David Fife

David Fife, farmer, wheat breeder (born 1805 in Kincardine, Scotland; died 9 January 1877 near Peterborough, ON). Fife is recognized for introducing Red Fife wheat to Canada. This variety of wheat became the male parent of Marquis wheat.

Red Fife Wheat

David Fife immigrated to Otonabee, Upper Canada, with his parents in 1820. In 1842 he planted seeds of wheat obtained by a friend in Scotland from Danzig [Gdańsk, Poland]. All but one plant perished over the winter and most of the survivor was eaten by a cow, but the remaining seeds, later identified as Galician, produced plants of better rust resistance, threshing quality, yield and flour than previously available. (See also Fungus.) At first distributed locally, the strain was used widely after 1848, becoming the leader in Ontario by 1851 and virtually replacing all others there by 1860. The strain, eventually known as Red Fife, was also popular in the United States and was introduced into Manitoba about 1870, ranking as the leading variety there from 1882 to 1909. Red Fife served as the male parent of the Marquis wheat strain, which proved more frost tolerant and even less susceptible to rusts, allowing wheat farming in Manitoba to spread farther west and north.

Legacy

In 1931, Red Fife wheat was designated a National Historic Event by the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada. (See also National Historic Sites in Canada.)