in both areas, the rates of genetic and on-farm gain witnessed in recent years will inevitably decline, making the crop less attractive at a time when new options that provide producer flexibility are more important than ever. Rob GrafAlex Griffiths, agrologist with Ducks Unlimited Canada stands in a field of CDC Buteo hard red winter wheat during the 2022 growing season. PHOTO: ALEX GRIFFITHSthe whole thing getting killed after the budget reduction exerciseAsk about a free trial of our weeklywas a surprise for sure.For the moment, winter wheat is perhaps at its apex ofnewsletter,Grainwiseprominence in Western Canada. Although acres appear unlikely to burst through the two-million-acre markachieved only five times and most recently in 2014the agronomy and breeding1-800-440-8390programs have worked hand-in-glove in recent memory to produce top varieties. A recently retired scientist and longtime colleague of Beres, Rob Graf was a prolific winter wheat breeder at Lethbridge. As his public service career came to an end last year, he had put out multiple high-performing varieties including Emerson, Wildfire and, most recently, Vortex and Coldfront. In 2022, Grafswww.grainwatchdog.comcollective varieties, of which Beres agronomic fingerprints can easily be seen, accounted for almost 90 per cent of all seeded winter Target contractsSpot pricingwheat acres in the West.Forward pricingMarket updatesGraf himself explains that their industry-focused approach integrated genetic solutions through cultivar breeding, combinedWe market (feed, gradable,with management solutions via agronomic research, resulted in aorganic and off-spec)huge increase in productivity and marketability in a short period of BarleyRyeSoybeansWheattime. That now stands to be lost.FlaxFaba beansCanolaLentilsWithout sustained funding in both areas, the rates of genetic OatsPeasMustardTriticaleand on-farm gain witnessed in recent years will inevitably decline, making the crop less attractive at a time when new options thatAlberta Based Grain Brokersprovide producer flexibility are more important than ever, says Graf. Putting Farmers First Since 1995Beres flatly calls it the end of an era. It was 22 years of building incremental improvements to winterPhoto Credit: Sally Jacksonwheat production systems yielding some really cool results andMarketMasterLtd @Grainwatchdogpublications, he says. Rob and I were able to establish a really Fall 2023 23'