Field Crop Development Centre

The Field Crop Development Centre (FCDC) has been developing enhanced cereal varieties for feed, forage, malt, food and bio-industrial uses since 1973. The FCDC is recognized as a world-class research facility that is focusing on producing new barley and triticale varieties for Alberta and western Canada.

FCDC has an interdisciplinary research team encompassing breeding, biotechnology, pathology, grain quality, and operational expertise. The program focuses on increasing yield, improving disease resistance, and providing superior end use quality in varieties for sustainable production systems.

Within the barley breeding program we focus on:

Feed and Forage

The objective of the feed program is to develop high yielding barley varieties that will increase barley grain production in Alberta. We also aim to develop forage varieties with enhanced fodder quality (energy content, fiber digestibility) and improved whole plant forage yields for silage, greenfeed, or swath grazing. Additional priorities of the feed and forage barley program include superior agronomic traits such as lodging resistance, early maturity, and enhanced grain and biomass characteristics. Varieties also need to have a good combination of resistance to multiple diseases such as scald, net blotch (spot- and net-form), spot blotch, smuts, stem and stripe rusts, and FHB.

Malt

The malting barley pipeline develops varieties of two-row barley that combine high yields and good agronomic adaptation with malting quality characteristics for both the adjunct and pure malt markets. In addition, good disease resistance and tolerance to abiotic stresses such as low nitrogen, water, cold, and other adverse environmental factors are considered.
The triticale breeding pipeline develops new spring triticale varieties with higher grain yield, forage yield, and lodging resistance, adapted to variable growing conditions in western Canada. Specifically, the program focuses on enhanced forage digestibility in reduced awn and awnless types for swath-grazing and green forage uses. Improved drought tolerance, early maturity, reduced pre-harvest sprouting, and FHB and ergot resistance are also program goals.

View the FCDC Strategic Plan

Varieties Available for Licensing

The period to apply for exclusive production and marketing rights for 2024 varieties has now closed. To receive notification when new varieties become available, and for other FCDC news, please join our mailing list.

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Varieties Currently In-Market

Chigwell Jaeger Falcon

Ponoka Mahigan Condor

Manny Tercel Noble

Niobe Kasota Samson

Tyto Phoenix Abee

Niska Seebe

Peregrine Tukwa
Wapiti Bobcat

Pronghorn Pika

Watch FCDC: Crossing Barley & Triticale

FCDC’s Indoor Growth Facility

The FCDC indoor growth facility gives the plant breeders an opportunity to advance research trials by two generations over the fall and winter months.

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2023 Update: Field Crop Development Centre

The Lacombe Field Crop Development Centre (FCDC) finished planting in mid-May with the growing season starting extremely hot and dry.

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