The conventional printed version of the Saskatchewan Seed Guide is one of the most popular annual prairie publications, with more than 17,000 copies distributed mainly to farmers in Saskatchewan, but also Alberta, Manitoba and North Dakota.
“Last year – 2022 – basically the first full year it was operational, we had 6,820 page views for the four pages that make up the Interactive SaskSeed Guide,” wrote Laurie Hayes, executive director at the Saskatchewan Seed Growers Association in an email.
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This year it has already had 3,276 page views.
Hayes joined the SaskPulse online 2023 Pulse Variety Seminar earlier this winter to explain the workings of the interactive guide (saskseed.ca/interactive-seed-guide) and give a live demonstration.
She said the guide is probably the most effective marketing tool for seed growers, as it lists all SSGA member growers, the varieties they offer and where to find them.
The interactive version makes it even easier for producers to find pedigreed seed right from their smartphones.
“We took all the information in the printed Seed Guide and converted it into an interactive data-base mobile friendly version. A key component is that it’s geo-referenced, so it’s easy for a farmer to locate pedigree seed. We were fortunate to obtain funding for this through the Canadian Agricultural Partnership, which is a federal-provincial territorial initiative.”
Producers can look up seed by variety name if they know what they want. If they’re not sure or want to see what else is out there, a variety selection tool allows them to enter the crop type. Then they can specify characteristics such as desired yield, protein, lodging resistance and soil zone.
The tool returns a report that names the varieties that match and the seed growers that handle those varieties, together with their contact information.
“The guide is an on-line, user-friendly, mobile decision-making tool. It improves the competitiveness of Saskatchewan farmers,” Hayes said.
“Another significant feature is that it’s easily updated. For example, last week we learned that some data was missing from the printed guide. But we already had the updated data in the on-line interactive version. The information is non-partisan and scientifically robust from the regional variety trials.”
There are caveats. Hayes said some varieties are in the guide even though they have no supporting data. The program will still show the user which growers have seed. Conversely, there are varieties that have not yet gone out to the seed growers so data from the seed trials is in the interactive guide, but no growers are listed yet.
