Pedigreed seed As industry prepares for privatized pedigreed seed inspections, growers worry costs will rise
Farmers are worried that crop inspection service costs for pedigreed seed could increase 600 to 700 percent when seed inspection is privatized this spring.
The cost of inspecting seed could jump from 75 cents an acre to higher than $5 an acre, depending on the location, acres and other services provided by private inspectors.
“It’s going to be brutal,” said Ed Lefsrud of Viking, Alta., who is not looking forward to the bill he will pay next year when licensed private contractors, rather than the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, inspect his fields of pedigreed seed.
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“They’re not charging what it costs; it’s what they think they can get away with,” he said.
“They think farmers are making so much money, why wouldn’t they line up and take it.”
The privatization of pedigreed seed inspection by April 1 was announced in the 2012 federal budget, and officials from seed growing groups and the CFIA have spent the last 18 months working to transfer the services.
Craig Lindholm of Lindholm Seed Farm in New Norway, Alta., said he realizes the government has subsidized the cost of inspecting fields, but he is concerned by the dramatic jump in costs.
“It will be a very expensive transition,” Lindholm said about the 20 different varieties of wheat, barley, peas and fababeans that all must be inspected on his farm.
“There is a limit to how much we are able to pay in regards to field inspection.”
Lindholm expects to do plenty of negotiating before he signs a contract for inspection services. He wants to be assured the new inspectors are trained properly, will be able to inspect his fields when they need to be inspected and know what they’re doing.
“As soon as they walk into the field, I’ll be able to tell you if they have any expertise or not,” said Lindholm, who has grown pedigreed seed for more than 30 years.
Twenty-nine individuals and companies are in the process of obtaining their Authorized Seed Crop Inspection Services licence from the CFIA for next year.
Only one company, AgCall Inc., has indicated it will provide services in all regions of Canada. Most companies plan to specialize in regional areas.
Wade Barnes, president and chief executive officer of Farmers Edge, a precision agronomy company, said some of its customers asked it to look at providing inspection services.
“It was a natural fit for us,” said Barnes, whose network of agronomists already work with farmers across the Prairies providing crop and soil sample services.
Barnes has also heard farmers’ objections about the increased price for the services but believes his company will be able to provide farmers with better service, more flexible hours and lower prices if the inspection services are bundled with their other services.
“We have a higher quality of service, but it comes with a higher cost than they are used to. They’re not overly happy with it,” said Barnes, who hopes to encourage farmers to sign early contracts with his company.
Dale Adolphe, executive of the Canadian Seed Growers Association, said the increased cost is farmers’ main concern.
“The reality is farmers who once paid 75 cents an acre can expect to pay triple or quadruple, or more,” he said.
Some farmers are also worried that not enough new inspectors will be trained to take over the job, but Adolphe believes it won’t be an issue.
The CFIA trained 141 new inspectors over the past year to walk fields looking for disease, weeds and off type varieties. As well, there are 40 existing seasonal CFIA inspectors and another 47 people who have received partial training and may finish their training over the winter.
“That number is on paper. Like so many things, the devil is in the details,” said Adolphe, who added the inspectors are not spread evenly across the country.
Adolphe said the weakest inspection services area seems to be in eastern Ontario and eastern Quebec. Western Canada, southwestern Ontario and the Maritimes will likely be fairly well serviced.
One problem may be in southern Manitoba, where farmers are growing more soybeans, which need to be inspected twice: once during the growing season and the second time right before harvest.
Many inspectors are likely to be university students, and having enough qualified inspectors available for the second inspection in September or October may be a problem.
Ryan Murray, president of the Manitoba Seed Growers Association, said there is some “sticker shock” with the new prices.
“It will take a few years to get used to,” he said.
Les Trowell, past-president of the Saskatchewan Seed Growers Association, said the increased cost may prompt farmers to decide to inspect only fields that they know they can sell as seed.
