Decades of Dominance: Seed Yield Performance of Creeping Red Fescue (Festuca rubra L. ssp. rubra) Cultivar Boreal Compared to Proprietary Cultivars in Western Canada.

Crop improvement for higher yields and better end-use qualities is a prime area of agricultural research. Of the 135 different fescue cultivars registered in Canada, Boreal has been one of the most predominant cultivars in terms of acreage and volume of seed production. With the license No. 1022 granted in 1966, Boreal is placed under “Fescue, Red, Strongly Creeping, Forage Type” sub-crop kind in the national registration database. It was developed as a general-purpose variety for turf and pasture at the Beaverlodge Research Farm, Alberta of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. Peace River Region of western Canada is the major producer and exporter of creeping red fescue of which Boreal constitutes the largest acreage and volume of seed production. Boreal has been used as a reference cultivar for pre-production performance evaluation of creeping red fescue cultivars which are targeted for seed production in the region. Even after five decades of release, Boreal exhibits persistently high performance of seed yield compared to proprietary cultivars originated by various companies. Seed productivity ranking and stability of Boreal over several years in comparison with competitive cultivars are presented, and need for further studies are highlighted.