It has its agronomic advantages, it keeps roots in the soil after the harvest, although it comes with its problems as well, especially in Western Canada.

Prairie farmers were historically skeptical about cover cropping. Some say it’s purposely growing “weeds” that will deplete your soil moisture before winter. And, the region’s short post-harvest growing season leads them to wonder if the northern autumn is long enough to produce any of the benefits.

Getting a fix on how many Prairie farmers are growing cover crops, why they grow them and how well it works for them is the focus of a survey conducted by University of Manitoba plant science grad student Callum Morrison and his adviser Dr. Yvonne Lawley.

“We wanted to find out the extent of cover cropping on the Prairies, how and why farmers are using them, the benefits and problems farmers have experienced and what could be done to enable them to grow cover crops,” Morrison said.

Right now most farmers seem to think the risks outweigh the benefits.

“Because of this there’s really only a small number of enthusiastic early adopters on the Prairies,” Morrison said. “Every year these adopters, and other interested farmers, hear the success stories coming out of Ontario and the northern United States so more farmers are thinking, ‘How can we integrate cover crops?’”

Morrison conducted his survey from October 2020 to April 2021 and used a variety of social and traditional media to gather his respondents.

The survey asked about: farm type and size, what cover crops were grown, the agronomy of both cash crops and cover crops, the benefits and problems as well as what incentives would encourage farmers to grow cover crops.

Of the farmers who responded, 281 grew cover crops and 247 did not. The survey showed a full 102,500 acres were put under cover crops with a little over half, 55 per cent, grown during “shoulder season” — post-harvest to the next seeding — while the remaining 45 per cent were grown full season.

The majority of cover crop growers, 62 per cent of them, were cattle farmers, principally beef cattle, while 56 per cent said they were annual grain farmers. Thirty-seven per cent said they were regenerative farmers, 32 per cent were growing perennial crops and 26 per cent were organic growers.

“In case you’re thinking this does not add up to 100 per cent I should mention that with the questions we asked farmers they could select the options that applied to them,” Morrison said. “So you can see the people growing cover crops represent many different types of farms.”

One of the big questions asked was: Why would a farmer grow cover crops?

Eighty per cent of respondents said soil health. Keeping roots in the soil beyond the harvest feeds soil microbes, improves water infiltration and helps prevent erosion. Of course it also builds soil organic matter, the second most popular reason given at 76 per cent. A little over 55 per cent wanted to increase soil nitrogen which may explain why the most popular cover crop was clover. This brings the next big question: What cover crops did farmers like growing?

“Of the top 15 species that we found in our survey, five were annual grasses, four were legumes, two were brassicas,” Morrison said. “The most common species grown were clovers and they were grown by 57 per cent of respondents.”

Clover came out on top for a couple of reasons. It fixes nitrogen and it can be grazed. The seed can be broadcast or drilled giving farmers options such as seeding with the cash crop and letting the clover grow as an intercrop. Then, after harvest, you can let it grow until spring. Some of them, particularly cereal varieties such as oats or barley, were grown to scavenge soil nitrogen and hold it as a green manure. Many, such as fall rye, were also able to suppress weeds. Peas, hairy vetch and radish were also very popular.

Most respondents, that is 30 per cent of them, grew a single species. Mixes of two to three different species were not uncommon and some farmers grew four to five. More complex mixtures of 10 or greater were seen but not very often. Mixtures this complicated are tricky so a farmer has to have a good reason for it.

“We observed many, many different benefits by our growers,” Morrison said. “We saw increased soil organic matter, less erosion and increased infiltration. Most commonly we saw improved soil health followed by increased biodiversity.”

Seventy-one per cent of farmers said that they saw benefits in the first three years and over 35 per cent of them said they saw it within just one year. A number of them saw no real benefits but Morrison said it takes time to develop the technique, up to one or two years.

“We can’t talk about cover crops without addressing many challenges,” he said. “Two of the most common reasons were due to our Prairie climate, which is very much what we expected.”

Thirty per cent of the respondents talked about that short growing season and 27 per cent mentioned the lack of fall moisture. It’s not easy to establish a field of plants in a cool, dry regime.

“We also saw other challenges such as additional costs, the choice of herbicide farmers had available and cover crop failure,” Morrison added. “There’s also sparse cover crop, a late harvest of a cash crop that might prevent establishing a cover crop. Then there’s the lack of equipment, lack of support from crop insurance and there’s the increased labour.”

Still, Morrison said there were a number of farmers looking for information and technical assistance along with scientific data on planting cover crops.

“We really need more information on how farmers can grow cover crops on the Prairies,” Morrison said. “My report can be accessed on our website. It’s free to use and I encourage everyone to have a look.”

The 2020 survey report is available for downloading online.

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Many horticultural organizations publish annual plant pick lists, the Perennial Plant Association being one of them. For 2019 it has chosen a perennial commonly called Big Betony; it is a relative of lamb’s ears — officially named Stachys monieri “Hummelo.”

Growing about 60 cm tall and having puckered green foliage and multiple spikes of mauve-pink flowers, Big Betony is a showstopper in the early to midsummer garden. It is an easy-maintenance plant, hardy in our area, and forms large clumps with self-supporting flower stalks. It likes full sun to mainly sun and isn’t fussy about soil type. The plant is drought tolerant and its scalloped foliage is attractive right through until freeze-up. Deadheading improves the plant’s appearance and encourages a longer bloom period.

The Hosta Growers Association chooses a hosta of the year, and its 2019 pick is a smaller hosta with unusual foliage. “Lakeside Paisley Print” has foliage markings that live up to its name; the thick fleshy leaves have an intricate patterning of lime green, white and dark green that resembles the paisley pattern on fabric. Because it only grows about 25 cm tall it is smaller than many varieties so will fit into spaces too small for many of the larger ones.

All America Selections (AAS) is almost 100 years old and has over 40 trial gardens in the U.S. and Canada. One of its trial gardens is located at the Peace Garden just south of Boissevain and it is interesting for gardeners to view it in the summer and do their own evaluation of how the plants are doing. The plants are all identified with signage and you can get up close with every variety to see how it is performing.

AAS has chosen three small tomato plants as winners for 2019 and these new varieties are listed in many seed catalogues. All three are indeterminate so they do take up some space in the garden and require staking. One called “Red Torch” is a striped tomato — red with white stripes on the skin. The oblong fruit is about four cm long and is the largest of the three winners. “Sparky” has smaller round fruit that is only about 2-1/2 cm in diameter, and is reputed to produce early fruit. “Fire Fly” is a yellow variety said to be super sweet with very thin skin so gardeners who do not like the tough skin that some miniature tomatoes have will like this one.

Several flower varieties were also chosen by AAS. Nasturtium “Baby Rose” was one of them, sporting an unusual nasturtium flower colour and also claiming to produce bushy plants that hold the flowers aloft on sturdy stems. A marigold called “Big Duck Gold” promises to produce large full flowers on its 40-cm-tall plants which also have lovely dark-green foliage. “South Pacific Orange,” a canna that is grown from seed was also chosen. “South Pacific Scarlet” canna claimed a 2013 AAS win and this is simply another colour in the series. A new colour in the Wave petunia series also was awarded an AAS nod. The flowers of “Wave Carmine Velour” add yet another eye-popping colour to this popular series.

Like many gardeners, I will continue to look through seed catalogues until I finally draw up a shopping list of new plants to try in the 2019 garden. Some I will look for in garden centres this spring (early, as they will likely be in short supply and sell out quickly) and some I will grow myself by ordering seeds from the catalogues. What a wonderful winter pastime to peruse catalogues and dream of gardens to come.

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Trees and shrubs, as well as hardscaped features like trellises and arbours can serve as anchors — holding the landscape down. Anchors can also serve as transitions from one area to another, such as pyramidal trees or large shrubs planted at the corners of the house to allow the house to transition into the surrounding landscape. Considered the bones of a garden, anchors are the first features of a new landscape to be installed, around which all other elements are built.

They are also essential in planted areas such as flower borders. Whether the border is composed of annuals or perennials, or a mixture, if it is entirely made up of similar-looking plants that go on and on without interruption, the border will have a visual monotony.

How can anchors be added to a flower border to increase its visual appeal? If the border is viewed from one side, the backdrop of the border will serve as an anchor. Whether it is a building, fence, hedge, or a collection of shrubs or perennials, the backdrop will serve to anchor it in place because of its visual weight. A solid wooden fence, a hedge of cotoneaster, or a row of hollyhocks or Joe Pye weed would all serve this purpose.

Because the substance of the backdrop won’t be enough to completely anchor the border, focal points will need to be added here and there such as shrubs, large rocks, trellises, archways, large perennials, or even birdbaths and fountains. The goal is to add some geometric shapes such as globes, cones or mounds to draw the eye and add visual weight to the border. A big boulder has visual weight as does a large globe-shaped shrub such as a globe honeysuckle or a globe cedar. A deciduous shrub such as a lilac, can also be kept trimmed into a globe shape to produce such a focal point.

Cone shapes can be created by using suitably shaped shrubs and trees such as emerald cedars or any plant that has a base wider that its tip. Besides geometric shapes, other elements — plants with large leaves like ligularia “Othello” and plume poppy — will add more visual weight. Dark-coloured foliage also adds more weight, so plants with burgundy or bronze foliage, such as the darker ninebarks and sand cherry bushes will serve as anchors as well.

Sometimes a border can be anchored by having visually heavy plants located at each end — perhaps a pyramidal cedar or some other evergreen with significant substance. A couple of smaller focal points within the border will complete the effort to make the border varied and interesting.

Island beds also need to be anchored and because they are not set against a backdrop of any kind, these will have to be located within the bed itself. The anchor might be in the centre, but often it will contribute more visual interest if it is slightly offset, creating an asymmetrical effect. A tree or shrub, rock, piece of statuary, large container or a bench or trellis are good choices.

By adding visual weight and providing variation in height and texture, anchors of all kinds will prevent a landscape from being monotonous because it lacks structure and a sturdy framework around which the remaining elements of the landscape can be effectively built.

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One old-fashioned flower that has seen numerous new varieties developed is mallow. It grows at least a metre and a half in height, is well branched, and is a useful plant for the back of a perennial border. Its sturdy stalks have a rigidly upright growth habit and the lower 30 cm or so of the plants are rather bare so when it is planted near the back of a border the plants in front will hide the bare lower stalks.

The flowers are funnel shaped or cup shaped, and usually pale pink, with each bloom having the five separate petals typical of all mallow varieties. The flowers are somewhat fragrant and very attractive to butterflies and hummingbirds. Mallow is a coarse-textured plant with rough leaves (it is a relative of the hollyhock and has similar foliage), so it provides good contrast to the smoother leaves of companion plants in the border. Common mallow will bloom from early summer right up until frost.

Happy in any type of soil, it is drought tolerant but performs better when supplied with adequate amounts of moisture — but it doesn’t like wet feet so should be planted where there is good drainage. It requires at least part sun and will perform well in a full-sun location; it puts on a decent display when it is in the shade for part of the day. Common mallow is a low-maintenance, easy-to-grow plant that is not bothered by insect or disease problems. It self-seeds so lots of new seedlings are available for use each spring.

If you find common mallow too rangy and coarse, choose one of the newer varieties. These more recent introductions are not as hardy as common mallow and are generally rated as Zone 4. However, because they self-seed and the plants come true from seed, you won’t have to purchase new plants if they winterkill, and flowers appear on first-year plants by midsummer.

One nice variety is mallow “Malva,” which has lavender blooms with distinctive purple stripes. It is a shorter, more compact plant than common mallow (most newer varieties are) and grows only about 50 cm tall. “Malva” looks great planted in drifts to provide a big display of colour in the middle or toward the front of a border. The plants have the usual upright form but are not as prone to being bare at the bottom as common mallow. Although plants will look their best when the spent blooms are removed, some of the dead flowers should be allowed to remain on the plants in order to set seed.

Another whole group of new mallow varieties — often labelled Sidalcea — are also great. This plant, sometimes referred to as checker mallow, has much smaller but more numerous flowers and is more multi-stemmed than “Malva.” The plants are often mistaken for penstemon. Sidalcea comes in an array of colours that include purple, lavender and red (a good red variety is “Brilliant”).

The plants form nice clumps of foliage from which emerge innumerable flowering stems. The flowers are produced in abundance along the length of these upright stems, creating a block of colour when several plants are grouped together.

Sidalcea is not as coarse looking as other mallows and can be used closer to the front of a border. It grows about the same height as “Malva” or in drifts toward the middle of the bed. The plants will self-seed so often gardeners simply leave some of the seedlings here and there in the border and let them bloom where they have grown, removing only those encroaching on other plants’ space. Another variety of Sidalcea, “Elsie Heugh,” is often called “Prairie Mallow.” The colour of its flowers is reminiscent of the blooms of common mallow — a soft pink. The blooms are held above the foliage on sturdy stems and the individual blooms are slightly fringed.

Whether you are in need of a tall plant for the back of a border or shorter plants to fill in gaps in a bed, varieties of mallow/Sidalcea might be just the plants you are looking for.

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One annual that fits into a mixed border very well is cleome (also called spider flower). The older types are quite tall, growing up to well over 1-1/2 metres. The flowers are said to look like spiders because as the blooms mature seed pods project out from the sides of them, resembling spider legs. These are tall, thorny-stalked plants that are planted about 30 cm apart so they soon fill up a large space, and the white, pink or violet blooms fit nicely into most borders.

The flower clusters are produced on the tops of the stalks and have a bit of a musky odour. Because of their height and also because toward the end of the summer the lower leaves of the open-pollinated types begin to yellow and drop, these are best positioned toward the centre or back of a border. They are often planted in groups of five or more to create drifts of colour and a more naturalized appearance.

Cleomes are undemanding and will tolerate any kind of soil and can endure drought quite well, but will perform best if supplied with adequate water during hot, dry weather. They are not particularly bothered by insects or pests and rabbits seem to shun them — perhaps because of the thorny stems, but do attract hummingbirds and butterflies. The flowers self-seed prolifically so you will have a steady source of seedlings in years to come — another cost-saving measure.

Due to gardeners’ demands, plant breeders created hybrids that are sterile, without thorns and about half the size of the old open-pollinated types, with dark-green foliage that remains attractive for the whole season.

Two of the new hybrids are Proven Winners’ “Senorita” series, the “Clio” series and the “Sparkler” series. The only one of these that I find listed in seed catalogues is the “Sparkler” series; the others, I assume, are patented and available only to growers, perhaps as cuttings. Cleome can be grown from seed and either the open-pollinated types or the “Sparkler” hybrid should be seeded six to eight weeks before planting-out time. The seeds require light to germinate so instead of covering them with planting medium, the seeds are simply pressed into the dampened soilless mix. The seed tray is covered to keep the planting medium moist and put in a warm spot — the seeds germinate best at temperatures above 25 C. They will take anywhere between 10 and 20 days and the rate of germination may be low so sowing a few extra seeds is recommended. Give the seedlings as much light as possible after germination and lower the temperatures to or slightly below room temperature.

Maybe you’ll try some of these attractive plants in you garden this year.

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There are bellflowers that form tufts of foliage at ground level and then send up flower stalks, like the peach-leaved bellflower (Campanula persicifolia). Also included in the family are tall varieties such as Brandford bellflower (C. latifolia).

Probably the most popular variety is a rather short version called the “Clips” series (Campanula carpatica), useful in areas where space is limited. Commonly called Blue Clips and White Clips, these plants form low, cushion-shaped mounds of fine-textured foliage of small, round, light-green leaves. They are sometimes labelled as Carpathian Bluebells as their native habitat is the Carpathian Mountains. Being mountain plants, they prefer cool summer nights and may look stressed during periods of hot summer weather when nighttime temperatures remain high.

The plants produce clear medium-blue or white (depending on the variety) up-facing, open, cup-shaped flowers during the entire summer, with the first flush of bloom in early summer. If the plants are regularly deadheaded, they will continue to bloom all season. If they begin to get leggy and only produce sporadic blooms in midsummer, some renewal pruning may have to be done. This involves cutting back a few stems at a time over a period of a couple of weeks until the plants have been rejuvenated. Some people simply shear off the top 10 cm or so of the plants, which soon recover and quickly again produce flower buds.

Blue Clips and White Clips are easy-care plants. They are not demanding about the soil or moisture, and seem to withstand dry periods quite well, although the flowers will be bigger and longer lasting if the plants have consistent moisture at their roots. Clips like full sun but will also thrive in a part-sun location. They will become less compact the more shade they must endure so for bushy, compact plants, provide them with full sun.

The plants grow only about 20 cm tall so are self-supporting. If a mature plant begins to split in the middle and fall away, simply tie a string around the plant — low enough so it will be hidden by the foliage but high enough so that it will tighten the plant up and close the gap in the centre.

Because of their small size and mounding growth habit, as well as their continuous bloom, Clips are useful plants in the landscape. They can be used as edging along the front of a perennial border. Because they are so tidy, they are often planted along sidewalks or as short foundation plantings. They are also good accent plants in mixed flower beds.

Its compact growth habit makes Blue Clips a wonderful addition to a rock garden or a container. It can be mass planted to produce a tall ground cover of blue or white (the plants should be planted closer together in this instance to create a carpet effect). Because they can withstand some drought, they can be planted to perk up a dry spot in the garden. They are perfect for those small spaces that are difficult growing areas. The open cup-shaped flowers seem to lure butterflies and hummingbirds to the plants, and surprisingly, they also make great cut flowers.

Wherever you use Campanula carpatica — whether the blue variety or the white version — it just may the perennial you need to enhance your landscape this summer.

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How about a theme garden this year? Choose a colour and make that your theme — purples and burgundy-toned flowers and foliage for a dark and moody space, or a sunshine garden of yellows and oranges. The use of accessories can also suggest a theme such as using agricultural artifacts and equipment, or, how about a Mediterranean theme?

Decide on where you are going to undertake your project (will it include the whole garden or just one area of the landscape?) then establish what plants would be suitable for that particular location. Will it be a shade garden or one in full sun? Will it be a large rectangular space or a long narrow section, such as a side yard? Will there be space for larger plants such as shrubs and large herbaceous perennials or will you be limited to using smaller annuals and perennials? How much space will be available for accessories?

A colour theme is one of the easiest. A vibrantly bright sunshine garden can be produced using plants with yellow flowers. For the best impact, varying hues and tones of the colour should be used to add interest. Perhaps bright-yellow Inca yellow and Lulu marigolds can be combined with pale-yellow daylilies, some taller Lorraine Sunshine heliopsis — using variegated foliage will add to the overall effect — and golden rudbeckias. Golden-leafed hostas and bright-yellow creeping Jenny are two plants that have great yellow foliage.

For a darker-colour theme, burgundy-leafed ninebark, Othello ligularia with its large leaves having deep-burgundy undertones, and appropriate varieties of heuchera might be companions for purple-flowering plants like salvias, monkshood, campanulas (including Blue Clips) and sages. Annuals, including lisianthus, petunias, and pansies might also be used. Include plants with blue-tinted foliage such as dwarf blue spruce and blue hostas.

A Mediterranean-theme garden could be created by using reclaimed bricks and lots of herbs and brightly coloured flowers such as nasturtiums and marigolds.

Maybe you’d like to try creating a xeriscape? Select an area of the garden that is challenging to successfully grow plants. Lay down landscape fabric and cover it with attractive rock or mulch of some kind. Then select a few specimen plants and some suitable objects (these might be rocks) and create your xeriscape. Perennial grasses are very suitable, as are small shrubs such as barberry. Perennials with substantial foliage that stays attractive all season, such as daylilies, are another possibility.

Have you ever wanted to create a very formal-looking space, inspired by pictures of the formal gardens in France and Italy? Planting low hedges of perennials, such as catmint, or shrubs such as cotoneaster, to form hedgerows around flower beds or along walks will be time consuming, but rewarding when you finally see the finished product. Perhaps you could create a square rose garden surrounded by a low hedge.

Maybe whimsy is more to your liking and you have some whimsical garden accessories that you would like to use. This theme would be informal and fun and the plant choices could be an eclectic mix of your favourites — no formality here.

Whatever theme you choose, make it your own and enjoy the process of planning it while you wait for spring to arrive.

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Another important step in protecting plants from winter damage has also hopefully already taken place, and that is their placement in the garden. Tender plants — the most susceptible to winter damage — should have been planted in sheltered spots, perhaps near a fence or to the south of a row of trees. Also, ensuring that plants are located where they are exposed to favourable conditions such as enough sun, results in healthy, vigorous plants that will come through the winter in much better shape than those under stress because they are exposed to less-than-optimum surroundings.

Newly planted evergreens are at risk of injury; winter winds will increase the rate of transpiration when the plants cannot replace the lost moisture because the root zone is frozen. Strong winter sunshine can also have a desiccating effect on such plants. Erecting a burlap screen on the south and west sides will shade them from the sun, preventing desiccation and sunscald, while a sturdier barrier on the north and west sides will protect the plants from harsh winter winds. All plants benefit from going into the winter with adequate water around their roots because wet soil holds more heat than dry soil. Not only evergreen trees and shrubs, but other trees and shrubs as well as perennials should be watered thoroughly before freeze-up.

Wrapping the lower trunks of vulnerable deciduous trees with burlap offers protection from the sun and will prevent the bark from splitting. Winter sun can be damaging not only because it causes desiccation but also because the freeze-thaw cycle that sunny winter days produce is very damaging to plants. Some people plant very tender plants against the south wall of the house, thinking this is the most sheltered spot in the garden. It might be, but the constant freeze-thaw cycle that is created in such a sheltered spot can do great damage to plants during the winter. Another reason to wrap the trunks of trees and shrubs — but with a more substantial material than burlap — is to offer protection from damage done by rabbits.

The best way to protect plants from winterkill due to low temperatures is to keep the soil temperature constant and to keep it as high as possible by having good snow cover. Erect snow fences and use branches to catch snow so that deep drifts cover plants during the whole winter. This works well if there is significant early snowfall, but often, an outburst of very cold weather occurs before there is significant snow cover. In this case, mulches will serve the same purpose. A thick layer of mulch of an organic material such as dry leaves will provide insulation around plants to moderate the changes in the temperature of the soil. Whether dry leaves, straw, or another material, it must be kept dry to retain its insulating ability. Therefore such mulches are often covered with a plastic or Styrofoam cover. I have had good luck filling large plastic bags (originally held mattresses) with dry leaves and placing these bags on top of Oriental lilies.

Dry soil or peat moss can be mounded up over tender plants such as roses. A Styrofoam cone or some other material might be put on top of such a mulch to both keep it dry and to prevent winter winds from blowing it away. If the soil is mounded, however, it will shed a certain amount of water and this process is only done after threat of rain has past — any precipitation we get afterwards will be in the form of snow. Flax straw works well as mulch because its high oil content enables it to shed water and it remains dry during the winter. Wire cages can be used to hold mulch in place and the cages can be used to hold a covering for the mulch.

Tender plants such as a hydrangea can be cut back and then have a large cardboard box (bottom removed) placed over it. The box is next filled with dry leaves and the top closed and covered with plastic to make it waterproof. Perennial borders benefit from having a thick layer of organic mulch tucked in around the plants before freeze-up. I have a large basswood tree that supplies just such a mulch every year to a nearby flower border.

Never leave plants in containers as frost will enter the soil from all sides and the severe cold will kill them. Heel in evergreens and perennials into the garden that you have had in containers for the summer and put mulch around them. Offer extra protection to plants located in raised beds or planters for the same reason. If you must leave a plant in its pot, bury the pot up to its rim in the ground and then cover the whole thing with a thick layer of mulch. All of this effort at winterizing your garden will be worth it when you see your plants emerge next spring none the worse for wear no matter how severe the winter.

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It might not work out quite that way, but a perennial grain crop that can withstand cold Prairie winters is a little closer to reality for Canadian farmers.

University of Manitoba perennial crop breeder Doug Cattani has been at work since 2010 at the Ian N. Morrison Research Farm here, overseeing plots of intermediate wheatgrass, wild sunflowers, perennial cereal ryegrass, and an assortment of other native plants. He says intermediate wheatgrass is now showing the most promise for earliest commercial availability.

All the crops Cattani is studying share the common trait of being perennial relatives of key food crops. But as he’s made his crosses and selections these past four years, it’s become clear some are worth pursuing and some not. For example, the program for perennial cereal ryegrass is basically on the shelf now. The disease problems they discovered are more than their time and resources can accommodate.

“The wide cross that we made to generate the materials led to excessive ergot,” Cattani said. “It became something that would require a lot more work than we are currently able to put in.”

On the other hand, his now completed selections of intermediate wheatgrass material not only have shown they can survive three successive Prairie winters, but produce consistent grain yields.

These new materials are hardier, have larger seeds, and are more productive for longer periods than the forage varieties of wheatgrass currently familiar to farmers, Cattani said. The seed is about one-third the size of wheat but has nearly twice the amount of protein.

“We’ve got a long way to go on the agronomics but I think we know now that we have a product that is adapted to Manitoba and hopefully Western Canada,” he said.

If they can develop the wheatgrass into a perennial crop, it would break new ground for food production.

Reduced inputs

Breeding for perennial ability is like what primitive farmers did when selecting seed for food production, said Cattani. The goal today is to find ways to grow food that will reduce the need for fertilizers, herbicides, and annual seed purchase.

The environmental benefits of perennial grain crops are many and varied, said Cattani, noting they essentially serve as native grasslands once did, soaking up excess water, reducing erosion, and building soil organic matter.

At the Carman site, researchers are also experimenting with polycultures to see what’s doable for growing two or more crops at once. They’re inter-seeding with legumes including sweet and white clover and alfalfa, plus a native prairie turnip to find ways to supply nitrogen to these crops. Other ongoing research by a graduate student is looking at the impact of animal grazing on regrowth after harvests.

There are good reasons to focus on intermediate wheatgrass, said Cattani. Farmers are already familiar with it as a forage crop, and that adds to its potential for commercial viability sooner than other crops.

“Our forage seed industry has produced intermediate wheatgrass in the past and we do have some seed companies that understand its growth and harvesting,” he said. “We’re not completely in the dark on this.”

Manitoba farmers are already growing intermediate wheatgrass as a forage seed crop and getting 14 to 15 bushels per acre. What their work is showing now is that as a perennial grain crop they’ll be able to produce seed beyond one year, he said.

“We want this to be a perennial grain, we don’t want it to be a hay crop, that is, getting one good seed harvest and then it’s basically a hayfield. We’re trying to avoid that.”

It doesn’t have the gluten properties of wheat, so it won’t be a wheat replacement, he added.

“As I foresee it being released, it’ll be a product that can be consumed by humans, but maybe blended with wheat in a number of applications.”

Researchers hope to have enough seed to proceed to agronomic trials by next year, Cattani said.

In other words, they’ve reached a stage where he can say he’s “a little more optimistic” about the time frame it’ll take to have a viable crop to grow. But this is still very early days.

“Optimistically, I’d say we’re still looking at 15 to 20 years down the road.”

CORRECTION, Aug. 31: The crop photo at mid-article was incorrectly credited in a previous online version. The photo appears here courtesy of researcher Lee DeHaan of The Land Institute, a perennial crop research organization based at Salina, Kansas. We regret the error.

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“We can have conservation as a result of (agricultural) production,” Wes Jackson, founder of The Land Institute, told participants at the North American Prairie Conference via Skype.

A proponent and developer of grain producing perennial polycultures, the biologist and author spoke about crop trials where multiple crops grown in permaculture were harvested simultaneously, with seeds separated using a seed cleaner.

It’s not a new idea, but it’s one that has taken time to develop. And it is gaining some momentum.

“The first time I heard about this work was probably 20 years ago, and I thought, ‘well that will never happen’ and now look,” said Candice Savage, member of the Nature Conservancy of Canada.

Although she isn’t entirely optimistic about the future of Prairie conservation, she said the idea that agriculture could become a conservation tool which protects habitat for birds and wildlife is a positive one.

“It does seem more realistic now than it ever has in the past,” said Savage. “They are making progress.”

And now is the time to be making the move towards perennial agriculture, according to Jackson, who said technology has put the development of viable perennial crops within reach.

Tools ranging from greenhouses to molecular marking, and endosperm retrieval to nutrient gels have made it possible to develop perennial varieties that would have been difficult, if not impossible, to develop previously.

“Our ancestors would not likely have done these things,” Jackson said.

But don’t think these scientific aids will be required in perpetuity.

Once successful varieties are developed, Jackson said perennials will be self-perpetuating in the same manner as annuals. This technology is designed to catch them up with plant species that have had a head start of many millennia, he said.

But a move to perennials also requires a shift in the way people think about energy and fossil fuels. There must be a realization that there will be less resources available in the future, said Jackson.

“There is going to be a great reduction in fossil fuels for power,” he said. “And what we have to appreciate is how much of what I call the scaffolding of civilization was put there by high-density carbon.”

Urging people to view the world in terms of ecology and not industry, Jackson added it was an abundance of easily available energy that created the conservation crisis faced by the world today.

David Young, a former civil servant and one of the founders of the Natural Resources Institute at the University of Manitoba, agrees it was the advent of carbon fuels in agriculture that led to many of the problems conservationists now face.

“A man with a steel plow and a horse, could in the spring… working really hard… perhaps turn three or four acres,” he said.

But with the arrival of tractors and fossil fuels, Young said it was inevitable that ideas of progress would take priority over the natural landscape.

But what happens next in Prairie conservation depends on who you ask.

“I think perspectives are changing faster at the grassroots level than they are changing at the top,” said Dana Bush, a Saskatchewan-based ecologist. “Government has to get dragged in to the 21st century kicking and screaming.”

However, an unresponsive government doesn’t mean change must grind to a halt, according to Rebecca Magnus of Nature Saskatchewan.

“When we talk about maybe having to wait until another political party comes along so we can have a better voice, or do something, I simply can’t agree with that,” she said.

Small efforts like emailed news letters, and alerts for invasive species can be effective now, said Magnus, adding research and conservation projects are ongoing.

“Small things, communication, this is important… we are not at a standstill,” she said.

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