Guelph’s King of Asparagus likes his asparagus with longevity, yield, hardiness and, at the end of the day, marinated and well-grilled on the barbecue.
For over 30 years University of Guelph professor David Wolyn has spent most of his day creating new types of asparagus and making the vegetable stronger and easier to grow.
And right now, asparagus bred at the U of G makes up 95 per cent of Ontario’s asparagus crop and has spread successfully across Europe. It is also said to be the saving grace of asparagus production in Ontario.
And it’s all the result of decades-long work by David Wolyn, an asparagus researcher in the department of plant agriculture at the U of G.
“If it wasn’t for Guelph Millennium, there probably would not be an asparagus industry in Ontario today. There would be asparagus production but it would be nowhere near the success it has been,” says executive director of Asparagus Farmers of Ontario Bernie Solymar.
As for Wolyn, he says nearly half his time is spent in asparagus-related activities where he does field breeding, research and overlooking grad students’ asparagus projects.
And when it’s harvest season, he gets it fresh straight out of his research farm.
“I pretty much eat asparagus every day for six weeks,” says the King of Asparagus himself who likes his asparagus marinated with some balsamic vinegar, olive oil, salt and pepper and then tossed onto a barbeque.
His work with the U of G's asparagus breeding program has produced and released the Guelph Eclipse, Guelph Equinox and the Guelph Millennium varieties with the latter being the predominant strain grown in Ontario.
“It’s very rewarding to know that you’ve made an impact on the lives and profitability of farmers and their operations. It’s overall rewarding to be involved in making a difference,” says Wolyn.
Guelph Equinox had its official launch in Europe last year and there seemed to be a lot of excitement revolving around that particular strain in Europe. Flash forward a year later and the Guelph Equinox is one of the first hybrids to come to harvest this season according to Global Plant Genetics’s company director Jamie Petchell.
“This is the first year that seed volumes are at commercial volumes and sales have been superb in Europe. Seed quality from Canadian production is excellent and the variety performs very well in terms of germination,” says Petchell.
“We are seeing the most interest in Northern Europe, particularly the Netherlands, Germany and the UK.”
Wolyn started his work with asparagus at the U of G in 1988. His main goal was to produce new varieties or hybrids to help the industry.
“Asparagus found me,” he says.
While the industry was doing okay, Wolyn says producing something new was important to develop efficient methods of production as costs generally rise over time.
Guelph Millennium which was introduced in 2000 (hence the name) and was in development for well over a decade before it was actually being used in farmers’ fields. Its qualities of winter hardiness, longevity and high yields resulted in high demand across Ontario, Michigan and Washington.
Founded by the Ontario Asparagus Growers' Marketing Board, Fox Seeds was established in 2012. It grants a royalty to the U of G in exchange for the rights to grow and sell Guelph Millennium seed and any hybrid strains from Wolyn’s breeding program released in the future.
Before Guelph Millennium came along, Wolyn says there were standard varieties from the United States which would have good yields for several years but would begin to decline as the plantations aged and got weaker.
“We have farmers who are still harvesting and making money off of 20-year-old Guelph Millennium fields,” says Wolyn about the perennial.
“I think we’re almost at the point where enough people are into it and the yields are high and some of the growers worry about too much asparagus.”
Wolyn says every time a new variety is introduced, his team tries to make improvements relative to the standard everyone is growing.
Guelph Equinox and Guelph Eclipse thus have various improvements in terms of yield and quality compared to Guelph Millennium.
He says it was important to have the title of Guelph attached to the names of asparagus because it helps identify the U of G’s breeding program.
“People do know that the U of G is engaged in asparagus breeding and it kind of brands us like here is Guelph’s variety coming from this program,” says Wolyn who was granted the Innovation of the Year award in 2019 for his leadership in the breeding and development of asparagus varieties.
Wolyn says asparagus breeding will continue well into the future.
“We don’t just stop at Equinox and Eclipse,” says Wolyn. “Every year we’re breeding new material.”
“We have some new and very exciting stuff in the early first stages and second stages of evaluation that we’re going to get out on farmer fields in the next several years.”