Seed Value Chain $

Plant breeding funding has been a long standing contentious issue in Western Canada. Who should pay for the varieties we grow? This article talks about the history of funding and the challenges going forwards.

Challenges I see right now:

• Certified seed purchases (on most traditional crops) does not amount to much $
  • as farm size grows there may be less seed being bought and it dis-incentivizes pedigreed seed use. 
• The system of funding (grower groups and more) restricts new entrants from competing in the breeding space because of the way funding is distributed.
• The VUA system on farm saved seed is honour based and I feel risks slippage.
• Relying on government funding for varieties does not put farmers in control of what is being researched. (Is it in the farmers interest or the publics?)
• Farms that buy more seed pay more vs. others and both have access to the same genetics.
• If we don't make changes now, we won't have a public system to compete with the private breeders as public funding is reduced. Competition is good for both entities and the customers: seed growers, farmers, end users and consumers.

If a system existed where all farms paid equally for the genetics they use, we would fund the breeding system well, new breeding entrants would enter, the public system could flourish, farmers would be directing breeding with their purchases/use, and breeding would advance faster in Canada. 

This is Greg's opinion and I may not be right 😀 but I am seeing troubling things in the seed world right now that we need to address as an industry.