Better Farming Prairies: Our understanding of soys on the Prairies

An article by Kristen MacMillan in the November/December 2020 issue of the magazine Better Farming Prairies on soy agronomy research being conducted at the University of Manitoba. It reads:

In Western Canada, soybeans rose to fame over the past decade as a grain legume and oilseed crop.

Farmers were drawn to soybeans due to a cycle of wet conditions, the availability of early maturing genetics and attractive budgets. Soybeans have also contributed to increased crop diversity on the Manitoba landscape and a decreased rise in field crop greenhouse gas emissions.

Given interest in the new Prairie crop, the Manitoba Pulse & Soybean Growers partnered with the University of Manitoba to develop a new applied research position. I took on this role in late 2016 and have developed the soybean and pulse agronomy research program which focuses on applied soybean, dry bean and pea agronomy research.

More recently, however, drought conditions across the Prairies from 2017 to 2019 have contributed to fewer acres of soybeans being seeded. This marked change in soybean acres indicates the crop’s sensitivity to growing conditions and the need for research to continue into methods to optimize the cultivation of this crop in the Prairies.

Read the full story here.