Red Fife, Marquis and New Varieties
Farmers stopped using Red Fife and Marquis as new and improved varieties came onto the market. Land races have horizontal resistance, as opposed to hybrids that have vertical resistance. By the 1960s, the Green Revolution introduced varieties of crops that were dependent on high inputs of chemicals to produce high yields.
Plant breeders have used the genetics of old varieties to develop new varieties. Many of the bread wheats developed in Canada owe part of their genetic lineage to Red Fife wheat. The USDA Wheat Handbooks are resources listing variety names. A wheat's name could easily change when the seed was sent to another farmer.
The export market for wheat has been a factor in how wheat varieties and grading processes developed in Canada. In the 1920s, a registration system for all wheat sold in Canada was put in place. 'Merit' criteria for variety registration are based on agronomic criteria and yield. Taste has never been considered a criterion of 'merit'. Focus on yield has supported high-input, chemical-driven agriculture.
Read more about this topic: Red Fife Wheat
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