Montana Getty Hilash sat down with Dr. Pierre Hucl, retired Wheat Breeder with the University of Saskatchewan's Crop Development Centre (CDC) and current Professor Emeritus at the College of Agriculture and Bioresources, Department of Plant Sciences to discuss his life and career.

Dr. Hucl has played a critical role in increasing wheat productivity in Western Canada. He has nearly 40 years of research and breeding experience with spring wheat in western Canada. Dr. Hucl is the developer or co-developer of over 90 varieties of wheat, canaryseed, dry bean, pea and peanut.

In this episode, Dr. Hucl discusses how he got his start in the industry, the trials and tribulations of starting a breeding program from the ground up, and the legacy he will leave behind at the Crop Development Centre. Pierre shares advice to young wheat breeders, addresses advancement in technology and his favourite moments throughout his career all with humour and incredible insight. This is an episode you won't want to miss. 

His current interests include triticale and specialty wheat and breeding. Pierre authored or co-authored over 220 peer-reviewed publications in discipline-relevant journals and trained 24 undergraduate students during their thesis preparation. In addition, he supervised 17 Masters and PhD level post graduate students.

His academic qualifications include:

• B.Sc. University of Guelph, 1978, Ontario Agriculture College, Crop Science, with High Distinction
• M.Sc. University of Guelph, 1980, Crop Science Department, Crop Science
• Ph.D. University of Saskatchewan, 1986, Department of Crop Science and Plant Ecology, Crop Science

Employment history:

• Professor (CDC), University of Saskatchewan 07/1999 - Present
• Research Scientist (CDC), University of Saskatchewan 01/1994 - 06/1999
• Professional Research Associate (CDC), University of Saskatchewan 07/1990 - 12/1993
• Wheat Breeder/Research Scientist, Saskatchewan Wheat Pool, 1986 - 1989
• Peanut Breeder/Research Associate, University of Guelph, Crop Science Department, 1981 - 1982

In this episode of the Wheat Profit podcast, Montana Getty Hilash sits down with Blair Goldade, Sask Wheat's Executive Director. Blair breaks down three major policy files the team is working on which could shape the future of Saskatchewan wheat production and profitability.

Learn why Sask Wheat is advocating for export sales reporting to give Canadian farmers better access to timely market information, what's at stake as government develops the Next Policy Framework, and why CUSMA is critical for maintaining strong export markets and competitive supply chains.

Blair also shares what Sask Wheat has been working on this summer, including upcoming producer events, field days and Ag in Motion.

In this episode, Blake Weiseth joins the conversation with Montana Getty Hilash to break down the latest insights on soil nutrients, rising fertilizer costs, and optimizing application rates for maximum return on investment. From nutrient management strategies to practical ways growers can improve efficiency and profitability, Blake shares his perspective on making smarter agronomic decisions in an evolving agricultural landscape. Tune in for a forward-thinking discussion on building healthier soils, managing input costs, and positioning your operation for long-term success.

In this episode of Wheat Profit, Montana interviews Peter Quinlan, Meteorologist and Weather Anchor with Global News, to discuss the 2026 weather outlook. Quinlan gives us insight as to how much snowfall Saskatchewan received this winter, what recent weather trends have looked like, what tools producers can use to help plan their days around weather, and what's to come for the growing season.

Due to recent and historical budget cuts to key wheat breeding organizations in Canada, the Canadian Wheat Research Coalition (CWRC) facilitated a review of the wheat breeding system in Canada. In this episode of Wheat Profit, Claire Cowan, Client Director with Synthesis Ag details the findings of the report her team put together after a lengthy review. CWRC chair, Jocelyn Velestuk, describes the farmer impact of budget cuts and the importance of the wheat breeding system not only to Saskatchewan, but to all of Canada.

Read the full report

WATCH: 10 Essential Stages of Wheat Breeding

WATCH: New research chair appointed to accelerate crop variety development

In this episode of Wheat Profit, join host Montana Getty, Communications & Events Coordinator with Sask Wheat, and Sask Wheat board vice-chair Rob Stone as he discusses his transition from being a board member to taking on more responsibility as a vice-chair, and what a board member role entails. We learn about what discussions look like with politicians, how the social media landscape has changed in a short amount of time and so much more. 

(WEBINAR RECORDING)

Join researchers from the University of Saskatchewan, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC), and the University of Manitoba as they discuss their funded wheat research projects under the Sustainable Canadian Agriculture Partnership. This funded research targets the areas of climate change and the environment, and researchers will share anticipated outcomes of their research and the impact for wheat growers. They will also share how this research contributes to established and ongoing environmental, and climate sensitive work already being done by growers.

Dr. Curtis Pozniak & Dr. Kate Congreves, University of Saskatchewan - Towards climate-smart, resilient wheat

Dr. Brian Beres, AAFC - Lethbridge - The role of wheat growth habit in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and fostering climate resiliency without compromising yield, quality and 4R principles

Dr. Mario Tenuta, University of Manitoba - A prairie assessment of nitrogen stabilizer and split fertilizer application in sustaining spring wheat yield, protein and production economics while reducing nitrous oxide emissions

WATCH THE FULL RECORDING: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UNrzXyPk284&t=6s

In this episode of Wheat Profit, Mike Ferguson with Collective Impact discusses the struggles and lack of conversation around generational farming, his urge to try new and modern farm practices and production challenges he faces. Join Sask Wheat Agronomy Extension Specialist, Gazali Issah, as he navigates these discussions.

In this episode of Wheat Profit, Grain Growers of Canada representatives discuss the biggest files they have been focused on such as the federal budget, trade, transportation, CUSMA, Grains Week and their next steps.

Join Sask Wheat Policy Manager, Kelsey Tollefson and Policy Analyst, Aiden Sanden as they cover all of these hot-button topics with GGC's Executive Director, Kyle Larkin and Policy Manager, Kate Sauser.

This three-episode feature podcast series about winter cereals comes after Sask Wheat officially amalgamated with the Saskatchewan Winter Cereal Development Commission on Aug. 1, 2023.

Sask Wheat took over the research, advocacy, market development, grower relations and communications for winter wheat, fall rye, and winter triticale, which gave us the perfect opportunity to highlight these crops.

In these episodes, Wheat Profit Host and Agronomy Extension Specialist with Sask Wheat, Carmen Prang, will interview experts on each crop to provide producers with everything they need to know. This includes basic agronomy knowledge, advantages and challenges to growing these crops and so much more!

EPISODE TWO:

Carmen's guest for this episode is Senior Research Scientist at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada's (AAFC) Lethbridge Research Centre in Lethbridge, Alta., Dr. Brian Beres! Dr. Beres also serves as an Adjunct Professor at the University of Alberta. Listeners might recognize Dr. Beres from his work on ultra-early seeding which he discussed on a previous Wheat Profit episode, The Research and Agronomics of Ultra-Early Seeding, or from his extensive work in winter wheat agronomy.

Dr. Beres grew up on a farm east of Lethbridge, Alta. before he