A new oat variety from the Crop Development Centre in Saskatchewan has been named for the town of Arborg, Manitoba. Ron Weik, Seed Portfolio Manager for FP Genetics, notes their company has funded a program at the CDC for a number of years and he's worked very closely with the breeders at the Centre. Weik says to his surprise, they decided to name the oat variety after his home town in honour of his upcoming retirement at the end of the calendar year. He notes "CDC Arborg" is a white milling oat variety with a very high yield and improved disease resistance, adding it will be suitable for oat production even in eastern Manitoba.

He says he was raised on a farm just north of Arborg, so having the oat named for the town is very cool. Weik notes he went to high school with the current mayor of Arborg, who recently called to thank him for getting such nice publicity for their town.