b'REGIONAL VARIETY TRIALSAn UnbiasedResearch VoiceThe RVT program provides Alberta farmers with impartial data on crop varieties.GROWING A CROP in Alberta can be influenced by manyprograms themselves such as the canola growers. The Alberta different factors, and depending on where you plant it in thePulse Growers (APG) had started taking a more active role in province can make all the difference. For farmers looking tothe RVT trials for pulse crops in 2018.plant new varieties, there can be hesitation about the unknown,It has afforded us this bit of a mentorship over the which is where the regional variety trials (RVT) program fits in. last couple years. And then, because of that really close The RVT program has been running for decades in order toconnection, it also allowed us to do a little bit of risk provide farmers in the province with an unbiased review ofmitigation, Jenn Walker, research and extension manager how crop varieties perform in the province. Trial co-operatorsfor APG, explains in a phone interview. The biggest change across the province plant trial plots of cereal, oilseed, pulseon our part is Alberta Agriculture used to handle building all and silage varieties every growing season. They collect data onof the tables for the seed guide. And so that has been a huge them which is then compiled and published in the spring issuelearning curve for us to take on.of the Alberta Seed Guide. The Alberta Wheat and Barley commissions created a new While the trials have always been a collaborative effort, thatposition in order to handle the cereals and flax RVT trials which collaboration has taken on a whole new meaning in recentthey are now in charge of. In early 2021, Sheri Strydhorst was years. In 2020, producer groups across Alberta found out thehired as the agronomy research specialist and RVT coordinator provincial government would be letting the RVT programfor the organizations.coordinator go as part of the provinces decision to moveApplied research associations in the province, including agricultural research work into the hands of growers.Chinook Applied Research Association, collaborate on handling The RVT program for 2020 was still run by the provincialthe silage RVT program. The associations are still learning the program coordinator with producer groups taking over theropes and plans to review their process once the 2021 trials are 2021 season. Some groups did already partly run the RVTwrapped up.Wheat RVT trials at Bow Island, Alta. grown by AAFC Lethbridge technical staff, under irrigation on July 16, 2021.PHOTO: SHERI STRYDHORST, ALBERTA WHEAT AND BARLEY COMMISSION12seed.ab.ca'