The fifth edition of Pulse Beat – Science Edition is now available! This special edition, science-oriented Pulse Beat reveals the breadth and depth of MPSG’s research investments, including details from projects conducted in laboratories, field trials and the On-Farm Network. Inside you will find farmer-focused research results intended to improve yield and quality, pest control, build soil health and drive market demand.
Many in the agri-food industry tell farmers how to be ‘sustainable’, often with reference to their own products and services.
For farmers, sustainability will emerge from a complex set of moving parts. Pulses and soybeans are a part of this complexity, both in ways we understand and in ways we’re still investigating.
This path to sustainability starts with optimizing the individual parts of annual legume production and continues by synchronizing those parts into a profit-generating system across all crops. For example, to reduce narrow-row dry bean herbicide expenses, farmers may want to consider precise camera-guided inter-row cultivation – a practice enhanced through synchronization with varied row spacing and plant densities. While this is easier said than done, MPSG’s research program supports farmers through this optimization and synchronization process. MPSG funds research that examines each moving part in isolation and then tests synchronization by studying the interactions among those parts.
This issue of the Science Edition mostly conveys results from studies of individual moving parts. Soybean cyst nematode (SCN) is a moving part globally. In Manitoba, we have a lot to learn about SCN, first by finding them and then by examining their genes. Other moving soybean parts include potassium nutrition and the decision of whether or not to roll. Variety selection is also a moving part considered through MPSG’s variety testing program. Farmers wanting more moving parts might consider growing azuki beans. Customer demand for health and functional benefits from our pulse and soybean crops is yet another moving part that MPSG is tackling through research to create new opportunities in high-value markets.
The pressure is on farmers to demonstrate sustainability. To increase the chances you will benefit, MPSG will continue to optimize and synchronize crop production practices on your behalf.