A focus for the Department of Plant Agriculture is plant breeding and related fields including: genetics, genomics, molecular biology and biotechnology. The outlet for much of this work is the creation of new crop varieties that are licensed by the University's Research Innovation Office to commercial entities in Ontario and beyond. Royalties collected from seed sales of multiple varieties, and germplasm released by the Department's plant breeding programs, bring in over $800,000 to the University annually. This represents the largest and most consistently successful University of Guelph intellectual property revenue stream.
Follow this link for licensing opportunities for recently developed technologies.
Here is a small sampling of the varieties that have been created by our scientists:
| Species | Variety | Breeders | Year released | Attributes | Reference, recognitions |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Asparagus | Guelph Millennium | D. Wolyn & H. Tiessen | 1995 | High yield, quality, tolerance to heavier soils; Guelph Millennium comprises over 3/4 of Ontario production. | Seed of the Year Winner 2005 |
| Dry beans | Ex Rico 23 | W. D. Beversdorf & D. J. Hume | 1980 | The first navy bean released from the program; many varieties have derived from the use of Ex Rico 23 as a parent/grandparent. | Seed of the Year Winner 2012 |
| OAC Rex | T. E. Michaels, T. H. Smith et al. | 2001 | OAC Rex is the first navy bean variety in Canada to deliver resistance to bacterial blight, a major disease affecting bean yield and quality. | Seed of the year finalist 2008 | |
| Orchardgrass | Dividend VL | S. R. Bowley & D. Hancock | 2005 | Dividend VL is a very late maturing orchardgrass variety; the latest ever released in Ontario. Slow maturity progression allows Dividend VL to have a better match with alfalfa maturity at harvest. | Seed of the Year finalist 2012 |
| Potato | Yukon Gold | G. Johnston | 1980 | A disease-resistant gold-flesh variety of potato adapted to many growing regions. It is probably the most known potato variety in North America. | Seed of the Year Winner 2011 |
| Soybean | DH 410 | G. Ablett, B. Stirling & D. Fischer | 2006 | DH 410 is a high yielding, food grade non-gmo soybean suited for production of tofu. | Seed of the Year finalist 2012 |
| OAC Bayfield | J.W. Tanner, B.M. Luzzi, P. Gostovic, W. Montminy, D.J. Hume | 1993 | By 1998 OAC Bayfield was grown on 20% of the soybean acreage in Ontario; used in crosses, it has contributed to the development of many commercially successful varieties. | Focus on Soybeans | |
| OAC Kent | J.W. Tanner, B.M. Luzzi, W. Montminy, et al. | 2000 | A conventional (non-gmo) soybean with high, and consistent yield; OAC Kent continues to be a sought after food-grade variety for export to Japan. | Seed of the Year Winner 2008 | |
| OAC Prudence | B.M. Luzzi, I. Rajcan, W. Montminy, et al. | 1999 | OAC Prudence is an short season soybean (2450 crop heat unit rating) with a true yellow hilum, large seed and high protein content, making it ideal for food grade status and Identity Preserved export markets. | Seed of the Year finalist 2006 | |
| Wheat | Dawson's Golden Chaff | R. Dawson & C.A. Zavitz | 1891 | This was the first variety released from Guelph (then the Ontario Agricultural College). Derived from a single plant selection in a field near Paris Ontario. Dawson's Golden Chaff was the principal wheat grown in Ontario for well over sixty years. | Waterloo Region Hall of Fame |