Brian L. Beres, Ph.D., P.Ag.

Image Brian Beres
Senior Research Scientist - Agronomy

Dr. Beres is internationally recognized as an authority who develops integrated crop management tools and solutions to sustain the economic and environmental viability of farming systems in western Canada.

Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada
5403 - 1 Avenue South, Lethbridge Alberta

Current research and/or projects

  • Best management practices to support the adoption of an ultra-early wheat seeding system in western Canada. 2018-2019. (Lead)

  • ASC-02 Canola Cluster Activity 9 - Manipulating agronomic factors for optimum canola harvest timing, productivity and crop sequencing. 2018-2022. (Lead)

  • ASC-08 Wheat Cluster Activity 21A - Winter Wheat Agronomy - CL0172 - Delivery of an Innovative Winter Wheat Agronomic Package to Achieve Sustainable Wheat Production in the Canadian Prairies. 2018-2023. (Lead)

  • Accounting for natural enemies in a dynamic action threshold for cereal leaf beetle. 2016-2019. (Team Member)

  • Cover crops as part of a rotation strategy to reduce pea root rot and other management options. 2017 -2021. (Team Member)

  • Cover cropping as part of a rotation strategy to reduce pea root rot. 2017 -2021. (Team Member)

  • Breeding spring wheat for improved Nitrogen Use Efficiency and associated traits. 2018-2020. (Team Member)

  • Reducing toxicity of seed-placed phosphorus fertilizer in oilseed crops. 2018-2021. (Team Member)

  • Canadian Field Crop Research Alliance (CFCRA). 2018-2023. (Team Member)

  • Weed seed-suppressive soils: managing herbicide-resistant weed populations at the source. 2018-2023. (Team Member)

  • ASC-06 Pulse Cluster Activity 9A - pea root rot - Breeding, physiology and agronomy to mitigate yield loss caused by root rots of pea. 2018-2023. (Team Member)

  • ASC-04 Agronomy Activity 5A - kochia management - Management of glyphosate-resistant kochia in western Canadian cropping systems. 2018-2023. (Team Member)

  • ASC-08 Wheat Cluster Activity 8: Breeding Improved Canada Western Amber Durum Cultivars. 2018-2023. (Team Member)

  • ASC-04 Agronomy Cluster Activity 8A - Soybean and Corn Cropping Systems - Integrated Crop Agronomy Cluster WGRF Agronomy - Economic and Agronomic Performance of Emerging Cropping Systems for Western Canada (ICAC #16). 2018-2023. (Team Member)

  • ASC-08 Wheat Cluster Activity 20A: Investigating crop management options to lessen the impact of fusarium head blight in wheat. 2018-2023. (Team Member)

  • ASC-11 Barley Cluster Activity#3 Breeding malting and food barley cultivars for western Canada at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s Brandon Research and Development Centre assisted by new technologies. 2018-2023. (Team Member)

  • ASC-11 Barley Cluster Activity 12: In-crop management strategies to reduce the impact of fusarium head blight in barley. 2018-2022. (Team Member)

  • ASP-004 POBC Prairie Oat Breeding Consortium. 2018-2023. (Team Member)

  • Project Title: ASP-002 CFCRA Corn Activity 1B - Development of short season, cold tolerant, disease resistant corn inbreds Activity 1. 2018-2023. (Team Member)

  • ASC-08 Wheat Cluster Activity #7 - CWRS Western Prairies for drought and heat stress. 2018-2023. (Team Member)

  • Reduce greenhouse gas emission from dung and urine patches and increase carbon sequestration credits for cow-calf production on pastures in Western Canada. 2018-2023. (Team Member)

Research and/or project statements

  • Enhancement of sustainable cereal and oilseed production systems
  • Agronomic, host plant resistance, and biocontrol strategies to manage arthropod cereal crop pests
  • Best management practices for corn silage production in the irrigated regions of Alberta and Saskatchewan
  • Characterization of agronomic, physiological, and morphological traits of elite triticale, wheat, barley, durum, oat, and flax germplasm

Professional activities / interests

  • Principle Investigator of several interdisciplinary research projects targeting agronomy and plant breeding issues for the benefit of agricultural producers agro-industry, the scientific community and government policy makers.
  • Experience in written oral and video communication to media industry and research community with over 100 invited presentations to date.
  • Management and mentoring of several technical and support staff, graduate students, post-doctoral fellows and visiting scientists.
  • Dr. Beres publishes in the areas of agronomy and crop science and has been the author or co-author of over 75 peer-reviewed research articles and 2 book chapters.

Education and awards

EDUCATION

Ph.D. Plant Science - Agronomy, University of Alberta, 2011

M Ag. Plant Breeding/Agronomy, University of Alberta, 2000

B. A. Geography, University of Lethbridge, 1991

B. Ed. Social Studies, University of Lethbridge, 1991

 

AWARDS

  • 2019 – Alberta Seed Grower’s Lifetime Award.

  • 2016 - Recipient of the 2015 Gold Harvest Team Award in Innovation, Collaboration and Service Excellence presented to the Integrated Crop Management Team - Prairie Boreal Plain Eco-Zone.Dr. Beres was selected to receive the award on behalf of the 16-member team.

  • 2015 - Recipient of the 2014 Canadian Journal of Plant Science Outstanding Associate Editor Award.

  • 2015 - Recipient of the 2014 Field Crops Research Journal’s Outstanding Contribution in Reviewing.

  • 2015 - Seed of the Year – AC Andrew.AC Andrew was developed by Dr. Sadash Sadasivaiah et al. at Agriculture and Agri‐Food Canada’s Lethbridge Research Centre and was supported for registration in 2000 and described in the following 2004 publication:Sadasivaiah, R. S., Perkovic, S. M., Pearson, D. C., Postman, B. and Beres, B. L. 2004. Registration of AC Andrew wheat. Crop Science 44(2):696-697.

  • 2014 - Recipient of the 2013 Canadian Society of Agronomy Outstanding Paper Award in the Canadian Journal of Plant Science for the publication series cited below:

Beres, B.L., H.A. Cárcamo, J.R. Byers, F.R. Clarke, C.J. Pozniak, S.K. Basu, et al. 2013. Host plant interactions between wheat germplasm source and wheat stem sawfly Cephus cinctus Norton (Hymenoptera: Cephidae) I. Commercial cultivars. Canadian Journal of Plant Science 93:607-617.

Beres, B.L., H.A. Cárcamo, J.R. Byers, F.R. Clarke, C.J. Pozniak, S.K. Basu, et al. 2013. Host plant interactions between wheat germplasm source and wheat stem sawfly Cephus cinctus Norton (Hymenoptera: CephidaeII. Other germplasm. Canadian Journal of Plant Science 93: 1169-1177 doi:10.4141/CJPS2013-035.

  • 2014 - Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada Instant Award in recognition of contributions and achievements during tenure as Acting Director of Operations/Associate Director, Research Development and Technology Transfer.

International experience and/or work

Chair of the Wheat Initiative Expert Working Group (EWG) for Agronomy, Dr. Beres assembled a core team of scientists from Australia and the USA to develop the EWG.  Dr. Beres then organized an international meeting and call for experts to populate the EWG.  He worked with Dr. Jerry Hatfield of the USDA-ARS to create an Agronomy EWG Community within the American Society of Agronomy.  The Agronomy EWG now has over 41 members worldwide. 

Key publications

  1. Graf, R.J., Beres, B.L., Larsen, R.J., Randhawa, H.S., Gaudet, D.A., Laroche, A., Eudes, F., Foroud, N.A. (2017). AAC goldrush hard red winter wheat. Canadian Journal of Plant Science, [online] 98(2), 467-474. http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/CJPS-2017-0167

    2017 - View publication details

  2. Ruan, Y., Singh, A.K., DePauw, R.M., Knox, R.E., McCaig, T.N., Cuthbert, R.D., McCallum, B., Fetch, T., Beres, B. (2017). AAC congress durum wheat. Canadian Journal of Plant Science, [online] 98(2), 483-491. http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/CJPS-2017-0149

    2017 - View publication details

  3. Isidro-Sánchez, J., Perry, B., Singh, A.K., Wang, H., DePauw, R.M., Pozniak, C.J., Beres, B.L., Johnson, E.N., Cuthbert, R.D. (2017). Effects of seeding rate on durum crop production and physiological responses. Agronomy Journal, [online] 109(5), 1981-1990. http://dx.doi.org/10.2134/agronj2016.09.0527

    2017 - View publication details

  4. Cuthbert, R.D., DePauw, R.M., Knox, R.E., Singh, A.K., McCaig, T.N., McCallum, B., Fetch, T., Beres, B.L. (2017). AAC penhold Canada prairie spring red wheat. Canadian Journal of Plant Science, [online] 98(1), 207-214. http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/cjps-2017-0186

    2017 - View publication details

  5. Ye, Z., Brûlé-Babel, A.L., Graf, R.J., Mohr, R., Beres, B.L. (2017). The role of genetics, growth habit, and cultural practices in the mitigation of Fusarium head blight. Canadian Journal of Plant Science, [online] 97(2), 316-328. http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/cjps-2016-0336

    2017 - View publication details

  6. Beres, B.L., Hill, B.D., Cárcamo, H.A., Knodel, J.J., Weaver, D.K., Cuthbert, R.D. (2017). An artificial neural network model to predict wheat stem sawfly cutting in solid-stemmed wheat cultivars. Canadian Journal of Plant Science, [online] 97(2), 329-336. http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/cjps-2016-0364

    2017 - View publication details

  7. Nilsen, K.T., N'Diaye, A., MacLachlan, P.R., Clarke, J.M., Ruan, Y., Cuthbert, R.D., Knox, R.E., Wiebe, K., Cory, A.T., Walkowiak, S., Beres, B.L., Graf, R.J., Clarke, F.R., Sharpe, A.G., Distelfeld, A., Pozniak, C.J. (2017). High density mapping and haplotype analysis of the major stem-solidness locus SSt1 in durum and common wheat. PLoS ONE, [online] 12(4), http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0175285

    2017 - View publication details

  8. Nilsen, K., N'Diaye, A., MacLachlan, P.R., Clarke, J., Ruan, Y., Cuthbert, R.D., Knox, R., Wiebe, K., Cory, A.T., Beres, B.L., Graf, R., Sharpe, A., and Pozniak, C.J. 2016. High density mapping of the major stem-solidness locus SSt1 in durum and common wheat. 3rd Canadian Wheat Symposium, Ottawa, ON, Canada, November 22-25, 2016.

    2016 - View publication details

  9. Brian L Beres, Bernard D. Hill, Héctor A Cárcamo, Janet J. Knodel, David K. Weaver, and Richard Cuthbert. A neural network model to predict wheat stem sawfly cutting in solid-stemmed wheat cultivars, 2016 Joint Annual Meeting of the Canadian Society of Agronomy and the Canadian Society of Horticultural Sciences, Montreal, QC, Canada. July 24-26. Pg. 22.

    2016 - View publication details

  10. Graf, R.J., Beres, B.L., Gaudet, D.A., Thomas, J.B., Butts, R.A. (2016). AAC Wildfire hard red winter wheat. Canadian Journal of Plant Science, [online] 97(1), 183-191. http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/cjps-2016-0155

    2016 - View publication details

  11. Spaner, D., Iqbal, M., Navabi, A., Strenzke, K., Beres, B. (2016). Parata hard red spring wheat. Canadian Journal of Plant Science, [online] 96(3), 517-524. http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/cjps-2015-0311

    2016 - View publication details

  12. Beres, B.L., Turkington, T.K., Kutcher, H.R., Irvine, B., Johnson, E.N., O’Donovan, J.T., Harker, K.N., Holzapfel, C.B., Mohr, R., Peng, G., Spaner, D.M. (2016). Winter wheat cropping system response to seed treatments, seed size, and sowing density. Agronomy Journal, [online] 108(3), 1101-1111. http://dx.doi.org/10.2134/agronj2015.0497

    2016 - View publication details

  13. Brian L. Beres, and Hector A. Cárcamo. 2016. Historical review and current status of the wheat stem sawfly, 7th International Wheat Stem Sawfly Conference, Fort Collins, CO USA, March 15-16

    2016 - View publication details

  14. Beres, B.L., 2016. Tactical Agronomics for Crop Production Systems. Tactical Farming Conference, Calgary, AB, February 10 – 11, 2016 pp71-72.

    2016 - View publication details

  15. Nilsen, K.T., Clarke, J.M., Beres, B.L., Pozniak, C.J. (2016). Sowing density and cultivar effects on pith expression in solid-stemmed durum wheat, 108(1), 219-228. http://dx.doi.org/10.2134/agronj2015.0298

    2016 - View publication details

  16. Turkington, T.K., Xi, K., O'Donovan, J.T., Harker, K.N., Peng, G., Martin, R.C., Beres, B.L., May, W.E., and Mohr, R.M. (2015). "The impact of seed treatment, foliar fungicide timing, and plant growth regulator on leaf-disease severity and productivity of barley.", XVIII International Plant Protection Congress (IPPC), Free University Berlin, Henry Ford Building, Berlin, Germany, August 24-27, 2015, ID: P IPM 42. (Poster)

    2015 - View publication details

  17. Turkington, T.K., Xi, K., Peng, G., Martin, R.A., Harker, K.N., O'Donovan, J.T., Beres, B.L., May, W.E., and Mohr, R.M. (2015). "The impact of seed treatment, foliar fungicide timing, and plant growth regulator on barley leaf disease severity and productivity.", Canadian Journal of Plant Pathology. (Abstract)

    2015 - View publication details

  18. Beres, B.L., Pageau, D., Dion, Y., Turkington, T.K., Lupwayi, N.Z., Larney, F.J., Ellert, B.H., and Smith, E.G. (2015). "Rotational diversity effects in a cereal-based cropping system.", Canadian Journal of Plant Science. (Abstract)

    2015 - View publication details

  19. Beres, B.L., Pageau, D., Dion, Y., Turkington, T.K., Lupwayi, N.Z., Larney, F.J., Ellert, B.H., and Smith, E.G. (2015). "Rotational Diversity Effects in a Cereal-Based Cropping System.", Botany 2015, Shaw Convention Center, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, July 25-29, 2015.

    2015 - View publication details

  20. O'Donovan, J.T., Turkington, T.K., Harker, K.N., Oatway, L., Grant, C.A., Beres, B.L., Johnson, E.N., May, W.E., Izydorczyk, M.S., MacLeod, A., Anbessa, Y., and Vera, C.L. (2015). "Malting barley cultivar responses to increasing nitrogen rates in western Canada.", ASA-CSSA-SSSA International Annual Meeting: Synergy in Science. Partnering for Solutions, Minneapolis, MN, USA, November 15-18, 2015. (Poster)

    2015 - View publication details

Contact

Research facility

Lethbridge Research and Development Centre
5403 1st Avenue South
Lethbridge, AB T1J 4B1
Canada

Expertise

Agriculture›Agronomy
Agriculture›Cereals
Agriculture›Crops›Drought, cold and heat tolerance
Agriculture›Crops›Nitrogen cycling
Agriculture›Oilseeds
Plant›Cereals and pulses
Technology›Technology transfer

Affiliations

Scientific Society Membership:

  • 2001–Present: Professional Agrologist Designation, Alberta Institute of Agrologists

  • 2000-Present: Active Member of the American Societies of Agronomy, Crop Science, and Soil Science

  • 2017-2018: Leader of Wheat Initiative Agronomists Community within Global Section of ASA

  • 2016-2017: Vice-Leader of Wheat Initiative Agronomists Community within Global Section of ASA

  • 2015-2016: Past-President, Canadian Society of Agronomy (2015-16)

  • 2014-2015: President, Canadian Society of Agronomy

  • 2013-2014: President elect, Canadian Society of Agronomy – President-elect

Committees and Commissions:

  • 2014-Present: Canada representative on the Research Committee of the Wheat Initiative Prairie Grain Development Commission – Elected to Executive in 2006 - 2013

  • 2001-Present: Prairie Recommending Committee for Wheat, Rye, and Triticale

  • 2000-Present: Alberta Cereal and Oilseed Advisory Committee – Board member

  • 2000-Present: Alberta Corn Committee – Ex-Officio; Hybrid Trial Coordinator

  • 2000-Present: Agronomy representative on the Canadian International Grains Institute’s Stakeholder Committee.

  • 2014-2017: Prairie Recommending Committee for Wheat, Rye, and Triticale – Cultivar Voting Panel member – Agronomy representative

  • 2010-2013: Prairie Recommending Committee for Wheat, Rye, and Triticale – Chair

Language

English