University News

Storage Conditions Impact Red Lentil Processing and Cooking Quality

Dr. Stefan Cenkowski - University of Manitoba — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT

University News for March 9, 2010

Research conducted by the University of Manitoba has shown storage conditions and varietal selection will influence the ease of processing and the cooking quality of red lentils.

The University of Manitoba's Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences has completed a study which compared the effect of storage conditions on the quality of three red lentil cultivars.

Biosystems engineering professor Dr. Stefan Cenkowski says dehulling efficiency, dehulling loss and texture after cooking of Impact, Redberry and Robin and the visual appearance of Redberry were evaluated.

Clip-Dr. Stefan Cenkowski-University of Manitoba:
Overall the Redberry cultivar exhibited a higher efficiency of dehulling than the Impact cultivar.

Storage temperature did not substantially influence the efficiency of dehulling whereas cultivar storage pre-treatment and pre-milling moisture content strongly affected dehulling quality of red lentils.

A very important finding of our study concerned the handling of lentils during storage.

Cycling moisture, when you have material stored in a bin and you go through a natural convection because of the changes in temperature in the atmosphere and because of the winter and summer.

So if the cycling moisture changes within plus minus two per cent during storage, that is not a good sign and should be avoided as cycling moisture is affecting dehulling efficiency and appearance of dehulled red lentils causing excessive wrinkling and seed surface discoloration.

Also you will see an increased amount of broken seeds during dehulling operations.

Dr. Cenkowski notes findings differed substantially depending on variety and crop year.

He says dehulling efficiency could decrease by five to 30 percent depending on cultivar and pre-milling moisture content and milling times generally increased with storage time, while the texture of cooked red lentils were strongly affected by cultivar and storage pre-treatment.

A final report is expected later this month.

For UniversityNews.Org, I'm Bruce Cochrane.

*University News is a presentation of the University of Manitoba's Faculty of Agricultural & Food Sciences

Food Safety Culture Key to Building Safety into Food

Dr. Rick Holley - University of Manitoba — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT

University News for March 8, 2010

A food safety and food microbiology professor with the University of Manitoba suggests the creation of a food safety culture within food processing plants is a critical step in minimizing the risk of foodborne illness.

"Building Safety into Food" is among the topics being discussed this week in Toronto as part of Food Safety Summit.

Dr. Rick Holley, a food safety and food microbiology professor with the University of Manitoba's Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences, says the adoption of proactive food safety systems which embody good manufacturing processes, standardized sanitizing operating procedures and Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point programs is key.

Clip-Dr. Rick Holley-University of Manitoba :
One of the very first things very very high on the construction ladder if you like in terms of building safety into food is to have senior management develop a culture of food safety in the company.

That's the number one issue, where things associated with food safety have to be on an equal footing as things like financial performance and that's difficult for some company executives to arrive at but it's an extremely important issue.

The second thing of course is ownership by employees all along the hierarchy within the company so that at the very lowest levels within the company that there is a food safety culture and that an employee has the ability under such a system to bring to the attention of more senior folks that there is a problem that will impact the level of safety of food that's being produced in the company.

By doing so they would recognize that action would be taken.

Dr. Holley says, once a food safety system has been implemented, ongoing monitoring and record keeping are critical to ensure what has been put in place is operating the way it's supposed to be.

For UniversityNews.Org, I'm Bruce Cochrane.

*University News is a presentation of the University of Manitoba's Faculty of Agricultural & Food Sciences

Cross Border Dialogue Improves Understanding of Agricultural Issues

Ron Wonneck - Agriculture and Food Canada — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT

University News for March 5, 2010

Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada expects the third in a series of cross-border visits involving Canadian and American farmers, university researchers and government and industry representatives to benefit agriculture on both sides of the border.

A tour last summer by members of the Texas Farm Bureau of agricultural operations across Canada was followed with a visit last month to Texas A&M University by a delegation representing the University of Manitoba's National Centre for Livestock and the Environment.

A return visit planned for November will give farmers from across Canada an opportunity to tour agricultural operations in Texas.

Ron Wonneck, a senior economist with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, says this type of dialogue is valuable.

Clip-Ron Wonneck-Agri-Food Canada:
They came up here and quite frankly were surprised by some of the products that Canadian producers produce, also the similarities and the issues.

There were very surprised at the similarity between Texas agriculture and Canadian, particularly prairie, agriculture and I think that the purpose is to perhaps educate some of our Canadian producers that the issues down in Texas, the similarities are there, there's similar issues but they also have different solutions for similar problems.

The Texas Farm Bureau fully understands for example the negative impact that COOL is having on many Canadian livestock producers.

A lot of Canadians think that the Americans don't think about Canadian agriculture that much but they actually do and they're really looking to understand more of what's going on in the Great White North and also in Mexico as well.

I think these kinds of visits really help that dialogue and really increase the understanding of both Canadian and American producers.

Wonneck foresees more of these exchanges involving not only Canadian and American producer to producer exchanges but also cross collaboration on research whether it's in livestock, functional foods or other areas.

For UniversityNews.Org, I'm Bruce Cochrane.

*University News is a presentation of the University of Manitoba's Faculty of Agricultural & Food Sciences

Return Agricultural Visit to Texas Planned for Fall

Ron Wonneck - Agriculture and Food Canada — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT

University News for March 4, 2010

The third in a series of cross-border tours involving Canadian and American farmers, university researchers, and representatives of government and industry will travel to Texas this coming fall.

A series of tours, organized by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, the Canadian Consulate in Dallas and the Texas Farm Bureau, began with a fact-finding mission last summer which took members of the Texas Farm Bureau across Canada to discuss agricultural issues with Canadian government officials and farmers.

That visit was followed by trip to Texas in which researchers with the University of Manitoba's National Centre for Livestock and the Environment discussed collaborative research opportunities with their counterparts at Texas A&M University.

Ron Wonneck, a senior economist with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, says a third tour will give producers from across Canada the opportunity to visit farms and agriculture industries in Texas and discuss issues of common concern.

Clip-Ron Wonneck-Agriculture and Food Canada:
This is a reverse tour essentially.

Members of the Texas Farm Bureau came up to Canada on a tour starting in Ontario, essentially Ottawa, visiting with officials there and then going to Manitoba, Alberta and British Columbia visiting farms, talking to farmers, talking to some government officials and touring our industry, grain elevators, farms, etcetera.

So they invited us to come to their state.

They invited Canadian producers because they really felt that the tour they had in Canada was extremely beneficial, very interesting and they really enjoyed themselves here.

As well they learned a tremendous amount and most importantly they learned and understood that the issues facing Canadian producers are very similar to those that are encountered by Texas producers.

Wonneck says talking with the grassroots is important in furthering trade advocacy.

He believes Canadian and American producers benefit the most but agriculture as a whole can also benefit if there's continued dialogue.

For UniversityNews.Org, I'm Bruce Cochrane.

*University News is a presentation of the University of Manitoba's Faculty of Agricultural & Food Sciences

University-Province Collaboration to Improve Relevance of Crops Research and Extension

Dr. Martin Entz - University of Manitoba — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT

University News for March 3, 2010

Scientists with the University of Manitoba are confident expanded collaboration with Manitoba Agriculture, Food and Rural Initiatives will help improve the responsiveness of their work to the needs of the province's agriculture community.

The University of Manitoba's Plant Science Department and Manitoba Agriculture, Food and Rural Initiatives' Crops Knowledge Centre have formed a collaborative committee which will focus on increasing interaction among researchers, producers and extension specialists and on transferring research knowledge to the agricultural community.

Dr. Martin Entz, a professor of agronomy and cropping systems with the University of Manitoba's Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences, says specialists with the provincial agriculture department are aware of the needs of the agriculture community and can pass that information on to researchers with the university.

Clip-Dr. Martin Entz-University of Manitoba:
It's very helpful for the university to have spokespersons from MAFRI tell the community, tell the farmers, tell the industry what is going on at the university because, being involved in teaching during the winter, we're not able to get to as many communities as the MAFRI staff are, not by a long shot so it's very helpful.

The last major activity is trying to make the research here more relevant to the community.

A lot of research grants are driven by what the farmers' needs are and we're interested in knowing what the needs are.

There's some pretty obvious ones like soil conservation and fusarium head blight resistance, black leg resistance but there's many more subtle questions that the carrot industry has or the potato or the forage, soybeans, dry beans, and so by having a closer connection with MAFRI it brings those issues to the university faster in a more strategic way.

Dr. Entz suggests, while there is already a tremendous amount of interaction, this added communication will help improve strategic integration in the area of crops research and extension.

For UniversityNews.Org, I'm Bruce Cochrane.

*University News is a presentation of the University of Manitoba's Faculty of Agricultural & Food Sciences

U of M and MAFRI Expand Crop Knowledge Collaboration

Dr. Martin Entz - University of Manitoba — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT

University News for March 2, 2010

A newly formed collaborative committee is expected to strengthen communications among plant scientists working with the University of Manitoba and Manitoba Agriculture, Food and Rural Initiatives.

The University of Manitoba's Plant Science Department and Manitoba Agriculture, Food and Rural Initiatives' Crop Knowledge Centre have formed a collaborative committee to help raise the profile of research underway in Manitoba.

Goals include the transfer of research knowledge to the agricultural community and increased interaction among researchers, producers and extension specialists.

Dr. Martin Entz, a professor of agronomy and cropping systems with the University of Manitoba's Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences, says the more you can communicate the better.

Clip-Dr. Martin Entz-University of Manitoba:
It's hardly a new concept.

We've been collaborating with the provincial ag department for a long long time and all university departments have been but we have a special relationship with the Crops Branch because our main crops research station is the Ian N. Morrison Research Farm at Carman and that is also the home of the Crops Knowledge Branch.

They have many many specialists based in Carman so it's a significant hub for research and extension and crops knowledge for Manitoba.

We've been working together for a long time on a myriad of research projects and also on the Crop Diagnostic School.

It is held every July.

Last year there were 400 professional agronomists and farmers through the program so we've had a lot of collaboration and so the idea was that we would strengthen that collaboration, become a little more strategic in doing the work.

Dr. Entz says there is already tremendous interaction going on but this interaction will strengthen that communication and improve strategic integration as far as crops go.

For UniversityNews.Org, I'm Bruce Cochrane.

*University News is a presentation of the University of Manitoba's Faculty of Agricultural & Food Sciences

Discover Agriculture in the City Designed to Reconnect Urban Public to Agriculture

Crystal Jorgenson - University of Manitoba — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT

University News for March 1, 2010

The Forks Market in Winnipeg will be site of the 2010 edition of "Discover Agriculture in the City" March 19th to 21st.

Discover Agriculture in the City will provide a hands-on opportunity to learn what agriculture in Manitoba is all about.

University of Manitoba communications specialist Crystal Jorgenson notes the event is intended to reconnect the urban public to agriculture.

Clip-Crystal Jorgenson-University of Manitoba:
Discover Agriculture in the City is a free three day event March 19th, 20th and 21st at the Forks and the main organizer is Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada and there's a number of other organizations that have partnered up with them to provide this event.

It's an event aimed at urban Canadians to come and explore and discover the role that agriculture plays in their lives.

Participants include ourselves, the Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences at the University of Manitoba along with numerous commodity groups, everything from Manitoba Pork Council to the Manitoba egg farmers, dairy farmers so it's a real range of different agricultural organizations that are trying to share the message of agriculture.

The nice thing about the Forks market is that it's such wide ranging audience there and that's really what we're after is reaching the general public and the urban audience, particularly those people that may not completely understand or know all the agricultural connections that are in their lives.

The age range is from two to 92 and the numbers of people that we actually reach at this event, from last year we reached between 25 and 30 thousand people so it's a fantastic event for sharing information.

The weekend event is jam-packed with activities and kicks off Friday March 19th with a "Made in Manitoba Breakfast" where about 100 Winnipeg area school students will be served a hot breakfast by Manitoba farmers.

For more information on Discover Agriculture in the City visit aginthecity.ca.

For UniversityNews.Org, I'm Bruce Cochrane.

*University News is a presentation of the University of Manitoba's Faculty of Agricultural & Food Sciences

Food Safety Summit to Address "Building Safety into Food"

Dr. Rick Holley - University of Manitoba — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT

University News for February 26, 2010

A food safety and food microbiology professor with the University of Manitoba says ongoing monitoring of food safety systems, rather than increased end product inspection, is the key to building safety into food.

"Building Safety into Food" will be among the topics discussed during the upcoming Food Safety Summit March 9th and 10th in Toronto.

Dr. Rick Holley, with the University of Manitoba's Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences, says the pathway is fairly clear and heavily based on the adoption of proactive food safety systems which embody good manufacturing processes, standardized sanitizing operating procedures and Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point programs.

Clip-Dr. Rick Holley-University of Manitoba:
In terms of the federal government, they are wholeheartedly behind programs associated with prevention of problems and so they're fully behind HACCP and its operation and they've taken it further in the meat and poultry area to a sister type proactive program that puts the inspector in a position where their prime responsibility is to examine and verify the operation of the food system that is being followed by the plant rather than spend all their time doing the cosmetic types of inspection which historically we've seen occupying much of the work time of inspection staff.

There's always a need for end product testing but that end product testing can't be used as an indicator of the safety of food.

Statistically you can't take enough samples to give you statistical confidence that the foods that you haven't sampled are going to be safe.

So the idea is prevent the problems and get into the food safety systems operation in a big way.

Dr. Holley says audits, the verification of record keeping, monitoring and the operation of the food safety system needs to be done by an independent group that can provide advice and that doesn't have a vested interest in the outcome.

For UniversityNews.Org, I'm Bruce Cochrane.

*University News is a presentation of the University of Manitoba's Faculty of Agricultural & Food Sciences

Plants Offer Practical Alternative for Reclaiming Contaminated Soils

Dr. Francis Zvomuya - University of Manitoba — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT

University News for February 25, 2010

A researcher with the University of Manitoba says plants offers a low-cost alternative for reclaiming sites contaminated with heavy metals and other organic or inorganic compounds.

The University of Manitoba's Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences is constructing a first of its kind controlled environment lysimeter facility.

The half million dollar facility will accommodate a broad range of plant growth research but the initial focus will be evaluating the effectiveness of growing plants in cleaning up contaminated soils.

Assistant professor Dr. Francis Zvomuya says contamination results from various human activities including industrial, mining, commercial and agricultural.

Clip-Dr. Francis Zvomuya-University of Manitoba:
Across Canada there is more than 30 thousand sites that are confirmed or suspected to be contaminated and there is an urgent need to start cleaning up some of these sites.

In fact there's some ongoing work right now to try and clean up some of these sites.

On a national level we are spending in the neighborhood of about half a billion dollars to try and clean up some of these sites.

There are various established methods that are in use for remediating these contaminated sites but the problem is that with metals, these metals are very expensive and in some situations they are not practical at all.

For example where you have contamination or pollution as a result of atmospheric deposition you may have acres and acres of land that have been affected so it's not practical for example to use dig and dump where you excavate the contaminated soil and bury it at landfill sites or elsewhere.

It's not practical in situations like that and we believe that this is a case where plant-based technology or phytoremediation will come in handy.

Dr. Zvomuya says because the facility will be climate-controlled, researchers will be able to work year-round which will allow a tremendous amount of flexibility.

For UniversityNews.Org, I'm Bruce Cochrane.

*University News is a presentation of the University of Manitoba's Faculty of Agricultural & Food Sciences

Early Evaluation of Winter Wheat Survival Encouraged

Dr. Martin Entz - University of Manitoba — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT

University News for February 24, 2010

A researcher with the University of Manitoba recommends winter wheat growers collect samples of plants from their fields once the snow has started to recede to get an early evaluation of the winter survival of crops planted last fall.

Late winter and early spring is when fall seeded cereal crops become most vulnerable to winter kill, however due to an extended fall crops went into the winter in very good condition and abundant snow cover provided good protection from extreme temperatures.

Dr. Martin Entz, a professor of agronomy and cropping systems with the University of Manitoba's Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences, says by collecting a few plants in late March and bringing them inside growers can get a good indication of winter survival.

Clip-Dr. Martin Entz-University of Manitoba:
The one thing that we've tried to get agronomists to think about is going into the winter wheat fields in late March and digging out some plants.

Just take a breaker bar out there and dig some plants out of the soil, put them in a pot, put them on a window sill and to see how they're regrowing.

Perhaps select plants from the tops of knolls and the draws, the low parts in fields just to get a snapshot across the landscape.

If those plants are producing new roots, agronomists know what to look for in terms of the new roots, then your winter wheat crop is O.K.

I think it's useful to do that earlier than later because you'll know more or less where you're at because the most frustrating thing for farmers is to have a crop that's coming out of the winter that looks pretty bad.

It may have lost all of its leaves which is not necessarily a problem but they really don't know and the sooner that you get that knowledge on board the better so that's a trick people could use.

Dr. Entz notes the extended fall allowed even the later seeded crops to reach the four-leaf stage which is where the plants need to be to become acclimatized to winter and we've had good snow cover so there has been good insulation to keep the crowns of the plants warm.

He expects crop survival to be good this year.

For UniversityNews.Org, I'm Bruce Cochrane.

*University News is a presentation of the University of Manitoba's Faculty of Agricultural & Food Sciences

Wheat Breeding Research Results in Improved Disease Resistance

Gary Martens - University of Manitoba — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT

University News for February 23, 2010

Trials conducted by the University of Manitoba show 100 years of wheat breeding research has resulted in varieties with improved disease resistance.

As part of a 100-year wheat project, which compared the agronomic performance of 45 wheat varieties registered in Canada over the past century, scientists conducted a series of fungicide trials.

Crops were provided the best possible combination of fertilization and weed control and half the plots were sprayed with fungicide and the other half were not.

Gary Martens, a crop production instructor with the Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences, says one of the main contributions of plant breeding research is improved disease resistance.

Clip-Gary Martens-University of Manitoba:
In 2008 there was no difference between the two but in 2009 there was a yield increase in general of about 10 to 15 percent when we added a fungicide so obviously there was some disease pressure there.

But there were some varieties that performed well in 2009 without a fungicide.

For example Intrepid and Domain and Cora and Elsa were varieties that were near the high end of the yield and there was no fungicide sprayed on them.

Intrepid was also on the top when fungicide was sprayed on it so, in other words, the difference wasn't that high and it performed well when we protected it against disease and it also had its own protection built in through genetics.

Martens says the study shows we have been able to protect ourselves against diseases quite successfully over the last 100 years but this is an ongoing challenge because certain diseases, such as rust, change over time.

He points out Barrie has lost its ability to tolerate rust so it's near the bottom without fungicide treatment but near the top when a fungicide is used.

For UniversityNews.Org, I'm Bruce Cochrane.

*University News is a presentation of the University of Manitoba's Faculty of Agricultural & Food Sciences